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OpenSocial is Google's new open platform toolset which allows social networking site the ability to connect their databases and users together creating “open standards” so users can access their data on any social network. The project is still taking shape, but it looks like it will give users access to widgets across a bunch of social networks. Looking at the OpenSocial coalition of social networks, some, like LinkedIn, clearly fall into the professional branches of the “social graph” or that virtual map of all our relationships. Other social networks, like Friendster are much more personal in nature.
Facebook, which is not part of OpenSocial, may be the only social network to have criss-crossed professional and personal boundaries, at least among internet professionals. As developers think about connecting the disparate branches of the social graph, either through widget access, personal data portability or an aggregator for easy management, the question is how do the user communities of the social graph overlap today?
* 20% of MySpace members are also Facebook members.
* Meanwhile, 64% of Facebook members also belong to MySpace. This asymmetry makes sense when you consider MySpace has nearly 3x the unique visitors of Facebook and a few years head start.
* Bebo, Hi5 and Friendster all share more than 49% of their members with MySpace.
* Plaxo, Salesforce and Viadeo share more members with LinkedIn (the largest professional social network by 4x) than with either MySpace or Facebook.
* LinkedIn shares 42% of its members with Facebook and 32% with MySpace.
* Ning, which lets users customize their own social networks, has greater overlap with both MySpace and Facebook than with LinkedIn.
OpenSocial Partners are: Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING. |
