The latest from Facebook: 'Open Stream API' [CNET News]
Facebook has taken another step toward Twitter's capabilities, with yesterday's release of a new developer framework called the Open Stream API. One of Twitter's strengths is the ability for developers to access tweets via the Twitter application programming interface or API. Those developers can then create a whole new application to allow users to use Twitter in a whole new way - whether its a mobile Twitter interface or a specialized search interface for tweets. Facebook has made the strategic decision to open its users' news feed content to be accessed in the same way tweets are on Twitter. And they're not calling it the "feed" anymore. Now, it's called the "stream."
Already Facebook has wooed Adobe and Microsoft to develop Facebook applications in their respective Air and Silverlight products. Imagine being able to embed a Facebook application in any web page. That's the future of Facebook with the Open Stream API. Of course, it will be up to developers to decide how to implement the API, but if Facebook's experience with creating a development platform for applications a couple of years ago is any indication, there should be plenty of interesting developments in this space in the coming months.
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