In tracking social media for the past year I’ve seen many great new developments. In fact, the number of new offerings has been staggering. From podcasting, to blogging tools to RSS and Wikis many folks have grabbed the social media torch and ran with it. One company that hasn’t played a major part in these developments is Microsoft.

As a software company, you would think that Microsoft would jump at the opportunity to power the social media revolution. After all, this is all about getting more people together. I would think that any company would want more people excited about what they’re doing. So why not get involved early in the game? When I use the term “get involved” I ‘m talking about actually releasing something that users can adopt and comment on.

I have no doubt that Microsoft has been working on social media related advancements for it’s OS, Office apps and the web. In the meantime other companies have been releasing solutions that just keep getting better. Apple has cornered the market for podcast subscription with iTunes. Attensa allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds via Outlook. Google has jumped in with a personal start page and RSS reader. Much smaller players like NetVibes are also doing very well in that space. Connected office applications have been popping up as well. Thumbstacks takes Powerpoint style slideshows to the web. Writely (recently acquired by Google) does the same with documents. Meanwhile Windows Media Player, Outlook and MS Office have done very little to help connect people via the web. Microsoft does have Start.com but that’s a small amount of progress compared to the developments of the last year.

I’m left wondering how this social media story will play out. Will Windows Vista redefine connectivity and squash all these satellite apps that are renting space on PCs? Will Microsoft swoop in and acquire a number of smaller players (as it did in the early days) in order to beef up their social media profile? Or will folks be so entrenched in the use of their current tools that Microsoft will have missed the boat?

Time will tell but I’ll tell you this much. I’m not planning on upgrading Windows XP and MS Office just to get support for RSS. The time, cost and risk of doing so far outweigh the potential benefits. Besides, I’m enjoying the many lightweight and web based apps that currently make it so easy to get connected with other people.

[tags]Social Media, Microsoft[/tags]