Microblogging: Social Networking In the Short

DDJ: Talking with us today is Petteri Koponen, co-founder and CTO of Jaiku, a company that is looking for new ways to connect people by freely sharing short messages called "Jaikus" via a process called "microblogging."

Petteri, What is "microblogging"?

PK: Social behavior is moving towards groups in a state of conversation and connectedness. Micoblogging is a new, online user experience where you can write short, 140-character blog posts that we call "Jaikus" and that say what you're doing, how you're feeling, or where you're going right now. Posting is easy using the Web, IM, SMS, and desktop clients. Friends and family members can react to Jaikus and start a conversation. You can comment on anyone's Jaiku using the Web. Jaiku also offers users a single, point of online presence for social networking. Users can also share lifestream information (RSS feeds from FlickR, de.licio.us, personal blog entries, and the like) at one location and connect with friends doing the same.

DDJ: What opportunities does microblogging offer software developers?

PK: We have positioned Jaiku as an open platform for multi-channel microblogging, enabling third-party developers to extend Jaiku to new devices and operating systems, to integrate it with various external services, and to find completely new use cases for it.

Jaiku's API and its open data model let developers create various applications and services that extend Jaiku's functionality and reuse the information it stores. In addition to providing an open API, we have created a developer web site which contains the API documentation and information on third-party projects. Furthermore, we have opened a Jaiku channel for discussion around the API and other developer topics. We are working on different means of promoting the third-party projects in addition to listing them on devku.org.

Jaiku provides both an JSON (JavaScript Object Notation, and XML-RPC (XML Remote Procedure Call,) API. The API is based on a simple URL design and key-based authentication.

At the moment, the Jaiku API supports reading both the public Jaiku stream and the lifestream of individual users, in addition to getting the user information and her current presence. Third-party applications can post Jaikus via the API, including setting the Jaiku icon and location for the Jaiku.

The current third-party projects range from Windows Mobile and J2ME (Java 2 Micro-Edition) clients for Jaiku to plug-ins for Facebook, Google, and WordPress.

There is also the JUHU client for the MacOS and the SIDEKU client for Vista.

DDJ: Mobility seems to be central to the concept of microblogging. What novel technology have you put in place to support mobility?

PK: Mobility is central to our vision. Using compatible Nokia S60 mobile devices, users can carry Jaiku with them. With our own Jaiku Mobile application, you can see what friends are doing right in your phone's contact list. You can also post Jaikus and have them show up on the Web and in your friend's phone. And you can share presence -- your availability, location and calendar -- publicly, or only with selected contacts. Several mobile applications today let users access Jaiku. WidSets, from Nokia's Emerging Business Unit, just announced a Jaiku widget that extends the experience of Jaiku to Java-based mobile phones. An exciting update to our own Jaiku Mobile application is coming early this summer. There is also a terrific Jaiku application for Blackberry users.

DDJ: Where can readers can go to for more information?

PK: Readers can sign up for an account at jaiku.com, or go to the developer site at devku.org.