Myspace, Facebook, and now Google's Open Social.

MySpace and Facebook, the dominant players in the social networking space, have been at it for a while--with MySpace winning most of the battles. That's especially true in advertising success, as Mark Hopkins at Mashable details:

"MySpace still maintains most of the visitor share, with 69% as opposed to Facebook’s 31%. The dominance in advertising is exacerbated by MySpace’s tendency to deliver advertising with a little bit of content to its userbase. The numbers appear crushing to Facebook, in that sense, with roughly 87% going to MySpace and 13% going to Facebook in terms of delivered advertising impressions."

It's great seeing these guys duking it out, and I find unique advantages with each site--although Facebook seems less clunky and more active, IMO. And yes, these sites are somewhat closed communities when it comes to cross-posting and search visibility, but there has been a consistent evolution of more openness over time--these communities are demanding it.

The billion dollar question now is Google and their Open Social initiative, and the fact that MySpace--along with other social networking leaders--have jumped on their bandwagon. Facebook is notably absent because, after all, Open Social is being set us as the "Facebook Killer."

Social networking, and it's blossoming relationship with content distribution, is simply facinating. It holds the answer to the future of the web, along with new business models surrounding user-generated and premium content.

2008 is looking to be an exciting year already.

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