Tom Anderson (MySpace)

Infobox Person
name = Thomas "Tom" Anderson

Thomas "Tom" Anderson is the President of the social networking website, MySpace. He is one of the people identified as a founder of the site, along with CEO Chris DeWolfe. Since newly created MySpace accounts include Tom as a default "friend," he has become known as the face of MySpace. As of September 3, 2008, Tom has over 240 million "friends", a number which is constantly increasing due to new MySpace accounts being created.

Anderson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and English from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master's Degree in film - critical studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2003, he and a few computer programmers set up the first pages of MySpace and the site grew from there. It is currently the most popular social networking website in the United States, and is the most popular website for teenagers as well, consistently performing among the top sites in United States web traffic rankings. [ [http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?cc=US&ts_mode=country&lang=none Alexa site rankings] ]

Age dispute and teen life

As of 2007, Tom Anderson claimed he was born on November 8, 1975 [Bennett, Jessica. " [http://www.newsweek.com/id/62330 Is Age Just a Number?] " "Newsweek", November 5, 2007.] . In 2008, reports indicated he was 5 years older.

According to several sources, in 1985 then-14-year-old San Pasqual High School (Escondido, California) student Tom Anderson was a computer hacker operating under the alias "Lord Flathead." He was known for leading a team that broke into Chase Manhattan Bank computers, altered records and left a message saying that unless he was given free use of the system he would destroy records. He was never charged.Arrington, Michael [http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/30/myspace-cofounder-tom-anderson-was-a-real-life-wargames-hacker-in-1980s/ MySpace Cofounder Tom Anderson Was A Real Life "WarGames" Hacker in 1980s] , TechCrunch, 2008-08-30] Sanger, David E. [http://www.techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/tomandersonhacker.jpgFBI seizes computers from high-school hackers: 'Lord Flathead' and pals had access to bank but never did any business] , New York Times, October 19, 1985, retrieved 2008-08-30. Available from the [http://query.nytimes.com/search/alternate/query?query=%22Lord+Flathead%22&st=fromcse New York Times archives] under the title "CHASE COMPUTER RAIDED BY YOUTHS, OFFICIALS"] Gorman, Tom [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58107716.html?dids=58107716:58107716&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Dec+11%2C+1986&author=TOM+GORMAN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=A+Hacker+Vanishes+Computer+Whiz%2C+Missing+Since+September%2C+a+Source+of+Mystery A Hacker Vanishes Computer Whiz, Missing Since September, a Source of Mystery] , Los Angeles Times, Dec 11, 1986 section 1 page 3, retrieved 2008-08-30] [ [http://www.puretalkforum.com/f2/tom-anderson-from-myspace-hacked-bank-4443.html Tom Anderson from MySpace Hacked A Bank!] , PureTalkForum.com, retrieved 2008-08-30 ]

Role in founding

The corporate history of MySpace has been a matter of some public dispute. When MySpace was purchased by News Corp. they also gained control of the editor's account (the Tom Anderson profile) from which all service announcements are made. Such announcements are not from "Tom Anderson" personally but from the corporate owned identity. It has even been claimed that Tom Anderson's role and image as MySpace founder and "first friend" is a public relations invention. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B12FF38550C758DDDA00894DE404482 NYTimes article] ]

Another aspect of MySpace's origins that turned out to be misrepresented was Anderson's age. Supposedly 27 when the site was first created, the age stated on his profile followed this information, adding a year with each birthday. It was subsequently revealed that Anderson was five years older than his profile claimed. Speculation on the reasons focused on the benefits in reaching the youth market, by positioning the founders as hip young entrepreneurs instead of "30-somethings". [Arrington, Michael. " [http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/23/has-americas-first-friend-been-lying-about-his-age/ Has America’s First Friend Been Lying About His Age?] " "TechCrunch", October 23, 2007.]

ee also

*Wargames

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/tom Tom's MySpace account]