MySpace adds sharing; Facebook clamps down

Posted May 9, 2008 at 05:26 PM by Renay San Miguel

Section: Computers, Security, Web, Web 2.0, Websites

While rumors about buyouts, mergers and partnerships continue to swirl around them, the number one and number two social network websites are announcing new features and services. MySpace, the top social site, is taking the wraps off of “data availability,” which allows members to easily share public profile information and user-generated content with Yahoo!, Ebay, Flickr and Photobucket. And Facebook, after hearing complaints from state attorneys general about the threat from child predators and cyberbullies on its website, has agreed to tighten up security to protect its under-18 users. The social network will work with a task force to make sure identities and ages of members can be verified while trying harder to keep inappropriate content - including alcohol and tobacco advertising - from underage eyes.

The MySpace press release touts data availability as one more step toward a more social Web, a part of the trend to make open standards for more applications the norm on the Internet. The attorneys general keeping an eye on Facebook would no doubt argue that a more social Web is the problem; more dark alleys and dangerous types for them to worry about. It helps that at first glance, the MySpace data availability features seem to require lots of user permission and guarantees from the other websites that they won’t keep the data or use it to spam those doing the sharing. Yahoo! benefits from the MySpace data availability move; working and playing well with other websites is part of its new Yahoo! Open Strategy, and if more application developers and third party websites sign on, it may help bring back some Web cred after the collapse of the Microsoft deal.

Read [Business Wire] Read [Yahoo! News]