Bownian motion in Social Media

• By Sonali on 19 August 2009

The past couple of days has seen a lot of churn on social media platforms.  The main players are jostling about for supremacy and talent.  Facebook bought Friendfeed (essentially acquired talent) and then MySpace bought iLike, one of the largest apps on Facebook.  Here is my take on both events:

1. Facebook buying Friendfeed is huge.  I have been exploring Friendfeed and love the different streams that one can create.  The general consensus appears to be that Twitter is great of Business - broadcasting information and thoughts to a wide audience.  Facebook on the other hand is for more intimate contact with friends and family.  I disagree - its very easy to make a public profile on Facebook for professional purposes, and continue to maintain a personal one for your closer circle of contacts.  With the acquisition of Friendfeed, I think Facebook will include more Twitter-esque features and mix business and personal "streams" on the same platform.  I am very excited about the potential for innovation with the Friendfeed acquisition.  Many active Friendfeed users are up in arms and fear that the app will shut down, I am afraid that while it wont shut down per se; most of the innovation will shift to the main Facebook platform and Friendfeed will remain stagnant. 

2. MySpace buying iLike is equally intriguing.  It firmly establishes MySpace in the music biz and establishes a beach-head for MySpace within Facebook.  Other than that I don't see any longer term implications, particularly since iTunes has cornered the online music business.

Finally, a random fact - per Mashable, 45% of Empoyers now screen social media profiles of their job candidates.  So remember what Mom always said - Don't put anything on there that you would be ashamed to read on the front page of the New York Times!

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