MySpace Discoveres the Wheel – the Site Will Now Enable Data Sharing
MySpace proposes a new Data Availability initiative which aims at letting users share info using different social networking sites.
Though regarded as leader in social networking MySpace has been facing criticism as a result of its inflexibility, that is – its inability to integrate with anything else on the web. This fresh initiative addresses an old issue: nobody enjoys filling out the same profile application information over and over again – a negative characteristic of the popular MySpace.
MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe advocated this new approach which, he says, will change the look of the Internet: "The walls around the garden are coming down — the implementation of Data Availability injects a new layer of social activity and creates a more dynamic Internet."
However, MySpace is not alone in this – it teamed up with Yahoo, eBay, Photobucket, and Twitter (but others are expected to join). MySpace intends to use a centralized location within its own site through which users are able to manage how their data is shared.
What does this mean? – You will be able to select photos to be posted at the same time to MySpace and Photobucket and not having to go to each site in turn and do the same uploading. Moreover, it will be possible to import MySpace profile details into Yahoo's universal profile for use with its IM application or even Yahoo Mail as well.
Though MySpace seems very proud of this idea which it claims as its own it’s rather hard to say Facebook was in no way inspirational for this project especially that there are many Facebook apps that help you import their updates to Twitter into their Facebook profiles, or cross-post their Facebook status updates to Twitter. There are even more options which allow you to display updates made to other social networking sites, show what music you’ve purchased on iTunes etc.
And there remains the question – is there any connection between Facebook being the closest competitor to MySpace and it not being included as partner?
