MySpace Launches Developer Platform

MySpace developer platform allows the building of custom applications to interact with MySpace pages

This week MySpace announced its developer platform to make it easy for third party developers to build applications that work with MySpace pages. To go along with the new developer platform, the online social site also started a MySpace Developer Platform website where users of the software can build and test applications.

ComputerWorld reports that the Developer Platform site will be open to developers for a month to build and test applications in a live environment before the applications are visible to MySpace members in March.

The heart of the MySpace Developer platform is a set of APIs needed to make applications work with MySpace. The set includes Google OpenSocial with special MySpace extensions to enable JavaScript and HTML to interact with MySpace and Representational State Transfer or REST APIs designed to speed up applications.

MySpace came under fire from a variety of sources over the security of its member information and the illegitimate use of that information by some nefarious users. According to MySpace, the new applications developed with the developer platform will be policed by the same privacy controls now in place for other members.

DailyTech reported earlier this month that MySpace has signed an agreement with 49 states to protect its users. MySpace says that applications created with its new developer kit will never have access to more information that is available on the profile page of a user.

The new MySpace developer’s platform will allow MySpace to compete with Facebook on the customization front. Facebook allows users to make and use customized applications that allow them to interact with other Facebook users.

Some examples of Facebook applications are birthday calendars and applications that allow users to see what they have in common with other users of the same application.