BuddyPress is a multiuser Wordpress install with a set of plugins that add a ton of social functionality. Things like private messaging, profiles, friends, groups, activity streams, and such. It is basically your own social network in a box. Very interesting. I haven’t played with it much but I intend to do so. There is a lot of potential here.
Browsing Posts tagged social
Google’s Friend Connect is now open to all web sites. The post I’ve linked to then asks the question – who will control on-line identity? and frames the answer in a competition between Facebook Connect and OpenID.
I’ve got a feeling both will be coexisting for a while. My tendency is to favor open over closed – yet I can’t ignore the behemoth that is facebook. We’ll see what happens.
On a related note, I pulled the first Facebook Connect plugin that I had tried. Didn’t care for the way it was layed out or looked. I’ll be trying the second soon. Maybe this next week.
Facebook Connect enables integration between external sites and facebook. What this means is that many of you who already have blogs outside facebook can now use Facebook Connect to bring Facebook to your blog and your blog back to Facebook. This includes Identity, Friends, Discovery and Privacy. There is already a Facebook Connect plugin directory with plugins for Moveable Type and WordPress; blog widgets for JS-Kit, Disqus, NetworkedBlogs, and RPX as well as a plugin for MediaWiki. I am sure there will be more to come in the future. I’m checking out the WP plugins right now – going to have to see what this brings me.
Tim O’Reilly made some waves with his endorsment of then presidential nominee Barack Obama. Today in his O’Reilly Radar blog post Tim lays out a 4 point plan for those active in the information technology world to get actively involved in political change. There are some interesting ideas here, not just for those concerned with U.S. politics, but for anyone interested in effecting social change with technology. I’m especially interested in the applications here – not because I intend to get more involved in politics but rather because much of this speaks directly to my desire to see more people involved in effecting global change.
