In case you were wondering how different, Murdoch sums it up well:
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHAT HAS SURPRISED YOU THE MOST ABOUT THE MYSPACE EXPERIENCE?
Rupert Murdoch: The speed at which it has grown. It has had no marketing. Not a penny has been spent marketing it before or after the purchase, and it just grows faster and faster every week. Now we're taking it out to other countries.
Thanks to Mark for the pointer. If his story was a few days late, mine is ancient... Oh well...
The point I think is that brands that have communities can establish stunning momentum and marketing efficiency over those that don't. But all brands have communities. For so many those communities are sleepers or false in nature. (For some of my purchases I just want to buy, for others, I want to join -- the vast majority of companies today miss the join bit).
One of the priorities then becomes activating the community - and a big part of that comes from empowering communities with tools and platforms on which they can participate. Activated communities have a low cost of customer acquisition.