Twitter has taken its already open technology a big step further with @anywhere, a new framework that will allow the microblogging service to be embedded anywhere on the web. First stop, YouTube.
Many popular portals have already implemented @anywhere
Already known for opening up its API (application programming interface) to third-party apps, Twitter has now collaborated with several popular web destinations, including Amazon, Bing, Digg, eBay, The Huffington Post, MSNBC.com, The New York Times, Salesforce.com, Yahoo!, and YouTube to bring the service right into these sites.
YouTube visitors will soon be able to tweet about a video they’ve seen without leaving the video site or follow a writer straight from their byline.
“We’ve developed a new set of frameworks for adding this Twitter experience anywhere on the web. Soon, sites many of us visit every day will be able to recreate these open, engaging interactions providing a new layer of value for visitors without sending them to Twitter.com,” said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.
“Rather than implementing APIs, site owners need only drop in a few lines of java script,” he explained.
Twitter’s @anywhere framework is already developed and ready to launch, but a set date has not been announced yet.
A universal conversation, tool?
With its phenomenal success, @anywhere will take us in some interesting directions. Will our Twitter handles become universal web logins? Or perhaps serve as a standard conversation tool across the social web.
Similarly, Facebook has done this before with its Facebook Connect service that allows users to join other web services using their Facebook account as login credentials or instant messaging and commenting with other sites where the Connect tool is embedded.
By Marie Boran
Photo: Twitter’s @anywhere framework will allow the microblogging service to be embedded anywhere on the web
