The Success of Open-Source Technology - Facebook (Oh yeah, MySpace too)

Well, it's pretty obvious that social networking has evolved into a very important part of our everyday lives. (Especially if you're above 17 years of age and below the age of, well, you really can't tell these days) Anyway, your typical college student, after forcing his or herself out of bed, almost immediately powers up his/her laptop to check new email messages or logs into Facebook to read new wall posts, messages, and upload pictures from the night before (that they usually don't remember taking!) In fact, Facebook is actually picking up where email left off in the first era. Basically, to cut a long story short, college students are becoming much too "addicted", for the lack of a better term, to maintaining and more importantly, displaying a well-balanced social life to their peers through their virtual Facebook profiles.

Anyway, in recent months, as a result of creating an innovative platform for up-and-coming developers and allowing them to release their own applications and Internet services, Facebook has multiplied its membership by a huge margin. Oh yeah, lets not forget MySpace, the most accessed website in the United States (even ahead of Google!) Yes, that's a staggering fact, but the truth is that despite of having a membership base of 200 million and expected revenues of $800 Million USD this fiscal year, the popularity and credibility of MySpace is being increasingly challenged as a result of Facebook's major strategy shifts in the past year.

What I really think is that there is massive potential and opportunity in the field of technology. It is the future of this country. We should all utilize the entrepreneurial attitude that we have stored up somewhere in ourselves to create and contribute something to this industry. Let’s take Facebook for instance. Rather than just signing up to become a member of Facebook, why not actually create a an application that you would like to see on there by researching the necessary requirements.

Also, many of you may have noticed a large number of media publications headlining stories focusing on the rivalry of these two giants. Fortune's feature story titled "MySpace Strikes Back" immediately comes to mind. I felt the story undoubtedly lacked a great deal of substance since MySpace really hasn't done anything yet to combat the recent threats posed by Facebook. Regardless of that, comparisions between these two popular websites can go on for days, and I don't want to delve any further into that topic.

Or in the “real-world”, why not, conceive of a totally fresh and creative idea and implement it into an actual business venture. Of course, this is easier said than done but it’s the effort that counts. Countless “young turks” around the world are running their own businesses/companies before they are even old enough to legally drink! It is time for Americans to step up in a big way and prove to the world that we aren't what we have been classified as: "fat, dumb, and lazy". The successes of many social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn.com, as well as other startups such as YouTube and Digg.com, without a doubt, confirm the fact that open-source is a very big thing in the field of information technology. I’m sure it still has a long, long way to go.

Let’s shift the focus back to Facebook. Consumer Internet companies better accept the fact that it is not just an exaggerated fluke. What many consider to be a short-lived frenzy, will soon be launching an IPO. It makes us wonder if this thing has the potential to be the next Google: a stock that has skyrocketed from its $85 IPO to an unreal $700 in just a matter of three years? Of course it does.