This is a story about Yammer, but from what I read online, it could substitute for the existential angst that comes from adopting, and fighting for, most transformative social technology, as apps and tools get swallowed up in the technology consolidation rush. –begin– The community was once populated by a ragbag crowd of early social practitioners on a mission – both developers and customers. The customer / support offering was world-class, not just in the people (who still are) but in the ethos, resourcing, and singlemindedness of the org (it was central to the Founders getting their billion dollar sale). The tool is now a part of Amorphous Suite (and not the most important part). Customer support is much more stretched, and they are supporting more than the tool, they are part of the overall Amorphous sales solutions. The service we have had in the past is not the service we will get in the future (notwithstanding customer support’s excellence). As this convergence accelerates, it is likely that there will be more conversations involving customers’ tool  AND (traditional) Amorphous interfacers at cross-reference and cross-purposes. My guess is that the tool customer / support network will merge completely with Amorphous Suite network within 12-18 months; by which time tool  will not be a PRODUCT but a service offering of Amorphous Suite. The stand-alone (non-Amorphous-Suite) tool customers will have a deprecated service because their value to Amorphous is already deprecated. The sterling service that customer standard bearers in the tool network provide is vital to hold Amorphous  vaguely accountable and certainly on their toes, but I believe (y)our influence in terms of product direction and service offering is on the wane. You may note my phlegm (as in calm fortitude not viscid mucus) to this ‘evolution.’ Do I like this? Not really, as my own interest and value comes from a position of tool-centrality, but in 1-2 years we shall be seen as anachronistic and 95% of network users (if it exists) will be chirping “Who are these old geezers bah-humbugging from the corner about tool-this and tool-that?” C’est la vie! –end– ←This Much We Know.→