Is Viral marketing in Social networking a factor in Flixster's growth?

According to an article on American Venture Magazine, Flixster- American Venture Exclusive Interview Outlines the means and ways of it's growth.

"In little more than a year, the San Francisco-based site has grown from zero to 9 million registered users and over 300 million movie reviews. In part, Flixster accomplished this by creating a highly interactive site with seemingly endless diversions.
But the site has also grown due to its aggressive viral marketing practices that have raised the hackles of some potential users.

Such practices might include the automated selection of your email account's entire address book in order to send a Flixster invitation to all of your contacts."

So where do you stand? Join the crowd at slashdot discussion. or Join Flixster and share your address book at Flixster.

Links;
Flixster- American Venture Exclusive Interview
Slashdot discussion: Is Flixster Using Deceptive Viral Practices?

Tags: Social networking, flixster, slashdot, viral marketing