MySpace's developer application gallery goes live
Social-networking site hasn't seen a huge uptake on its developer platform, so it's likely hoping that linking to an application directory from the home page will help.
This post was updated at 5:15 a.m. PDT on April 28 with comment from MySpace in the last paragraph.
And now for your daily dose of minor social-networking developer application announcements: MySpace.com announced on Thursday that the "application gallery" for its developer platform has made its official debut. Members of the site can browse the offerings and add applications created for the OpenSocial-compatible platform to their profiles.
"The MySpace Application Gallery enables the most meaningful and diverse online experience available on the Internet to date," MySpace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe said in a statement. "MySpace was the original open platform, and the MySpace Application Gallery is the evolution of that vision, taking MySpace users around the world to the next level, and empowering them to take control of their online presence in new and exciting ways."
The MySpace Apps gallery has been live since March in a beta phase; now the only major change is that it's linked from the home page and on members' "control panels." MySpace has said that more than 2.1 million applications have been installed so far; that's notable, but the site has many more than 100 million users, so 2.1 million means that it still has a ways to go before it reaches the viral wildfire that Facebook's platform achieved early on.
At this week's Web 2.0 Expo, MySpace executive Allen Hurff admitted that the News Corp.-owned social network was seeing slow adoption of its developer platform. Putting prominent links to the application gallery on the home page, ideally, will help.
MySpace representatives said over the weekend that the slow roll-out was intentional with regard to stability and safety, and that everything was on track. "Based on developer and user feedback we've received, the MySpace Developer Platform is meeting all internal expectations and goals," a statement from the company read. "The lead up to the official (platform) launch on Thursday has been thoughtful and deliberate and, most importantly, it has been reflective of feedback we've received from users around the world."