TV Becoming Part of Social Media?

Yesterday, Plaxo announced that it is being acquired by Comcast. The reported acquisition price is around $160 million according to Mike Arrington. This is far below the amount that Bebo was recently acquired for by AOL. Plaxo doesn’t have as large of a user base and is instead being acquired for their technology rather than their user base.

Traditional media companies are going to need to start buying more and more new media companies as consumer attention turns away from the television, newspaper and radio. We saw further proof of this trend this morning when it was announced that CBS is Buying CNET for $1.8 Billion. Ben Goulb, the CEO of Plaxo, says that the aim of the acquisition is to “deliver on a vision of making ’social media’ a natural part of the lives of regular people, not just early-adopters.”

While that may be true, it doesn’t appear that the early adopters are big fans of the acquisition. The majority of Twitter chatter was about how people would be closing their Plaxo accounts. Those fragile early adopters! While a few people may be closing their accounts, expect social networking to be integrated into your television experience in the coming years. This acquisition is just one step in that direction.

What are your thoughts on news of this acquisition? Are you even a Plaxo member?