Just when the MySpace Platform is the talk of the tech world, another social networking site, Friendster, announced its own Developer Platform. Known as the “third stage” of Friendster’s development, looks like we are seeing social networking sites opening up for third party developer to spice the network up.
This developer platform consists of a set of APIs to Friendster data and seamless integration points within the Friendster web site to create an application within Friendster, called a “widget“.
Widgets created are showcased in a directory format, similar to FaceBook’s applications directory. When a Friendster user adds a widget from the widget directory or grabs a widget from someone’s profile, the user will be directed to the widget install page and configure the widget to the user’s needs. After this, the user’s friends will then see an event “Added a widget <widget_name>” in their tracker.
Grabbing a widget from another profile is possible, just like how FaceBook shares its applications like a virus. Like Facebook and MySpace, Friendster will allow developers to advertise with their widgets with a 100% revenue takings.
Looks like having applications within a Social Network is no longer a luxury, as it’s becoming a must users or they would turn to other social networks which offers better. It’s a good news for end users, as these widgets, applications within social networks will enhance our experience in social networks. This is also essential for Friendster as without a platform to open up the service it provides, it might end up losing more userbase than it is already ever since FaceBook and MySpace came into shine.
Nevertheless, Friendster is still very popular among Asians, especially Chinese users from China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. There are already many many Fan Profiles in Friendster, particularly used by Musicians, Models of the Asian community to promote themselves.
With the recent availability of Friendster in the Traditional and Simplified Chinese Language, rolling out the developer platform will be a plus to capture back the many hearts it lost to.
For developers, here’s where you should checkout.
Leave a Reply