MySpace's draw? It's based on a core of music fans. DeWolfe's co-founder is Tom Anderson, a 29-year-old musician and entrepreneur, and from the beginning the site has catered to musicians. Bands can create their own home pages, with photos, tour dates, and as many as four songs -- all for free. Marquee names like Beck, the Black-Eyed Peas, and ex-Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan joined. That pulled in fans and their friends, who all found that MySpace offered loads of options that other sites lacked. Besides posting photos and personal information, users can add blogs, message boards, and music and video they made themselves.

ELBOWING IN. Now, MySpace has become something akin to the hippest bar in town, teeming with musicians, models, and fans. Members visit each others' sites, leaving a photo or two and often a request for a return visit. The result is huge, extended networks of people.

MySpace's future ultimately rides on intangibles that transcend technology and focus groups. "The world is all about energy. If you can generate energy, it will ultimately translate into money," Corgan says. Friendster appeared to have the energy, but whatever it had faded. And for all their size and power, Yahoo and MSN may have a tough time generating that kind of force as they roll out their social-networking sites.

MySpace has flourished because it has given members the tools to customize their Web sites. That has allowed its users' personalities to come through. Friendster, with its smiley-face logo, has focused on fostering safety and trust. MySpace has let its members do whatever they want.Online social networks are also part communications tool, like e-mail or the phone. Julie Herendeen, vice-president for network products at Yahoo, says the company's research shows that most people aren't that interested in using social-networking sites to meet new people. Instead they want to keep in touch with people they already know.

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