MySpace has been in the news because its traffic is sliding, again. Rumors about Bebo shutting its doors continue to swirl. So, the question is, can social media companies, even the rock stars of today, ever be on safe ground?

In his recent article, “The Social Media War: Face Facts,” Matt Nash, chief executive of OOSocial, writes of the precarious climate that exists for social networks. To survive, companies require technology that is flexible and can easily be integrated with other products and services. We know this because like Microsoft in the PC software market, Facebook is methodically nesting themselves amongst other online services. The beauty of their continued growth and business model is that Facebook is built on a single flexible platform. A company like Yahoo, with multiple businesses to coordinate, must always deal with immense integration problems.

The SSN Take: Don’t pick your social media platform based on buzz, but rather on their ability to easily integrate with other services.  Otherwise, you and your customers may be looking for a “new” leader in a year.

David Hardt, April 26, 2010

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