MySpace and OpenSocial

(Confirmed, see update below) MySpace could upset the balance of the social networking sphere by joining OpenSocial, claims a report from Silicon Alley Insider. The Bay Area publication claims that MySpace would join the Google-run initiative as early as today and would modify some of its code to work with the platform, allowing programmers to write a single web app that could run on the major network without neglecting several smaller but still influential social networks, including LinkedIn.

The push would in part be to recapture some of the momentum from Facebook, which is still second in the number of users to MySpace but which recently gained a $240 million Microsoft investment which is expected to boost its growth. News Corp's Fox Interactive bought MySpace in 2005 and has recently been reworking its design to allow third-party programs and otherwise encourage outside development for the website.

Update: An announcement of MySpace joining the OpenSocial platform will be made Friday morning, according to people familiar with the matter speaking with Electronista. No information is yet available about when MySpace would finish implementing the universal app technology, although the company pledged in mid-October that its own web app platform would be accessible to developers within two months.

By Electronista Staff