MySpace founder lied about his age

I feel so much better now that Tom—founder of MySpace and instant friend to all (and only friend to some)—lied about his age. Tom, as just about everyone knows, is your first friend when you sign up at MySpace. His friends (aka everyone in MySpace) become your friends.

Now, according to documents reviewed by Newsweek, it turns out that Tom will be 37 in November, and not 32 as his profile says. Yikes. Lying on MySpace. What a concept. I wonder if Tom's the first fibber in cyberspace? Somehow I doubt it.

Ask the social scientists and they'll tell you that lying on MySpace is not lying. It's called experimenting with your persona, role-playing, living your fantasy. Lying on MySpace is sort of like calling a magazine Seventeen, but knowing full well that the average reader is five years younger. I suspect that MySpace is a Never-Never Land for more than a few members.

You have to wonder what was Tom thinking when he lied about his age. I mean if you were going to go through all the trouble of lying, wouldn't you want to make it more worthwhile? Say you were 28? 25?

If the motivation was to be young enough to still talk to teens, well that's kind of creepy. Talking to a 32-year-old or a 37-year-old is not something most teens feel any more comfortable doing. If the goal, as some of the press is speculating, was to be one of the young, scrappy pups who launch a successful startup by age 30 (you know that you can get into groups like the Young Presidents' Organization if you make your first million before the three-decade mark) well…he probably wasn't too focused on what would happen when he hit 40.

Mark Zuckerberg, be forewarned. If you're a 50-year-old walking around in a 20-something-year-old body, the time to ‘fess up is now. And me, I'm waiting for the day when the in thing is going to be able to say that you started a great new company when you were 80.

How do you feel about Tom's age-old lie? Couldn't care less? Shattered? Would you lie about your age if it helped promote your business?