MySpace opens up

Just as predicted right here, MySpace has followed Facebook in its strategy of opening its platform to third party developers and services.

As the FT reports:

The expected change in approach is a reaction to the success of rival Facebook, which last month unveiled a similar step to open its network to outside developers. Although it has less than half as many users as MySpace in the US, Facebook’s approach has won it strong backing from other consumer internet companies, which hope it will give them an easier way to reach the network’s 27m members. 

Openness? Ye gads, it almost sounds like the way the web was meant to be… An essential move for MySpace, though, as I’ve said before.

Questions is, though, just as in LinkedIn‘s case: when they say open, how much do they really mean it?

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3 responses to “MySpace opens up”

  1. Hard to say, and developing something to suit MySpace’s oh-so-ugly user interface might be an uphill battle. Unless an application developer creates something to improve the way it looks.

  2. Surprisingly there’s been a bit of a backlash from Facebook users over the past week or so against the number of not-so-good applications on offer. But I agree that open source should surely be the way to go for free online communities. At the end of the day, I’d much rather see innovative and useful branded applications, than intrusive advertising.

  3. It must be a good thing that Myspace is being opened up to third party developers especially in terms of future development. If it looks crap people can live with that its functionality that’s important. Maybe some customisable skins will be developed for it in the near future.

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