The web is better when it's social

The web is more interesting when you can build apps that easily interact with your friends and colleagues. But with the trend towards more social applications also comes a growing list of site-specific APIs that developers must learn.

OpenSocial defines a common API for social applications across multiple websites. With standard JavaScript and HTML, developers can create apps that access a social network's friends and update feeds.

On this site you'll find information about how you can run your OpenSocial apps in Google products like iGoogle and orkut. For general docs on OpenSocial, check out the community wiki and the official site at opensocial.org .

Many sites, one API

A common API means you have less to learn to build for multiple websites. OpenSocial is currently being developed by a broad set of members of the web community. The ultimate goal is for any social website to be able to implement the API and host 3rd party social applications. There are many websites that support OpenSocial, including hi5, LinkedIn, MySpace, Netlog, Ning, orkut, and Yahoo! Check out the full list of OpenSocial containers .