Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


 ANALYSIS 
3

Facebook's Goal: 'Blowing Up the Browser'

Share

(Newser) – Facebook has opened its user “feeds” to widget developers, paving the way to a new existence in the decentralized, cross-platform “AfterWeb,” Josh Quittner writes in Time. Though the move is seen by some as a counter to rival Twitter, which can already be accessed in myriad ways, Quittner sees a more radical rationale. Facebook is “blowing up the browser,” he writes.

The site is "unbundling its Web-site-based business and allowing developers to turn Facebook into a bunch of discrete services that can be delivered over a variety of devices (from PCs to Smartphones) far more easily than via its website,” writes Quittner. Facebook—which looks to be behind a recent spike in downloads of tools developers need for site-specific “AfterWeb” additions—echoed the idea. “A user shouldn’t have to come to facebook.com to use Facebook,” an exec said.

Facebook on a mobile platform.
Facebook on a mobile platform.   (AP Photo)
A Facebook update via mobile phone.
A Facebook update via mobile phone.   (AP Photo)
Opening up the Facebook
Opening up the Facebook "feed" will allow users easier access to just what they want from the site.   (AP Photo)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Two years ago, Facebook made one of its smartest moves when it opened up its platform to outside developers. Blowing up the browser and letting the same developers figure out new ways to use the pieces is every bit as smart. - Josh Quittner

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
11.19.09
Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention
3 comments
VIEWING:
 
shonangreg
Apr 28, 09 7:30 PM CDT
Facebook is a mess. The foundation of their business never did respect and protect users' privacy. Instead, their business model relies on defaulting to "share everything". I hope they can fix it. The filters they are instituting is a good idea, but their implementation is spotty. I am very skeptical facebook will overcome its origins before another social networking site figures out a better way to both connect people and to give them good privacy controls from the beginning. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
Zorro
Apr 28, 09 8:01 PM CDT
I agree with the points about Facebook's issues but you can't argue that their market position still puts them in a place where it will be hard to overcome them. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
shonangreg
Apr 28, 09 9:42 PM CDT
Facebook did it to myspace over the last two years. The window for a repeat with a facebook competitor *is* slowing closing, though.
Vote up! Vote down!
0
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

401 Stories

WHAT'S YOUR VICE?

 Twitter = Crack, and 
 Other Web Equivalents 

YouTube is like shots of tequila; Gmail is caffeine

15 minutes ago
(Newser) - We all have our favorite Internet time-wasters; now, Patrick Moberg gives us their equivalents in real-world vices:
  • Twitter is crack cocaine: “Fucking ANYONE is your friend. Yuppies do it on their iPhone. Cheap. Short. Fruitless.”
  • Tumblr is a bottle of wine: “A quiet
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
YouTube • MySpace • alcohol • Facebook • wine • Gmail • tequila • crack cocaine • Twitter • Tumblr • social lubricant • huffing spray paint • caffeine pills

BIG BROTHER

Cops Use Facebook to Bust Underage Drinkers

Phony 'friend' gains access to drinking photos

Nov 19, 09 6:19 PM CST
(Newser) - Wisconsin college student Adam Bauer should represent a cautionary tale for Facebook users under 21, or otherwise on the wrong side of the law: be careful what you post, and whom you friend. Shortly after accepting a request from an unfamiliar, “good-looking girl,” Bauer was invited to the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • law enforcement • Facebook • sexual predator • underage drinking • invasion of privacy • University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

OPINION

 Time to 
 Crack Down 
 on Jihad 2.0 



Web indoctrination of terrorists on US soil poses major threat

Nov 19, 09 8:46 AM CST
(Newser) - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has knocked Nidal Hasan out of the headlines but the Fort Hood suspect is the kind of threat America needs to focus on, warns Daniel Henninger. Home-grown terrorists, indoctrinated over the Internet, are now more of a danger than "old-school" jihadis abroad, and the ideology that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • terrorism • free speech • Facebook • First Amendment • counterterrorism • terror websites • domestic terrorism • Nidal Malik Hasan

401 Stories


Facebook's privacy regs mean gambit can't succeed
ZDNet


Technology  •  Business  •  Media 
TwitterFollow @NewserTech on Twitter

 
social networking • Internet • Facebook • software developers • Adobe AIR • Twitter • AfterWeb • decentralized

from our news partners