MySpace latest in the IM crowd
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We said last week that the instant messaging space is heating up, and that the big boys — AOL, MSN and Yahoo — are under increasing pressure to open up.
Well, here comes MySpace which, like Google, has the clout to give these guys a run for their money. Here’s the activation page for MySpace’s IM, though it doesn’t seem to be working for us yet, and same seems to be true for others (see comments).
Let’s face it, though. IM is now a commodity. The only drag for open IM communications are the walled gardens built by AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft. As others — Meebo, Google, etc — push open standards, the majors will be slowly forced to adapt.
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
