Surprise, Surprise

We all knew it was coming. Facebook did it. LinkedIn say they’ll do it. It seems only fitting that MySpace follows in line and gives third-party developers access to its insides. Not yet. But eventually, yes.

It’s no surprise that MySpace is going the way of “open”. The reasoning behind the move is no mystery either. Simply put, if MySpace is to stave off the steady exodus of people from its pages to Facebook and yet smaller social networks, it’s going to have to keep with the times, move with the trends.

As mentioned in previous pieces published here on Profy highlighting the social networking world’s shift to “openness”, I continue to feel strongly that players in the field could very well be getting ahead of themselves by forging ties with so many other entities in the Web industry so quickly. As much as I am a fan of openness on the Web, there just seems little long-term viability to social networks harboring so many different, unrelated items within. Sure, it’s exciting to “imagine the possibilities” (a phrase stolen from a Skittles bag, if my memory serves me well), but give it a few months - a year or so at most – at which time I presume most of these businesses will find themselves too bloated for their own good. If/when that moment arrives, some definitely could try cutting the fat, but only time will tell whether such backtracking will ensure that they remain on their feet.

MySpace is likely to experience that fate if the plan unveiled by Chris DeWolfe, one of the company’s founders, materializes. Unfortunately, the company he fronts now has little choice but to travel the open road, if only to maintain its appeal in the face of change by the competition.

The weeks and months to come will be interesting indeed, considering that a couple of the company’s heads are seeking significant raises in salary at the same time that the future direction of the operation is being discussed. We’ll be sure to offer up more information and insight on the subject as this story progresses.