Amid the negative comments on how walled a garden really is, facebook secrets dumped Facebook’s homepage’s source code on its blog. The bloggage has mainly been about which risks this exposes: the only thing worse than exposing the source would be a breach of security concerning user data. Although Facebook’s API gives it the aura of openness and connected-ness, it is worthwhile to remember that the Facebook network is a closed shop; the equivalent would be a gated community IRL. And so, while networks like FB but also MMOGs need an open internet to flourish they aren’t paying back in kind. Ola Sundqvist, who recently developed a Rebtel widget for FB makes this point exactly when he says:

Facebook is just another website. It’s popular today and I agree it’s as good as it gets by 2007 standards. With some time and skills, anyone can set up something similar based on Open Source platforms like Joomla and Community Builder.

He’s right of course: looking at the number of social media aggregator services now emerging, which need an aggregator to aggregate them, I’d say we’re reaching a paradigm shift: what we see now is a number of dominant closed standards, where there was open mark-up before…fencing in what should be an open and fluid environment must inevitably lead to a counter swing of the pendulum towards enforced openness.