The Mike Abundo Effect

Two days ago, I said MySpace’s new data portability initiative will force competitors to open up. Looks like it’ll happen sooner than I expected. Facebook announces its own data portability initiative, Facebook Connect.

Thing is, Facebook Connect is still weeks away, and they’ve announced only one partner. Facebook is infamous for jealously locking in user data, even at the very public expense of A-list customers, so this announcement sounds less like a working strategic plan and more like a panicked press release. This is just Facebook trying to save face.

No wonder MySpace blocked Photobucket. They were trying to lower the purchase price. MySpace is buying Photobucket for $250 million, down from the previous asking price of $300 million.

Damn. Just when Kickthebucket was getting all cool and Ajaxy and Flexy, their new bosses will be the ad-crazy n00b-breeding suits at Fox. Moral lesson: don’t do too much business in a walled garden. The gardeners will stab you in the back and turn you into fertilizer.

RIP Photobucket. After the ImageShack scandal, Flickr is set to take the lead in the photo-sharing race.

Funny thing about MySpace: even with all its third-party widget blocking, its native widgets are still damn noisy.