Serendipity35

Back at the start of summer, Google launched Google Gears. They said they were making the web better by making it work offline

This month they launched a way to make the web more social. They introduced OpenSocial, which is a set of common APIs that make it easy to create and host social applications on the web. Developers can write an application once and it will run anywhere that supports the OpenSocial APIs. Those of us using the sites get more applications in more places. OpenSocial Using uses standard JavaScript and HTML.

Who has signed on to this OpenSocial application community? So far, it includes MySpace, Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING.

Anyone missing? Uh huh - no Facebook. Those guys are building their own less-open social network of API's - and an advertising world.

On the "social net" part of the Internet, hundreds of millions of people are sharing photos, videos, ratings and reviews, bookmarks and forming communities. But if you're a developer, do you create for MySpace because it's a big player and then adapt it for the next site? And then do it a few more times? OpenSocial opens platforms for developers to extend.

Wait - isn't that what Facebook did awhile ago? They opened their own APIs and gave access to user profiles and friend networks, and if a user elects to add an application (and it seems like their are a few new ones every day on Facebook) it can post activities so that all your friends know your activities.

Good, but developers still need to customize their application for each one. Considering how many of these Web 2.0 companies are just a few people, it's not very practical.

Do you think that any of the big educational software companies will ever open their applications like this?

Maybe in platforms like Moodle, but I just don't see it happening with players like Blackboard. Remember when Blackboard created Building Blocks to allow developers to add on? Then Turnitin.com was able to connect. Now, Blackboard has unveiled a new plagiarism prevention service of its own, SafeAssign that detects unoriginal content in student papers and delivers reports within the Blackboard Learning System. Open?

Blackboard is selling features. Facebook is clearly using the APIs to drive more traffic to their advertising. Google is... well, I'm not sure. Driving users to their ads? Helping organize the web?

Colleges can use these APIs too, but some will question whether driving traffic to a site is something they want to do. Maybe schools AND developers will want a slice of the revenue.

If, like me, you didn't get an invite to the CampFire One event at the Googleplex, you can watch the video version. The developer types that were there explain this open, programmable web.