The Social

This post was updated at 12:02 PM on February 28 to confirm that the FX Network broadcast of the Operation MySpace concert is April 12, not March 12.

MySpace is packing its bags for Kuwait.

The social network, a division of News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media, will be holding a music and comedy event on March 10 for U.S. Armed Forces troops stationed in the small Middle Eastern country. Called "Operation MySpace," the concert will feature pop acts The Pussycat Dolls and Jessica Simpson, rock bands Disturbed and Filter, electronic artist DJ Z-Trip, and comedian Carlos Mencia. MySpace co-founders Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe will be on hand to host the event, which the social network has coordinated in conjunction with the Department of Defense's Armed Forces Entertainment division and its America Supports You program.

"For years troops stationed all over the world have utilized MySpace as a lifeline to communicate with their loved ones back home," Anderson said in a statement from MySpace. "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to thank them in person and bring along the entire MySpace community."

For those not present, the concert will be live-streamed on the Web (on the 10th at 11 a.m. Pacific time); MySpace has created a profile for Operation MySpace where visitors are encouraged to leave messages for the troops overseas in both text and video format. It will also mark the first time that MySpace has webcast an event in high definition. On April 12, a condensed one-hour version of the three-hour concert will be broadcast on News Corp.'s FX cable channel.

"We're so excited to be performing for the troops and supporting our Armed Forces overseas," a statement from the steamy pop group The Pussycat Dolls read. "They'd better get ready...the desert's about to get a lot hotter!"

Indeed, the combination of Pussycat Dolls, Jessica Simpson, and Carlos Mencia might be, ahem, a bit much for some audiences. But regardless of what you think of the quality of the acts, it's for a good cause--in high definition.

Urban events site Going.com, which targets party-friendly 20-somethings with a hipster slant, announced earlier this week that it has expanded into local event ticketing. This means that promoters and event hosts on Going can now sell tickets for their concerts, benefits, parties, and other social get-togethers through the site.

The structure is much like a standard ticket site's "will-call" option; no paper tickets are mailed. "You go to the venue or the place of the event," Going CEO Evan Schumacher explained in an interview with CNET News.com, "and we tell (you) to bring your credit card or ID."

Just like the rest of Going.com, the new ticketing service is limited to New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles. And Schumacher assured me that it won't be a free-for-all due to security concerns.

"The first thing (promoters) do is they have to go through a registration process, which includes a credit card transaction validating that they are who they are, and that they represent the organization they say they represent," he said. He estimated that this approval process should take a day or two. "We actually reach out to the venue or the organization that they say they're selling tickets either for or at, and make sure that this is an accurate representation as well."

In other words, it'd be difficult for you to use Going to monetize your next house party.

And, he added, ticket resellers will not be able to use Going to scalp tickets purchased from, say, Ticketmaster at inflated prices. "We don't get involved with tickets that are at major venues," he explained. "It's not a marketplace like an eBay."

Going has cited Pollstar Magazine figures that put the U.S. ticket sales market at $3.6 billion and rising. That revenue potential is why a relatively niche-based events site is willing to take this kind of risk.

"Every ticketing site has to deal with fraud prevention," he said. "People will try all kinds of things, I'm sure, and that's why we're focusing on a high-touch validation at this phase."

In a move that further shapes its image as an MTV-like pop-culture hub as well as a social network, News Corp.'s MySpace.com has announced that it will be sponsoring a concert tour this fall.

Appropriately called the MySpace Music Tour, the series of shows will kick off October 16 in Seattle and will host more than 30 performances before winding down in Las Vegas around Thanksgiving.

The headlining acts for the tour will be two artists who have built up large followings on the social-networking site--geeky pop band Hellogoodbye and emo act Say Anything.

The tour will also include the Japanese punk band Polysics, which has been signed to the new MySpace Records label, as well as yet-to-be-announced guests.

In a statement from the company, Say Anything frontman Max Bemis is quoted as saying, "We are stoked as beans to be on the first MySpace tour with Hellogoodbye!! It's going to rock!"

MySpace users will be able to prepurchase tickets starting Friday. Those who are not MySpace members will have to wait until September 6.

The site has not released a full list of concert dates or venues, but those will presumably be available by the time sales open. Sales will be conducted through a branded community page on MySpace, which will also feature photo galleries, contests and band blogs.

UPDATE: MySpace has released a full list of tour cities. The Polysics will be opening for the shows through the Allentown show on Halloween:

10/16: Seattle, Wash.
10/17: Portland, Ore.
10/19: Magna, Utah
10/20: Denver
10/21: Wichita, Kan.
10/22: Milwaukee, Wis.
10/24: Chicago, Ill.
10/25: Detroit
10/26: Covington, Ky.
10/27: TBA
10/28: Atlantic City, N.J.
10/30: New York
10/31: Allentown, Pa.
11/1: Providence, R.I.
11/2: Gettysburg, Penn.
11/3: Emmitsburg, Md.
11/4: Raleigh, N.C.
11/6: Orlando, Fla.
11/7: Miami Beach, Fla.
11/9: Houston
11/10: Dallas
11/11: San Antonio
11/13: Tucson, Ariz.
11/14: Tempe, Ariz.
11/16: San Francisco
11/17: San Diego
11/18: Los Angeles
11/19: Los Angeles
11/20: Anaheim, Calif.
11/23: Las Vegas, Nev.