i would like to understand what constitutes as spam on MySpace because i don't want to accidentally spam having not known the rules.

Is this spam?

If i share a common interest with people on the site and the people are listed as using MySpace for Networking purposes - Can I contact these people and ask them to take a look at a forum that is based upon the common interest? For example, If i am looking for people who enjoy baseball to take a look at a baseball forum, can i contact them through myspace? The forum is not a business, no money is made off the site and it is not an official organization. It is simply a bulletin board where people with the common interest can post their thoughts. There would be no link placed in the message sent to the user. Is contacting people to let them know about the site considered spam? If so, to what extent can someone network common interests on MySpace?

I think it has to do with each and every individual community, as each one has its own ettiquette and ideas of what is and what isn't acceptable. For example, I would probably consider it spamming if you went through the DaniWeb memberlist and started contacting them to advertise your website (even if it was computer related). On the other hand, there might be other [more informal] communities that have members who would welcome it. I really can't comment on your particular scenerio because I'm not a MySpace user so I don't know about their community.

The best advice I could give you is to browse around and get a feeling of the type of community atmosphere you're dealing with. And if you're still not sure, then don't. There's nothing more damaging to an online reputation / persona than coming off as a spammer. And, remember, usernames and website URLs follow you from community to community. I'm known as 'cscgal' on a good 50 or more tech forums, and I'm careful with what I write wherever I go because, in the end, it all affects DaniWeb's reputation.