What will be the documentation equivalent to Google’s OpenSocial?

Google’s OpenSocial project is causing quite a buzz at the moment. According to the New York Times, “Its initiative, which it calls OpenSocial, is an appeal to software developers and Web sites to cooperate in adopting a single set of software standards for the little software widgets that can add a social-networking layer to all Web sites. Agreement on a standard would save users from the aggravation of joining multiple networks and save developers from the aggravation of writing code that works only with specific sites. Unlike Facebook’s programming requirements, Google’s use nonproprietary programming languages.” It’s a move that promises to change social networks like MySpace and Bebo from islands into universal communities. It’s not a question of “Will they open up?”, but “How much more will they open up?”.

See

http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/technology/04digi.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

There is little technology in OpenSocial that I can see would relate to the documentation community. It’s more the mindset in play – whether technical communication will move away from the “island” approach we adopt today.

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