MySpace Launches Celebrity Hub

In an effort to better exploit today's moment-to-moment celebrity gossip craze, MySpace has launched an online hub for fans to criticize and connect with their favorite stars.

At Celebrity.MySpace.com, consumers will find entertainment culture and related news, blogs, videos, and events contributed by both users and celebs.

At a time when blogs like AOL's TMZ.com and the independent PerezHilton.com are dominating celebrity gossip, MySpace is hoping its new hub will cement its unique position with users and advertisers. MySpace's uniqueness is the fact that it is one of the few communities where celebrities are willing participants.

"Celebrities have been using MySpace since the site's launch," MySpace president and co-founder Tom Anderson said in a statement. "It's a natural extension for us to now offer them an aggregated channel where they can be in control of their own image."

Along with countless imposter profiles, some 300 bona fide celebrities presently maintain their own MySpace profiles, and range from actors, musicians, and athletes to comedians and socialites.

TMZ.com drew 10.2 million users in November, according to comScore. That's more than any other gossip site online. Yahoo's entertainment portal, OMG, drew an average of 9.5 million unique visitors in November.

Hoping to attract a larger share of Web traffic, NBC's "Access Hollywood" celebrity news broadcast just unveiled a remodeled Web site.

In the interest of good PR, MySpace is encouraging stars to use the site to promote upcoming projects, put out opinions, dispel rumors, and engage fans. MySpace members, meanwhile, can digitally approach celebrities, send them messages, post comments to their profile pages and share celebrity videos.

Some of the hubs other features include behind-the-scenes video footage with celebrities, a look at celebrity-endorsed charities, up-and-coming talent, interviews with celebrities, star news and blogging.

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