October 29th, 2007
Meebo joins the season of platforms
On its second anniversary Meebo rolled out APIs for developers to write applications that leverage its Web-based instant messaging service. For starters, external applications built in Javascript or Flash include TokBox video/audio calling, Pudding Media’s voice chat, and TalkShoe group voice call and live streaming via Ustream. Other applications in the works include games, a restaurant finder, shopping and other activities that can take advantage of buddy lists, according the company blog.
Meebo joins Facebook, MySpace and others in the season of platforms. To survive the upcoming winter in Web 2.0, companies are opening up their platforms and encouraging developers to support them. As we have seen with Facebook, a robust development platform tapping into a social graph, or buddy list in meebo’s case, can be a powerful growth mechanism.
See also: Techmeme
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
