Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 9:40 AM

The dog days of summer

  • We're in the final stretch of the summer, and things are about as slow as they ever get in tech news. #

  • That's why Tuesday's blockbuster, that you can publish to Facebook, and update the posts (the key new feature) didn't make much of a splash. #

  • People also aren't expecting news about Facebook to come from this direction. But it is a big deal. And there will be, Murphy-willing, more great stuff that follows.#

  • Working with Facebook#

    • I should also say that I have been meeting with people from Facebook now for about three months. The collaboration has been excellent. Reminds me of the work I did with Microsoft in the late 90s that led to XML-RPC. There was magic there, and there's magic now. #

  • My goal#

    • I want Facebook to become a first class publishing surface, accessible from tools that run outside the Facebook environment. With this, the tools can overcome one major objection, that they don't connect with the powerful engagement features of Facebook, and the huge user base. And, even more important, it will make it possible for new tools to gain traction, because users will not have to choose between an attractive idea and all their readers and friends. They can have both.#

  • Other platforms#

    • I would be surprised if WordPress and Tumblr don't implement this connection, making it possible to hot-link content from their environment to Facebook. They already implement the other direction, supporting APIs that allow tools to publish into them. This should be something every publishing platform supports. By showing everyone the demo app, you now know what to ask for, and what to show the developers if they don't believe.#

    • Pro tip: The JavaScript source code for the connection.#

  • Users -- don't accept lock-in#

    • As users, there's no reason to publish to a locked-up environment. You shouldn't be doing it. If you can't get content into the platform from the outside, or get it out once it's in there, then you should stay away. It's bad for the web. I rarely point to articles on such platforms. And you shouldn't put your best ideas in there.#

    • Getting Facebook onboard here eliminates any possible excuse a publishing platform might have.#

    • But it's summertime, and most people won't hear this. No problem. We'll keep shipping new software and moving into new niches created by this opening. #

Last built: Sun, Mar 22, 2015 at 5:51 PM

By Dave Winer, Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 9:40 AM. Yeah well, that's just, you know, like, your opinion, man.