Anticipating An Escalation Of War Waged By The Leaders Of The Social Web

It has surely seemed as though tech pundits everywhere have been occupied with the analysis of social networks over the course of the past year almost entirely, has it not? Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and various others – in that order – that have placed themselves in webpages everywhere on an almost daily basis. It looks as though they’ve even made record showings in various physical “old media” newsprints.

So why, you must ask, do we continue to ride the main line and talk about how much time the most connected of us in the era of Web 2.0 - kids and adults alike - have wasted this day, this week, this month, this annum? Well, we’ll tell you.

Just because.

Yes, that’s right. Just because. All because the fruit of the social Net is always ripe for the picking and always easy to grab. Sure, sometimes we seek out the really substantive stuff. But sometimes the true journalistic drive loses out to laziness, and what you’re left to read is naught but stories of who signed 12 million more members to their network and statistics of how many idle souls are playing Scrabtabulous (the misspell is purposeful) at any given moment.

That said, we share with you now a story involving the king of networks and its ambition to spend the first months of 2008 showing the world just how much energy it has on tap and is willing to expend.

Indeed, it appears that Murdoch, DeWolfe, and Anderson are all thoroughly fed up with the Facebook frenzy that has ensued over the past 12 months, and are just about ready to unleash an arsenal of upgrades and alterations to MySpace that will all but ensure that Zuckerberg sees his #2 spot etched ever more permanently into the industree. (Definition: a terrible mash coined by yours truly of the terms ‘industry’ and ‘tree’)

So, you know, it’ll be a fun, fun year. For the big guys, anyway. The lil’ ones will most likely be nudged further into the shadows.

The heat of the market will increase considerably with an escalation in pressure, and we may finally see the resulting war lay bare some necessary truths; truths that may in fact cut deep the most egotistical giants and even give their seemingly overvalued commodities a good shake. A collective reality check would be a rather healthy way to give the mad world we peer wide-eyed upon something of a soft reset. (Here’s lookin’ at you, FBK.)

Of course, that check, or call, is dependent on observers like Profy to deliver with persistence - and for investors to heed.