I have seen some discussions around MySpace.com being a tool that can be used by small business or big business for that matter. Anita Campbell at Smallbiztrends.com writes that it is not much value to small business and Ramon Ray at Smallbiztechnology.com writes pretty much the same thing.

I respectfully disagree!

I see MySpace as a precursor to what small businesses really need online. A tool that has multiple technologies that enable a community to be built. Text, photos, video, audio, comments, tagging and more are tools MySpace uses to enable members to connect to a community.

It just so happens that right now that community is made up of young people. (I think you might even call them a target market). What if they started up a MySpace Small Business and provided the same suite of tools to us that would enable us to community build with our markets? Isn't that what we are all trying to do anyway, start and keep a conversation with our customers and prospects.

I think another lesson to be learned is to think about why all of the kids go there? I have an 11 year old daughter and the thing she loves the most about the internet is the ability to connect with others of similar interests around the world. In my day it was a letter to a PenPal today she has dozens of online friends from ten different countries.

We all like to connect to others and make new relationships (most of us anyway) tools like MySpace help communities get built, so do online games, the challenge for us as businesses is to figure out how to use this desire for human connection within our business.

What do you think?