MySpaceID Getting A Much Needed Upgrade

March 4th, 2009 by Nick Gonzalez

MySpace announced a sneak peak at their soon to be launched upgrade to MySpaceID at DEMO 2009. I’ve fussed with MySpaceID and have several gripes. The product isn’t complete and was not as ambitious as Facebook Connect.

Here’s the list:

Needlessly complicated = The oAuth process could be made significantly easier if MySpace provided an ID library. The only server side customizations needed by the publisher are a secret key and a callback url to receive the user after authorization is complete. Developers currently have to program more than necessary and I have a feeling it’s slowing adoption.

MySpaceID doesn’t support single sign-on = MySpaceID is simply an implementation of oAuth, which makes it a secure way to release a user’s profile information to another site. This is great if you’re importing your info to a new site, but not good if you’re actually trying to use MySpace profiles as your user accounts. MySpace doesn’t automatically log a user into your site.

Needlessly complicated authorization process = MySpace lost momentum with developers because they didn’t open their system fast enough. Consequently when publishers can’t make an attractive profit, they move on to other platforms. As Facebook closes, MySpace should open its platform to all developers and give aid to key developers.

No standard profile image sizes = It may seem like an small issue, but the lack of standard image sizes means you can’t reliably show a user’s profile picture in your templates.

No way to publish back into MySpace = Facebook Connect provides a potentially viral channel to help spread interest in a site, MySpace doesn’t let this happen.

Here’s a preview of the sign on screen:directed_id_popup

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