NEWS worthy Clips (2/3)

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The World of Online Networking

The trend catches on

The Facebook decision is already becoming infectious. Social networker LinkedIn said it is looking at opening up its site to third-party development.

MySpace also says it is looking at more broadly opening up to developers. Companies such as YouTube and Photobucket let users link videos and photos to their MySpace pages.

Some companies are adopting a more open approach right from the start. One-year-old Areae is building that it claims will intergrate more easily with other websites by design. Intergration is “a natural next step for social networking,” said president and founder Raph Koster. “I think it is happening fairly quickly.”

Making an impact

The new openness could have a quick impact on the web. Last June, about 99 million people social networks, and several million more roamed virtual worlds, according to the market research firm Nielsen/NetRatings. The changes could quickly attract audiences, especially if creative applications evolve that permit friends to book joint vacations, play fantasy football, or buy and sell products.

The Internet needs to be more spontaneous, added Todd Dagres, partner at Spark Capital. Open sites could help enable more life-like gatherings, similar to online-game communities, where users from around the world compete.

“I think the next iteration of Web 2.0, let’s call it Web 2.5, is to take a lot of stored applications (like a page in a social network) and make them live,” Dagres said.

This is beginning already. Gaia Interactive, a virtual world for teenagers, opened last May where members can join their friends to watch old movies. Avatars plop into chairs [and] chat about the flicks. The films are attracting steady audiences.

“I believe the interoperability of services is a great of the next generation of things for the Internets,” said Gaia Chief Executive Craig Sherman. “I think it is something virtual worlds in general should do.”

Vocabulary Focus

infectious (adj) ---describing something that has an effect on everyone and makes them want to join in

intergrate (v) ---to combine two or more things in order to become more effective

Specialized terms

third-party (adj) ---第三方的referring to someone or something other than the main people or groups directly involved in an arrangement

interoperability (n) ---可互通性the ability of software systems that may be running under different operating systems to exchange and utilize information