MySpace opens up

9 May 2008

MySpace users will soon be able to share information from their profile with third-party websites, the social network has announced.

 

Using an opt-in system, users will be able to share profile data including basic information, photos, videos and friend networks with sites including Yahoo, eBay and Twitter.

 

The 'Data Availability' initiative uses OAuth, an open protocol. MySpace says that it is using open standards "in an effort to embrace the open source community and allow the implementation to be as non-proprietary as possible".

 

"Data Availability is about enriching existing internet destinations with social functionality and valuable pre-existing user generated content and data," it said in a statement. "By empowering users with the ability to dynamically share, those destinations will create deeper levels of social engagement and new functionality throughout their site," it added.

 

"We're starting to see the floodgates open and the idea of data sharing become a reality," wrote Michael Arrington in TechCrunch. "By acting first, MySpace takes the lead and has a shot at being the long term winner - meaning lots of people use MySpace as the place to store data, and share it out to other applications from there."

 

"Look for Google to make their move next," he added.

 

Meanwhile, Facebook has entered an agreement with 49 US states to implement new privacy and safety safeguards. The agreement, aimed at protecting members from sexual predation and identity theft, commits Facebook to a raft of changes to the way it moderates content and protects its users' privacy.

 

Announcing the agreement, Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal said that it is similar to one reached with MySpace in January.

Category: Other, Social media