In what can't possibly be a coincidence, Facebook and AOL have announced a partnership the day after Google announced its new social media platform Buzz. The partnership will integrate Facebook and AOL's instant messaging service, AIM.

AIM users will be able to click a "Facebook Connect" button after downloading the appropriate software, which is still technically in beta testing. Then, users will be able to access their Facebook friends on their AIM buddy list.

This may be a crucial move to keep Facebook on top of the social networking craze, simply because there are very large audiences for both Facebook and AIM. It also helps Facebook compete against Google Buzz, which has an instant messaging client built-in.

Combining the Facebook and AIM has the potential to increase the time spent on both services, and gives AIM a needed boost against competing sites that are adding instant messaging as a feature.