By Stevie Smith Nov 1, 2007, 14:31 GMT
In an attempt to elbow its way into the hugely popular social networking scene, Internet search engine giant Google Inc. has this week rolled out its OpenSocial software, which enables developers to spread their creative applications across any social networks that subsequently embrace it.
Google Inc. has revealed its OpenSocial software, which will enable content application creators to produce apps for multiple services rather than writing specifically for only one. Credit: MySpace.
With the recent ‘opening’ of Facebook, a strategic move allowing third-party developers to create application content for users on the rapidly growing social network, Silicon Valley has become a hive of activity working to produce appealing services for Facebook’s users – which have now climbed past the 50 million mark.
Seeing the immense worth and potential of Facebook’s huge applications listing, News Corp-owned MySpace has launched a similar content system for its 100 million users, reports the Financial Times. However, with the introduction of OpenSocial, developers will be able to create apps compatible with any and all social networking sites rather than just one specific service.
"What Facebook created was really revolutionary and kicked off an amazing paradigm shift… We’re still at the very beginning of a long road," commented Ali Partovi, CEO of application creator iLike. "Whether Facebook continues to be not only the first mover but also the key beneficiary of this shift remains to be seen."
Google has described its OpenSocial software as the company’s initial step in a plan to remove existing barriers between online social networking services. It has also outlined its goal to help create interfaces with which users can share data and social connection details without being registered to the same network as the friend receiving the information.
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