A new social networking alliance will include internet powerhouses Google, Yahoo, and Myspace in an “Open Social Foundation“. Facebook’s absence from this list is something of a social networking elephant in the room as Facebook is generally considered the key innovator and eventual market leader in the social networking space.

The Open Social Foundation will, according to the Yahoo Press release today, work to ensure:

… the neutrality and longevity of OpenSocial as an open, community-governed specification for building social applications across the web…

The foundation will provide transparency and operational guidelines around technology, documentation, intellectual property, and other issues related to the evolution of the OpenSocial platform, while also ensuring all stakeholders share influence over its future direction.

In short, Open Social is working towards a social networking environment that spans the internet, sharing information across platforms and websites rather than confining social networking information to a specific standard or a particular online environment.

Facebook has also created tools for the integration of information with other sites and routines, but generally Facebook is considered to be a less open online environment than the type envisioned by Open Social advocates. With Facebook the user tends to socially interact within Facebook itself, where with Open Social you will be able to access social networking functions from any sites that have adopted the Open Social platform.