Increasingly, it looks like MySpace may actually be trying to help and inform society - a worrying trend for all us cynics. The leading social network is announcing tomorrow a plan to a launch a political reality show hosted on MySpace Video and broadcast on TV - it's a continuation of MySpace's political ambitions, too: going live in early 2008 (yes, not for a long time), "INDEPENDENT" will allow contestants to compete for a million dollar prize. The winner can then donate that money to political causes, or even use it to fund a political campaign - that decision is influenced by users on MySpace. Behind the show is Mark Burnett, creator of popular reality series like Survivor and The Apprentice.
It seems, at face value, to be a kind of American Idol for politics: candidates submit clips via MySpace Video, and those chosen can create MySpace Impact profiles to serve as their campaign HQ. The aim, they say, is to get young people interested in politics. The details, alas, are fairly vague in these early stages.