Seesmic expands its social network dashboard by acquiring Ping.fm

Updated

Seesmic, which already helps users manage their Facebook and Twitter accounts from a single dashboard, is now plugging into many more networks with the purchase of social posting service Ping.fm.

With Ping.fm, users can send updates to 50 social networks at once, including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, WordPress, TypePad, Yammer, and others. You send messages from email, SMS text message, or online chat — for example, you could use an instant messaging service like AIM to compose and send an update to Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. San Francisco-based Seesmic says that it will launch versions of its web, desktop, and mobile apps with Ping.fm integration “very shortly,” meaning you’ll be able to send updates to all of those social networks using Seesmic.

At the same time, the company says it will still support Ping.fm updates using the existing gateways, and that it is committed to “maintaining and improving” the platform — other applications also use Ping.fm to send updates to social networks.

In an email announcing the news, founder and chief executive Loic Le Meur says the deal helps him push forward with his vision for the company: “Your friends are not all in one social network, but we want to help you stay in touch with them anytime and from any device.” On many sites, such as MySpace, Le Meur probably wants Seesmic to go beyond posting updates eventually.

I’ve asked Le Meur for more details about the acquisition, particularly the price, and will update if I hear back. [Update: Nope, Seesmic isn’t sharing details.] Seesmic is hiring Ping.fm’s co founders, Adam Duffy and Sean McCullough (they’re pictured with Le Meur to the left). Ping.fm’s angel investors include Creative Commons chief executive Joi Ito and LinkedIn chairman Reid Hoffman.