Time to alert the parents:

Did you hear the following about MySpace?

MySpace has played an important role in helping Oakland police apprehend a 19-year old man accused of shooting a San Leandro High School football player Greg “Doody” Ballard, Jr. Oakland police had a street name of a suspect and were able to identify Dwayne Stancill, 19 of Oakland from a picture they found on a gang’s MySpace page. Police brought the suspect to their headquarters where …MySpace Catches a Murderer (WebProNews)

A suspected gang member jailed in the slaying of a popular San Leandro High School football player in Oakland was identified with the help of his picture on the gang’s MySpace page, authorities said Wednesday. Dwayne Stancill, 19, of Oakland, the son of a San…Murder suspect identified through gang’s MySpace page (San Francisco Chronicle)

Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday his company’s multiyear deal with online social network leader MySpace is performing better than originally planned.Google says MySpace deal ahead of plans (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

MySpace/Our Planet: Change is Possible will feature ideas from MySpace users.HarperCollins, MySpace in book deal (Crain’s New York Business)

GAINING ON MYSPACE Social networking Web site Facebook outgrew rival MySpace in the United States as measured by unique visitors.Facebook traffic grows faster than MySpace (San Jose Mercury News)

OAKLAND — Oakland police say clues found on the MySpace.com Web site helped lead to the arrest a 19-year old man accused in the senseless Oct. 13th killing of San Leandro High School football player Greg “Doody” Ballard, Jr.MySpace Page Helps Police Catch Murder Suspect (Bayinsider)

With Facebook slowly creeping up on MySpace, is there room for two social networking sites?MySpace v. Facebook: Competing Addictions (Time Magazine)

MySpace is getting into the book business. The online social network, an increasingly popular venue for authors, booksellers and publishers, is collaborating with a children’s imprint of HarperCollins on an environmental handbook coming out April 22, Earth Day.MySpace collaborates on ‘green’ book (USA Today)

Shawn Gold, the SVP of Marketing and Content Development at MySpace, is leaving, paidContent.org has learned, and Gold has confirmed it to us. Not sure where he is going, and he still has three weeks left at MySpace, but he recently registered SocialApproach.com, so that might give you a hint.MySpace SVP of Marketing & Content Shawn Gold Leaving (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance)

MySpace is getting into the book business.MySpace collaborating on book (AP via Yahoo! News)