Open social networking & how to work around that problem now

[femmequixotic]

So I spent my lunch hour distracting myself from the black hole that is my workday by reading Wired blogs as I often do. (I'm a HUGE fan of Wired.com; I read it almost every day. Although it was kind of unsettling when Strikethrough hit the Wired blogs in May.)

Today I came across this: Brad Fitzpatrick, The Creator Of LiveJournal, On The Long

Comments

[zhonnika]

Thanks for the links! I really think this is a step in the right direction. I want to stop worrying about the shit we CAN'T do and start focusing on the shit we CAN do (cross posting, feeds, etc.). This is a whole great way to make that easier.

[femmequixotic]

It's just really gotten me excited, I have to say. I love that Brad's broaching the subject right now...it just ties into what we as a fandom need. And there's so much we can do. It's going to take a bit of work to set it up, but I think if we do...the worries about fragmentation are going to ease.

And it's a positive step. We've been mired in so much negativity this month in fandom. I think it's time to look at what options are available to us and implement them. It's up to us to keep fandom together. And I really strongly believe we can do it.

[heather]

Here via friendsfriends; hope you don't mind. :) But thanks for the links! I've just recently sort of discovered what rss feeds and OpenID even do, so this is all a bit daunting, but it seems like the best and most compatible way to keep track of everything and everyone, which is what's scared me the most about what's been happening lately. My f-list isn't even that huge, but I certainly don't want to lose anyone -- not to mention all the lurking for fic that I do. :p Anyway, thanks for aggregating this info! :)

[thermidor]

Agreed. And thanks!

[winterthunder]

Y'know, it's not the idea of change that I have a problem with, it's the effort of moving. The timing on this whole thing just could not have been worse...

API

[squirrelitude]

I'd like to note that any site with an open API is a good candidate. For example, if both LJ and IJ allow API access (REST, SOAP, what have you), then a Firefox extension could be created that automatically synchronizes and manages both accounts in lockstep.

I'm imagining a tool that would allow seamless interaction between the two services, add new friends to your Google Reader and Syndicated feeds, etc.

There is precedent for interaction between competing/complementary sites. For example, I use a photo-sharing site called Zooomr that was created in reaction to Flickr. Now they are working on allowing seamless cross-site commenting, primarily based on OpenID.