Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google's Plans for a Social API

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i'm-still-waiting dept.

NewsCloud writes "After tonight's Breaking Open Facebook with Free Open Source Software, TechCrunch reports Google plans to announce an open API for social networking tomorrow. "OpenSocial is a set of three common APIs, defined by Google with input from partners, that allow developers to access core functions and information at social networks: 1) Profile Information (user data) 2) Friends Information (social graph) and 3) Activities (things that happen, News Feed type stuff)" Says Om Malik: "OpenSocial attacks Facebook where it is the weakest (and the strongest): its quintessential closed nature...Even if you take Facebook out of the equation, the task of writing and adapting widgets for the every increasing number of social platforms was going to be turn into a colossal mess.""

3 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Social API, pthtptpptpththt! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I told a charming, beautiful young woman she could plug into my public API...

    Think about what you insinuated for a moment, then understand why you got slapped. Next time you should offer to plug into HER public API. That way at least you'll know what you're getting slapped for.

    Amateurs.
  2. Marc Andreessen has a great write-up about it here by linuxbaby · · Score: 5, Informative
    Marc Andreessen, founder of Netscape and Ning, has a great write-up about it, here.

    This is kind-of a follow-up to his in-depth thoughts on the Facebook platform that I found really useful, too.

  3. A step in the right direction by samael · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Step one - applications that work in a social network. e.g. Facebook apps.
    Step two - applications that work on lots of different social networks using certain common features. This is where OpenSocial is taking us.
    Step three - applications that work across multiple social networks, so that they can include your contacts from Facebook, Livejournal, Slashdot and LinkedIn.
    Step four - roll-your-own sites that allow you to provide your own basic social infoamtion (using FOAF, OpenID, etc.) so that you don't need to be a member of a social site to produce or consume social network information.

    We're a way off yet - but it looks like we're moving in the right direction.

    --
    My Journal