The MySpace/HarperTeen page is filled with featured authors and books, illustrated on a bulletin board filled with various sticky notes and news. I was personally a fan of the forums they host on the site. Teens have a chance to share their writings amongst their peers, and hopefully have Harper Collins add their reviews of the works.

To keep the fan base in the know, MySpace/HarperTeen distributes various updates for book recommendations and the latest releases, encouraging members to discuss books on message boards.

The latest push on MySpace/HarperTeen was to promote “Create and Share,” a creative writing contest where teens submitted original works of poems, songs and short stories. A panel of HarperTeen judges selected the finalists for the $5,000-grand-cash-prize. From there, the MySpace/HarperTeen community voted contestants on. However, the promotion didn’t receive a lot of mainstream coverage and the number of entries is unclear.

Regardless, Harper Collins is making an effort in the educational direction. But, after spending time on the site, I found that underneath the message of supporting teens to read and write, the corporate shadow looms, pointing teens to read books they publish. It’s probably only a matter of time before competing publishers jump on board these types of social networking initiatives, too.