wanderingstan

It’s long overdue.

Almost 4 years ago I started to get excited about what could be done with a social graph (or network, as we called ‘em back then). My head swam with possibilities of a real trust network: get product and company reviews , prevent spyware and check validity of files, control process execution, and of course use your network for trusted searching. That last one let to the development of Lijit, which was been my life for the last 3 years.

I never imagined how hard it would be to actually get a graph. The “big guys” of MySpace and Facebook sealed their users’ graphs in TOS-protected Silos, and users grew wary of re-friending on every new web service. Open standards like FOAF and XFN were there, but no one really used them. It was beginning to look like social graph innovation would be limited to whatever the big guys wanted to allow.

So I’m excited about Google’s new Social Graph API. There’s a still a long way to go, but maybe with Google’s weight other services will allow users to publish their graphs and be available to this API.

Google went big by using the information in the Web’s link-graph. What exciting new tools will be possible when we have real access to the social graph?

Related: Not all links are created equal

I want to make a Lijit gadget for Windows Live.

I go to http://dev.live.com/gadgets/

I observe in the second post that the “See post here” text is not a link.  Hmmm, shoddy HTML coding. Oh well.

I’d like to get started. So I click on Getting Started.

I download the samples and jump through all the hoops of configuring IE safety zones and such.

I follow the instructions to go to http://www.live.com. The directions say to click the “Add Stuff” button, but it’s not there.

After a few minutes of poking around, I figure out that I have to click on “Personalized Page” first. Ah, okay. Wish they would have said that.

I look for a way to leave a comment, or write the author, or wiki-edit the page. Nothing. Oh well.

I try to add their example widget but get an error: “This feed cannot be added. Please try again later.”

Ugh.

I go back to http://dev.live.com/gadgets/ and head for the Forum for help.

I find a thread about a similar problem from March 2006. The guy having the problem is a Microsoft employee! At bottom of page I learn that the Getting Started page I was on left out some important necessary changes to IE. Seems even MS employees can’t edit that page.

I make those changes.

It still doesn’t work.

I go back to forum to leave a message. I try to sign up. I get an error. I try again, this time in Firefox. It works.

I look for a way to post a message, can’t find one.

I notice the copywrite on the page is “Copyright 2005 Microsoft Corporation.” 2 years ago?

In desperation, I click the Home Button. There I learn that these forums have been discontinued for a year and moved to MSDN. They’re just around as archives.

Ugh.

In the new forums I find someone else with the same problem. The post is from 7 months ago. No replies.

I add a reply with my tale of woe.

I give up. Maybe I’ll try later?

On the heels of Facebook’s API: The unofficial Facebook blog is reporting that LinkedIn may open their platform. Seth Goldstein is reporting rumors that MySpace may open theirs:

While I don’t have fresh data on hand to support this hunch, the well-sourced rumor I heard last week about MySpace scrambling feverishly to open their API’s reinforces what is becoming obvious: MySpace’s Kremlin-esque behavior towards 3rd party widget developers -”we buy them or we crush them!”- is on a crash course with the debauched dirty-dancing going on amidst the MySpace spring-breakers.

This is exciting news!

As a hacker, it is exciting to imagine the mash-up possibilities.

As an idealist, it is exciting to see that the silos may be cracking.

As a Lijit founder, it is exciting that more content from individuals can be rolled into their personal search engine.

Here’s hoping the rumors are true!

[Silo photo by Ixio]