Google Enters Social Networking Domain

On Friday, as reported by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Google Inc. publicly announced the release OpenSocial, an application programming interface to build social applications across the internet.

OpenSocial will lend web developers a tool to "build far-reaching applications that users can enjoy regardless of the web sites, applications, or social networks they use." It will create a standard for running social applications on the web, and Google hopes that OpenSocial's technologies will allow the entire Internet to become more social.

Several existing social networking sites have committed to supporting OpenSocial, including Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace, Plaxo and Six Apart. The eighteen sites on board now represent an audience of about 200 million users from around the world.

With permission from users, OpenSocial will give developers access to the data needed to build social applications: access to profile information, friends lists and the ability to share activities with friends. JavaScript and Gdata API access will allow developers the right to use social functions, sample codes, documentation and a support group.