With all the recent buzz on OpenSocial, Google's new open API for social networks, Web Guild's event: OpenSocial--High Octane for Widgets and Web Apps caught my eye. So I headed down to the Googleplex on Wed. night to listen to the panel discussions to find out more about OpenSocial with an eye for how nonprofits can leverage this platform.

A central idea behind OpenSocial is that instead of having multiple marketing strategies for different online social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), OpenSocial would allow you to have a singular strategy that can be applied to multiple platforms. The Web is the platform so developers can use common languages and develop standards.

At the moment, OpenSocial is a number of smaller container partners and developers working with Google. No big partners (i.e. Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft, etc.) are on board as of yet.The inevitable question was posed, "Will Facebook adopt the standard?" In theory, the answer could be yes. Anyone can choose to adopt OpenSocial standards.

Some of my thoughts/observations from the panel:

--While there's the concern that if each container has more patterns, this could reduce interoperability, OpenSocial is advocating that the more ideas that are out there, the better. From these ideas, the better and working patterns will develop and become standards. However, I question whether Google will be the predominant driving force of what standards are ultimately accepted.

--Value for mobile social network is tying in social technologies while you’re mobile, relevant on multi-platforms, you can use any UI you're used to, but will have access to more data

--Many things are still a work in progress and many points have yet to be ironed out. Much more work is needed on standardization, authority systems, security models and authentication

--No clear way yet on how to track usage across multiple sites. Currently there's no standard on how to track (though one could plug in Google Analytics).

--The release of Android and Open Social near the same time was coincidence, but it's no coincidence that Google and others are exploring combined open social efforts across these developments. I'm reminded of one of Marshall Kirk's concern over OpenSocial: Is Google exercising leadership or control?

--There was the question of how OpenSocial could work with virtual worlds. The answer? Why not?

--In Facebook, applications have a certain way of getting exposure and spreading. With OpenSocial, it will be interesting to see if different ways of spreading applications emerge

--How will OpenSocial fit in with search mechanisms across platforms? Very different information can be mined from activity streams versus global streams or for individual sites versus across multiple platforms. I see this has having multiple implications that we might not be able to gauge the value or impact of yet.