Mashups for Everyone Published 2007-08-09 under collaboration, creativity, tools

Thanks for a del.icio.us bookmark from Bud Hunt (aka Bud the Teacher), I found a very interesting article from Wired discussing the problem with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. In summary, these services allow users to put information into their pages but do not provide a open architecture (an API) that allows the information to flow out of the page.

I am a big fan (if you did not already know) of open systems and APIs that allow the sharing of information between services. Admittedly, I am not a Facebook or MySpace user so I just assumed these Web2.0 pillars of social networking provided a means for sharing information outside their own platform. For my money, a defining characteristic of a Web2.0 service is the ability to share information with other services (the availability of an API). Shame on sites that shun APIs.

The article included a side bar link to an article on how to "Replace Facebook Using Open Social Tools". This is definitely worth a read as it is a great summary of the open services that we can mashup to form interesting new sites.

If you have never tried creating a mashup or have never used an API, use this article as a guide to get your feet wet with Open Social Tools. You will marvel how easy it is to create a sophisticated page that draws information from a number of sources. When you are done, share your work with me. I'd love to see what you create.

Tech Tags: wired mashup api facebook myspace