Did Facebook Miss A Massive Opportunity By Building A Walled Garden Instead Of A Truly Open Platform?

SUMMARY: When Facebook launched its platform strategy in 2007, it seemed as though the social network wanted to create a kind of social operating system anyone could use and build on — but the reality has turned out to be something very different.

When Facebook first launched its platform strategy in 2007, it seemed as though a new world of opportunity had opened up for anyone interested in the social web — a kind of social operating system that they could build on and extend. Did Facebook smother the potential of that idea by closing off its platform and building a proprietary walled garden instead? Pando Daily writer Hamish McKenzie argues that it did, and it’s difficult to find much fault with his analysis.

All of which raises an interesting question: What could Facebook have become if it had chosen a different path? And what have we lost in the process?