Sure, if they existed, the apps would be social, and yeah, there would be more incentive to develop apps if OpenID were in place, being that the demand was already there.

So, maybe apps are the brick wall after OpenID, the “now what?” moment. OpenId is just a time-saving toy if you don’t provide useful content.

Thanks.

We (as in AppsLab) have been taking the social network approach (a la Facebook) for now, since Connect is our first app. And we wanted to start with that experiment.

I’d like to see both within an enterprise, since there are fewer pressures, no Facebook vs. Google battles. That empowers the users to stay in the interface they prefer. This won’t fly on the interwebs though, unless Google (or someone) can make everyone play nice.

Jake

“Social Apps” are just a speed bump on the road to Identity 2.0, IMHO.

Once there’s a coherent, simple, open, distributed way to port your identity (and contacts) between servers, the distinction of a “social app” completely disappears.

Suddenly, EVERYTHING is a social app.

Related rants:

http://bexhuff.com/2007/08/open-social-networks-livejournal-leads-charge-cliff
http://bexhuff.com/2007/08/identity-management-will-destroy-social-software

You propose a question below…and I would like to know which road you are taking? Or maybe both?

“Either bring the stuff I want/need to do into the network (the Facebook platform approach), or add the network features to the stuff I want/need to do.”

I believe that a social network in the Enteprise will be the glue that pulls all of the social apps together in one place, centered around the user. However, each social app should still be able to stand on it’s own two feet without the social network.

The social network actually adds value to the social apps by linking them together (from the perspective of the user) and also distributing their content throughout the network. You could potentially have a bunch of social apps without a social network, but they wouldn’t be as effective.

Thoughts?

Adam