Google leads alliance for open social networking standard
Posted by Jacque on November 2nd, 2007
MySpace and Bebo have joined a Google-led alliance promoting a common set of standards, called OpenSocial, for software developers to write programs for social networks, reports the New York Times.
Facebook’s opening of their site recently led to fast growth of “things to do” on the social network and gained it a lot of press. We reported earlier on the need for MySpace and Google to follow suit.
The Times article says Google’s alliance “now presents a powerful counterweight to Facebook.” MySpace, still the world’s largest social network with 110 million active members, along with Britain’s top site, Bebo, could bring pressure on Facebook to drop its own standard and join OpenSocial.
“OpenSocial is going to be become the de facto standard for developers right out of the gate,” said Chris DeWolfe, chief executive of MySpace, in a press conference at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. “It will have access to 200 million users, making it way bigger than any other platform out there.”
Others participating in the OpenSocial alliance include Friendster, Hi5, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Ning and the blogging network SixApart, as well as the software makers Oracle and SalesForce.com. Creators of several of the most popular programs on Facebook, including Slide, RockYou, iLike and Flixster, have announced their intention to write programs conforming to the OpenSocial standards.
Check out the OpenSocial site for more information and a video.
