“It’s definitely a lot of work, but if the company is worth the work, that’s what we do. On MySpace, it would increase engagement for us, and we would commit a large portion of our resources to it,” said Mr. Shen.

     Another big unknown is whether MySpace will allow developers to keep the revenues they earn through the site, as Facebook has done. 

     “If they’re going to come out with a full blown platform that would require all of the widget makers to rework their whole system, it would help to incent us to do that if there was some revenue involved,” said Kevin Freedman, Vice President of Operations for RockYou competitor Slide. 

     On the other hand, the extra work involved in developing widgets for multiple platforms could prove a boon for companies like Goowy and Clearspring, which make widget software for Internet content creators and media companies.

     “As these networks open up it becomes harder and harder for a company to build to every single one, and maintain and manage them,” said Alex Bard, who heads up Groowy. “They may find it easier to go to a platform that will do that work for you.”