Open Social != Open Data
posted in Web2.0 |As the hype (which, I agree I have contributed to) around OpenSocial dies down, the reality behind OpenSocial becomes clear. Tim O’Reilly has a bang-on post about the fact that OpenSocial does not mean that users can have data portability. Apparently, the data stays in the container (the social network site) and probably can’t move beyond it. Tim says:
If all OpenSocial does is allow developers to port their applications more easily from one social network to another, that’s a big win for the developer, as they get to shop their application to users of every participating social network. But it provides little incremental value to the user, the real target. We don’t want to have the same application on multiple social networks. We want applications that can use data from multiple social networks.
TechCrunch suggests the issue is in the business model:
Unfortunately, the business models have not been worked out yet to accommodate such mixing of data. If a social mashup starts making money from ads, how would that be split up between the host site, the app developer, and all the other applications or social networks from which that mashup pulls data? O’Reilly doesn’t really have an answer for that one.
I don’t really have an answer to that one either, but for our sector, that’s really where the power is going to lie. Sure, some very savvy organizations will do well if they have to develop only two (or one) app for social networks. But it’s the remixing of data from many networks that provides the real win for users and nonprofits.
Tags:google nptech opensocial web2.0
