In a blog post, Mullenweg announced that Automattic is acquiring BuddyPress and the designer and developer behind it, Andy Peating.  BuddyPress is a series of WordPress plug-ins that can take a WordPress MU (multiple WordPress weblogs on one single server) website and turn it into a social network platform.

What can BuddyPress practically be used for?  Say you have a group of co-workers or team mates and you want to have a social environment to exchange ideas and information with.  You don’t want to have to force everyone to sign up for FaceBook or MySpace, you simply want to collaborate.  WordPress, combined with BuddyPress will give you a space to connect with your cohorts outside of the ‘walled-garden‘ of these other social networking sites.

It will be great to see what comes out of the acquisition.  WordPress holds a high degree of promise as a content management system, and with the load of venture funding Automattic attracted recently, more great developments are sure to manifest.

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