At some point, someone is going to come along and introduce the open source social network.

I would argue that vBulletin has essentially done it already. vBulletin is like 9/11: the 800 pound gorilla in the room, a total game changer, but one that no one talks about. The problem with vBulletin, though, is that they don't pursue a 2.0 strategy; instead of aiming for personalization, they aim to sell content and use a traditional licensing system, even though it does allow the user to view and modify the source. But members of their ecosystem, like me and Zoints, have taken it upon themselves to pursue this strategy from the outside.

But back to the purpose of this post: who does the open social network benefit?

1. Virtual corporations. Companies that offshore and outsource can use social networks to build better relationships.

2. Widget players. Instead of widgets designing themselves for platforms, platforms can be designed for widgets. As we know, it is about the world being inverted. For instance, a company like Outside.in could create a social platform for professional placebloggers that is designed to be able to have deep conversations with its cloud.

3. Independent publishers. Bloggers, podcasters, journalists...as media becomes social, they will want a platform that enables them to leverage the social value of media to the max. This is my favorite segment of open social beneficiaries, as I think it is where the value extraction potential (meaning how much quality data can be taken back to the cloud) is at its peak.

4. Regular business professionals. This is the LinkedIn type of thing.

5. Social clubs. This is the Meetup type of thing, or the online shared interest thing.

Of course, the diverse demand for social networks creates a new discipline: world making, or people who create and manage these social networks. It is consistent with how disruptive theory works: the underlying technology gets commoditized, and value shifts to services built atop the commoditized technology. So, as social networks get commoditized, value will shift to offering social network building services. The more technology is commoditized, the better the service will be able to be.