Google's OpenSocial Platform Releases

shadowmage13 writes "Google just announced that starting tonight, developers can start writing applications using the social API for Orkut, MySpace, Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, Ning, Oracle, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING at http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial. Will Facebook give in?" There is quite a bit of analysis of this announcement available in yesterday's discussion.

Comments

How many of those have you heard of?

[m50d]

Really? I count two, three if you include google. And "different from myspace" has been one of facebook's main attractions. This won't put any pressure on facebook.

Re:How many of those have you heard of?

[iluvcapra]

I think I have a friendster account, I made it in 2005 when all the pretty young things in Hollywood were using it for their "social" (sing. n.). I haven't used it since the week I made it, I doubt I could even log into it now (everybody went to myspace after about a month, and then to facebook, and nobody ever checks their page anyways). I suspect the number of accounts many social networking sites report come with the same caveat. I think the real question is "How many logins have at least one access per week? Per day?" The real gem is owning a website that people use every day and keep current with real information.

The salesforce.com numbers are the most interesting, since the contacts that particular corpus tracks are recorded by paying subscribers, and are used in commercial transactions, and not by vapid teeners to promote their band or unite with other Gossip Girls fans.

Of course, this information is really useful if you're selling cheap amps or advertising time for the CW, but considering the quality of the source, you might as well be using wikipedia to find the exchange rate of the dollar.

Re:How many of those have you heard of?

[trawg]

How ridiculous and arrogant. How can you accuse the parent of such things when most probably he's not in the target market group for these sites? There's nothing ridiculous or arrogant about it - it's then even more petulant of him to just dismiss them as the GP did if he's not in the target market, because then it's much more likely that he has absolutely no knowledge of the subject matter that he's opining on.

It'd be like me not knowing anything about web servers and then hearing that Google use Apache as their web server software and SmallCompanyX does too, and then assuming that noone else uses Apache at all.

Again, no!

[DragonWriter]

What is it with Slashdot headlines and the idea that "release" is an intransitive verb such that "X releases" means approximately the same thing as "X became available"?

"Release" is a transitive verb. The subject is the thing letting something out, the object is the thing let out. "Google's OpenSocial Platform Releases", no, sorry, if you say that, you need to say what it is that Google's OpenSocial platform releases. "Google Releases OpenSocial Platform", yes.

Re:Now Google???

[Pazy]

Why be suprised at google, they will be opening there own coffee shop franchise soon. Maybe fund a few space flights. They could do anything and I wouldent even blink anymore lol

Duh

[Mr_Silver]

Will Facebook give in?

No.

Time and history has shown us that when you're number 1, you don't give in until you absolutely have to - because you don't need to.

That time has not yet come...

Re:Duh

[yashinka]

Perhaps they don't have the most accounts, but with the huge amount of fake accounts on MySpace, that figure is meaningless. I, like many people I know, have accounts on MySpace, Friendster and maybe a few others, but I only log in when I have friend requests.

Facebook has the best UI and it already has tons of great apps. Until those apps move and all my friends move and users start changing back, I don't think Facebook has anything to worry about. Facebook has the most used photo app and events app on the internet, and those are just two of many. I think it's safe to say they are number one for now.

Re:Duh

[Anonymous Coward]

If you add "in the US" to every sentence you wrote, then, you'd be accurate.

"Will Facebook give in?"

[Thwomp]

Would Microsoft be happy with this? After all they're sworn enemies of Google. Remember Microsoft has invested in Facebook, how much control/influence does it have on the company?

Load of Crap

[z-j-y]

It's Friday evening, and I don't have any friend, real or virtual. So I actually watched that retarded video. (highly recommended for a good laugh)

All it is supposed to be, is so that you can write some stupid client side gadget, and you gadget can be run on every participating websites. BFD.

Each site is still an isolated island. You gadget doesn't run across sites, it only runs on every sites. It is not for sharing anything or interacting with anybody among different sites.

I've assumed that OpenSocial is about connecting users on different sites, probably most people did too, just from the misleading name and the hypes. But there's nothing open or social about it.

One might argue that eventually Google will do that. I highly doubt it. What's in it for Google? All I am seeing at this point, is that they want to label FaceBook as a party pooper therefore it should be outcasted. How social is that.

Re:BAD BAD LINK!

[4D6963]

Nah, this thing is fake to a certain extent. I've never seen human poop looking like that, they probably stuffed some brown stuff up their bottom and "crapped" it.

FB is #1 in number of 3rd party applications

[Anonymous Coward]

The point of this exercise isn't audience size. No other social networking site has the API buzz that Facebook has created, nor the number of deployed applications.

So the answer "no", Facebook won't give in. Maybe when they start losing market share, but not now. Actually, this looks more like an act of desperation from the other social networking sites to catch up. When competitors join up against a common foe, it says a lot about the strength of that foe.