Will Google's OpenSocial API Program Kill Ning?Will Google's OpenSocial API Program Kill Ning?

Google this week stormed into the social networking world and stole Facebook's thunder with its new OpenSocial API program, an effort to create an open standard for creating and integrating applications into social networking platforms. While the rest of the blogosphere is pondering Facebook's fate, I want to ask another question: Does OpenSocial spell the death of Ning?For those of you who don't know, Ning is startup that offers a platform designed to let users create and manage their own social networks. Ning has been around since 2004 and it has a list of big Silicon Valley boosters and investors, including Marc Andreessen of Netscape fame.

Ning is targeted at both consumers and businesses. My colleague John Foley, however, recently questioned Ning's future in the business world, especially given some of Ning's partners.

Ning is trumpeting the OpenSocial platform and its participation in it. Ning's leadership thinks that OpenSocial will allow Ning to explode (in a good way). Here is a look at their efforts with OpenSocial:

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I am not as convinced that OpenSocial will be so good for Ning -- or other social networking upstarts either. But for the sake of this post, I will focus on Ning.

Ning's real value prop to date has been its ability to let users build fully custom, white-label social networks. While competitors like Facebook are aggregations of social networks (not just one social network), Ning's advantage has been its ability to offer more user customization. Lots of different networks using the same platform behind the scenes vs. bunches of networks on the same interface.

Now, with the addition of Google's OpenSocial APIs, Ning will offer the same kind of functionality as the rest of its rivals, including Facebook's arch-nemesis MySpace. So if the entire social networking universe will soon offer integrated application functionality using the same standard (assuming Facebook signs on, which I think it will) what does Ning bring to the party?

Hear me out on this. I see how OpenSocial benefits MySpace. And I can see how Facebook might benefit from this too, despite all the naysayers who claim this move could kill Facebook. But, how does Ning really benefit from this?

As I see it, OpenSocial potentially gives Facebook and MySpace the ability to beat Ning at its own game. Assuming Facebook and MySpace integrate OpenSocial and these APIs give users the ability to create and integrate new kinds of applications and functionalities, why not give users the ability to create their own standalone networks in these respective platforms? Why not launch custom networks on both of these platforms and skip Ning all together?

As I see it, all Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, etc. have to do is add an additional level of interface customization and they can easily take Ning's market right out from under it. Why use Ning when you could build a professional network for a large company on Facebook or a custom network for a movie or TV show on MySpace?

What do you think? Will OpenSocial spell the end of Ning?