MySpace and Bebo join Google’s OpenSocial team
By Lindsay Blakely
Google today announced two big new partners in its battle to make social networks more open — MySpace and Bebo.
When news surfaced Tuesday of Google’s (GOOG) OpenSocial alliance, MySpace (NWS) and Bebo were conspicuously absent from the list of partners joining the effort to create common standards for social networking applications. So, not surprisingly, was top-tier network Facebook.
OpenSocial will allow developers to build widgets that work across a network of social networks that include Hi5, LinkedIn, Ning, Friendster and now MySpace and Bebo.
“This is the logical next step,” said MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe during a Thursday afternoon conference call at Google headquarters. “Having an open platform where developers can reach a critical mass of people — we’re at over 200 million users now — is an amazing breakthrough for the developer community.”
Facebook requires developers to write their applications in code that is proprietary to its network. OpenSocial developers will use HTML and Javascript.
“We want to see [OpenSocial] adopted by as many people as possible,” said Vic Gundotra, head of Google’s developer program. “We have reached out to almost everyone in the industry.”
Facebook did not immediately return requests for comment.
- What Microsoft will do next
- Sprint’s best customers are hanging up
- The BlackBerry is in for a bruising
- Wall Street looks for a signal from Sprint
- Take-Two vulnerable despite $500M blockbuster
- Google-Yahoo deal faces resistance
- News Corp. execs not talking to Yahoo or Microsoft
- Cisco’s half-full outlook
- Sprint and Clearwire cleared for WiMax launch
- Yahoo discord heats up
- I used to be a Verizon customer. I w... More
- I have been with sprint for 7 years n... More
- Sprint has destroyed the Nextel brand... More
- RE: Kevin, Albuquerque, NM : May 12,... More
- Wow I thought I was THe only person w... More
- In my opinion, the iPhone is and rema... More
- Dear Writer, be better informed. Blac... More
- Sprint will invest money in having th... More
- I can tell you that my company is dit... More
- Microsoft Windows Mobile will bury RI... More




