Facebook took the lead in the social networking wars when it opened up to third-party applications. MySpace resisted, which has allowed Facebook to catch up. But now MySpace has finally announced that it will open its platform to outside application developers.

We've been expecting this. We already advise publishers and brand companies, when they develop a social media/social networking strategy, to come up with Facebook applications that support the overall strategy. (The Enthusiast Group can do this work.)

I write a monthly column for Editor & Publisher Online, and recently wrote "What's Your Facebook Strategy?"

Now we'll all have to think about MySpace applications. (Some should do double duty on Facebook and MySpace.) But the MySpace demographic is younger than Facebook's, so developing MySpace applications isn't necessary for everyone.