Facebook responds to OpenSocial

Facebook is to make its developer platform available to other social networks, allowing brands to port apps to other sites that adopt the same standards.

The move forms a response to Google's OpenSocial project, which aims to create a common standard for developing and delivering social network apps.

According to Facebook's Ami Vora:

“Now we also want to share the benefits of our work by enabling other social sites to use our platform architecture as a model. In fact, we’ll even license the Facebook Platform methods and tags to other platforms."

It's a smart move from Facebook - one that answers critics of its closed system and is another reason for widget developers to create apps for its network. 

Bebo, which announced its Open Application Platform this week, has become one of the first networks to commit to the new system, though it also intends to adopt OpenSocial.

According to Facebook:

"We're glad to see Bebo take advantage of the work we've put into designing and building a complete, usable platform. Having similar platforms across multiple social sites is good for everyone."

Related stories:
MySpace joins Google's OpenSocial platform
LinkedIn opens up its platform 

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