Hat tip to Brady
This is huge! One API to rule them all? Finally, a common standard for developers to write social utility apps. 2008 IS going to be the year of the social network app.
Google has announced OpenSocial, a new open API for social networks. The new standard will allow developers to create Facebook-like apps on any social network site that implements it with the same calls.
The open API will have three parts
- People
- Storage
- Activity stream
All of these calls will have a GData counterpart and they will use HTML and Javascript only. On Thursday the following links should go live:
- http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial — the documentation for OpenSocial
- http://sandbox.orkut.com - a sandbox for testing apps
Google’s launch partners are hi5, iLike, Slide, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Ning and SixApart (the largest). Check out Techmeme, Techcrunch, and the New York Times for more coverage.
Google will be holding the first of their developer CampFires at the GooglePlex this Friday to explain OpenSocial. A CampFire is Google’s new method of disseminating information to developers. These events will be invite-only and will include about thirty developers. Video of the event will be available in the days following.
Google’s OpenSocial API will gain traction with a lot of social networks, but I doubt that we will see Facebook or MySpace supporting it. Both are large enough to require their own API.
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1 Web 2.0 - Social Media - Internet News - Blogging » Google strikes BACK! The OpenSocial API is born // Oct 31, 2007 at 4:54 pm
[...] Blake Brannon wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptHat tip to Brady. This is huge! One API to rule them all? Finally, a common standard for developers to write social utility apps. 2008 IS going to be the year of the social network app. Google has announced OpenSocial, a new open API … [...]
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