All of the buzz around Facebook in recent months has been decidedly unidirectional. Data flowing into Facebook. Apps being built for Facebook. Companies having to treat their Facebook users and their Web users as different businesses.
Well I’m happy to say that at least some data is flowing out Facebook. Yesterday, Netvibes announced their new Facebook Widget – a Netvibes panel that allows you to keep track of your Facebook alert panel and view your friends’ profile pics, right from your Netvibes start page.
So does this mean that Facebook is an open platform? Not really. Says Netvibes founder Tariq Krim:
Facebook does not currently allow outsider providers to access the News Feed. In other words, Facebook won't let us display your News Feed from the front page in our widget (or change your status for that matter.) If you would like to see the News Feed in your Netvibes Widget, please join our Facebook grouptell Facebook!
So can we expect to see more Facebook content and functionality made available to third parties?
Fred Wilson doesn't think that most Facebook users - beyond the TechCrunch 50K - will care either way. And history tells us that market leaders have an incentive to stay closed and proprietary - at least until the market matures.
For more on the historical arguments for why technology markets may or may not move from proprietary systems to open systems, see Nick Carr.
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