OpenSocial may just mark a tipping point in social media, one that levels the playing field.
Another Google launch, another flurry of press coverage; yet this one is interesting, not so much in what it might do for Google, but instead for what it could do for the social networking space as a whole. The launch in question is OpenSocial, an open set of APIs that developers can use to build applications that will work across any of the social networks that have signed up to the program, including MySpace, Ning, LinkedIn and Friendster.
It's no secret that the success of apps built for social networks has prompted something of a gold rush since Facebook opened up its platform earlier in the year. I'm a huge Facebook fan and I love the non-Facebook apps. Because of them, I now have a SuperWall and a Travbuddy, and I can share my music through iLike, my most favorite Facebook find. If these apps are so great, why not open them up to use beyond Facebook? That's where OpenSocial comes in. It looks set to provide a "one size fits all" solution or "one size fits all of those within the OpenSocial network." By creating a social networking network (a mouth-full, I know) for developers it aggregates a user base that is larger than the existing, and rapidly growing, reach of Facebook.
So, does this mean that developers will turn their backs on Facebook? Definitely not, but what I do think is that there is now a strong case to build two different versions of apps. That can only be a good thing for the smaller social networks. With apps that better fit their needs, these smaller social networks will have access to a more level playing field. I look at our experience as evidence. Widgets are one of the areas we're actively exploring as part of the marketing for our new movie community Spill. In the past, conversations internally focused on Facebook simply from a cost/reward basis; OpenSocial changes things.
Source: imediaconnection
