Within the past 24 hours, two major social networking stories broke.

First up: Jaiku, a microblogging service oft compared to Twitter, was acquired by Google.

Next on the docket: It’s rumored that MySpace will soon be launching a 3rd party developer platform.

No one seems to be talking about them in tandem, but –from a bird’s eye view at least – the stories are begging for a paired analysis.

Let’s first take a look at the overwhelming reaction both announcements are getting from industry insiders.

In a word: dismissal. In two: utter skepticism.

In a few more: “We’re doomed”[src]; “…we fall right off a cliff”[src]; “Is that all there is?”[src].

And, in a tight little summation of the Jaiku deal: “This may also be a sign that Google has overstaffed its business development department and is doing deals just to keep them busy.”[src]

Brutal, sure. Off the mark? Nope.

These reactions clearly aren’t the product of a haughty hand-wave and a reductionist view of a few key business plays, but rather from a panoramic look at the current state of social networking– namely, the rise of microblogging and the rapid propagation of widgets.

Both conversations –that of Jaiku and that of MySpace– circle around the same concern:

Does this continuing trend (from blogs and fully-supported apps to microblogs and widgets) indicate a cultural shift? A shift *gulp* in which we embrace the frivolous, champion vacuity, and– goofy grins blazing– send ourselves roaring back to a time of chain emails, ComicSans-laden e-cards, and dancing hamsters? Have we never moved on… or are we in some sort of warped Web 2.0 revisitation?

Or, even more frighteningly, are we starting to grub for the lowest-common-denominator forms of mass media (derisive hat-tip to US Weekly and American Idol)? To put it bluntly, are developers now using the “people are dumb, let’s make them dumber” model that’s proven so successful for network tv and weekly periodicals… to create popular widgets?
More importantly, should this surprise me? (I’m thinking no.)

The millions upon millions of daily FaceBook users downloading widgets like Pop Ur Zit, Poke Ur Friends, and Slap Ur Own Ass (okay, I made that one up) at a breakneck pace since FB opened up its platform in late May of this year are–whether we like it or not– chiefly defining “what widgets are all about.” As MySpace primes to skip on down that same colorful, blinky, oh-so-widgety road, industry analysts are rightfully skeptical of the parallel trajectory.

But wait. Could these two stories portend some sort of sociocultural redemption? Does “widget” have to be a dirty word? Could these two deals be representative of a move towards utilitarian widgets? Will we soon be reading the headline “Worker Productivity Skyrockets with Continued Adoption of Microblogging” on our pimped-out NYT personal homepage– obviously fully mashed with our Linked In profile?

Perhaps. And who will lead the way? I have to give Goog the nod on this one.

[tags]The Web Outside, Jaiku, Google, MySpace 3rd party developers platform, Tech Crunch, NYT, microblogging, widgets, culture[/tags]