Tom Anderson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tom Anderson
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Anderson in 2008
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Thomas Anderson
November 8, 1970 San Diego, California, U.S.
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| Education | University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Internet entrepreneur |
| Known for | Co-founder of Myspace |
Thomas Anderson (born November 8, 1970) is an American business person who works with technology. He is famous for being a co-founder of Myspace. This was a very popular social networking website. He started Myspace in 2003 with Chris DeWolfe.
Later, Tom was the president of Myspace. He also worked as an advisor for the company. Many people know him as "Tom from Myspace" or "Myspace Tom." This is because when new users joined Myspace, Tom's profile was automatically their first "friend."
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Tom Anderson's father was also an entrepreneur, meaning he started his own businesses. When Tom was a teenager, he went to San Pasqual High in Escondido, California. He was very good with computers from a young age.
Tom went to the University of California, Berkeley. He studied English and rhetoric there. After college, he lived in Taiwan for a while. Then he came back to the United States. He studied film at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Building a Career in Tech
In 2000, Tom Anderson worked at a company called XDrive. This company helped people store digital files. There, he met Chris DeWolfe for the first time. Tom joined XDrive as a product tester. He was still in film school and wanted to earn some extra money.
After XDrive closed in 2001, Tom and Chris started their own company. It was called ResponseBase. They sold ResponseBase in late 2002.
Creating Myspace
In August 2003, Tom and other employees started building the first pages of Myspace. They created the website partly because of another site called Friendster. Friendster had a rule that blocked accounts if people didn't use their real names. Myspace offered a different approach.
Myspace became very popular. When Myspace was sold to News Corp in 2005, Tom became the president of the company. News Corp bought Myspace for $580 million.
Life After Myspace
After News Corp bought Myspace, things changed for Tom. He said it took more time to get things done. There were more meetings and processes. By 2010, Tom was no longer the automatic first friend for new Myspace users. Another profile called "Today On MySpace" took his place.
In May 2012, Tom announced he would advise a company called RocketFrog Interactive. This company made an app for Facebook. However, in an interview in September 2014, Tom said he wasn't interested in going back to his old job. He enjoys new adventures and the unknown.
Personal Interests and Photography
Tom Anderson is active on other social media sites. These include Facebook and Instagram. In 2011, he became very interested in photography. This happened after he took photos at the Burning Man festival.
In a September 2014 interview, Tom said his friend and photographer Trey Ratcliff helped him improve his photography skills. Tom explained that he doesn't just try to show nature exactly as it is. He tries to create something beautiful, like a painter would. Tom travels around the world with friends. He visits places like Thailand and Myanmar. He mostly takes pictures of landscapes.
Tom also shared in September 2014 that his interests have always been varied. He said that if people knew him before Myspace, they might have thought he would teach philosophy. If they met him before college, they might have thought he would be a musician. Tom likes change and trying new things.
See also
In Spanish: Tom Anderson para niños
