Yahoo Joins OpenSocial Alliance as Google Abdicates Control
As expected, Yahoo joined the OpenSocial Alliance created by Google, but only under the condition that Google transfer control of the social media project to a non-profit organization outside of Google’s purview.
OpenSocial’s goal is to create a common Javascript/HTML powered API language that is applicable for all networks that are part of the alliance. So if you’ve got a great app, you don’t need to learn the API for MySpace, Plaxo, LinkedIn, etc. This will help out smaller social networks who don’t get attention from top developers and make it easier for users to connect to friends in other social networks with their favorite apps.
Google has also noted they will aid developers with Google’s Gadget Editor and a simple API, and Google’s pitch is that you can build a great app with no server. One has the option of using their own server, but if the app hits the big time, Google’s gadget caching technology will ease broadband issues and make things run smoothly.
The newly created OpenSocial Foundation, with founding members from Google, Yahoo, and MySpace, will be created within 90 days and will “ensure the neutrality and longevity of OpenSocial as an open, community-governed specification for building social applications across the Web,” the companies said.
One name notably absent from the OpenSocial hullabaloo is Facebook. OpenSocial was created as a counter to Facebook and it’s massive stable of top-drawer app developers. If any of the other social networks are going to take on Facebook, they’re going to need to join forces, and that’s just what they are doing. Facebook may be forced to join OpenSocial down the road sometime soon, but for now, they are staying out of it.
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