Facebook is the next big thing in social networking. Scratch that. That is what you could have said more than a year ago. Now, Facebook is becoming a force to be reckoned with in social networking and in all online space.

If you know nothing about Facebook, check out the Zolved piece that follows the hype from the .edu days to the current state of things as Facebook is now opening up to software apps or widgets that users can add to profiles.

Facebook is no longer just for the kids. Small business gurus and marketers are getting in on the buzz recommending both LinkedIn and Facebook be part of a small business arsenal. Now there is even an application that allows you to integrate both–within the confines of Facebook of course. Widgets open the door to third-party enhancements and advertising…genius move on the part of Facebook to expand and maintain their booming growth.

Industry experts see the platform as the next theater for public relations. Maybe in several years, our press releases will all pop up in jouranlists’ mini-feeds, and we will poke the interviewer of our CEO a few weeks after to see when the story is going to hit print. E-mail might soon be replaced by Facebook messages and wall posts.

Google fears Facebook–if not, they should. Facebook has a huge user base to pull from in whatever their next direction may be, and these followers will be willing to try out anything Facebook offers for at least a week until a friend calls it dumb.

While some have speculated that Google might enter the OS space, Facebook has recently acquired Parakey and is working with SixApart.

Now with the fame, Facebook gets the drama. ConnectU is hitting up Facebook claiming that the entire concept was stolen and that Mark Zuckerberg, the man behind the book of faces, failed to fulfill his duties in completing their project and being a part of their team.

Sound familiar to anyone else? Microsoft came about through a similar controversy and buzz explosion back in the day.

For starting a company with such potential, Zuckerberg is still a pretty young member of the block, but entrepreneurs are getting younger and younger these days.

The Facebook train doesn’t seem to be stopping. They haven’t been acquired by Google or Murdoch, and all signs point to them emerging as a public company soon and becoming a MAJOR player in the online space.

It is some sort of guarantee that Facebook might be a contender to unseat Google or take on Microsoft in some sort of partnership or acquisition with Google. Whatever happens, marketers and business moguls alike should keep their eye on Facebook and study up on its business model because they are likely to be th next powerhouse in 2.0 evolution. The online OS (operating system) space could be theirs if they play their cards right.

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