It was a good week to root for OpenSocial. The (Google) empire strikes back
1) Myspace is starting to publicize applications to its users. (plug: here's a little app I wrote to display a daily Bible verse on your Myspace profile)
2) Hi5's OpenSocial apps have been very well-received
3) iGoogle hints at becoming a social networking feed aggregator.
#3 is NOT traditional iGoogle gadgets. It's evolving to support OpenSocial applications that live on various social networking sites. But you won't see the latest and greatest OpenSocial apps on iGoogle anytime soon (as some bloggers have incorrectly assumed).
You'll see cool apps show up first on Myspace and Hi5 and Bebo and the many other social networks out there. Then an OpenSocial container or portal will be the bridge of the future, allowing its users to aggregate all the meaningful friend activity that's going on in various sites - through these social applications. Another step closer to social networking interoperability
Yahoo also joined the OpenSocial Empire, so they're thinking along these lines as well for My Yahoo. Facebook, of course, is absent from OpenSocial. They don't want to play in Google's sandbox.
It's like the Mac vs Windows platform battle all over again. The platform that has the best developers will ultimately win. This week showed some life in the sleeping giant, Myspace, as well as the monopolistic Microsoft Google.
- Joe from MyChurch.org, social networking for churches
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