peace on the web, too

Recently we saw a couple of blogs/people trying to put up Web 2.0 API maps. Just take a look at ProgrammableWeb.com and Web Service Finder (via ReadWriteWeb) and see for yourself.

This seems to go in the direction of the Web 1.0 open directories like dmoz.org or google and yahoo own directories. And this is fine and usefull etc. For now at least.

However, from a Web 2.0 point of view, I think we need more. Those API directories need to be alive. We need RSS feeds on them, that’s OK too for starters. But how about discovery, sharing and integration?

I would say those API directories need to have their own APIs! And a common standards would help, I don’t know. But the most important is to have one. And if nothing else, the discovery, share and integration parts should be the most important. Andd let’s not forget to recommend inter-API integration facilities. Like using the ProgrammableWeb.com’s API to search for other API directories. This should be easy, if the other API directories would have one APi for themselved too.

And for us, the mortals, this would make all much less complicated. Need a photo album API? Just select one directory, check their API and let the discovery function gather for you anything needed.

Of course, you would say, which one of the found APIs should I use? Well, my friend, I knwo this will showk you, but you must have your own API that tells you what your social network recommends you. You have one, right? And your fellows networkers have one too, right? And they tag the APIs they use, right? And your network has an API too, which you can use to extract a top of a specific domain APIs, right? …

We are looking on something, but we don’t know what is it just yet.

It is unbelievable. Every single website, mainstream or newcomers, are or will be offering a tagging (labeling, naming, keyword-ing) facility! This means every time I am somewhere on the web I can tag something on someone’s website with some words, saying something I think about a specific item.

This creates something called (tagged;)) folksonomies for the respective websites, dynamic categories, trends in reader’s habits or preferences etc. But how about me? What do I get?

I think all those Web 2.0 (or Web 1.0 going 2.0) companies should think about me and give me something in return of my contribution(s). I think if I am to register some service (like amazon, flickr, whatever) and tag something (which does not necessarily belong to me), I should be able to get a list of my tags and perhaps links to get XMLs or some kind of list containing all the site’s content matching my tags. It seems to me the least decent thing to do. If not, what do I get by tagging something?

This could go as far as getting a list with my search words from my search engines (where I am a registered user, of course). Or links to all the photos matching each of my flickr tags. Or bookmarks I tagged at del.icio.us or furl.net (I know they are already doing it). Etc.

And this could be later integrated into my blog or some kind of private space where I could follow all my tagged content. In a way, if I tag something, I relate to it. It is a 2 way relation. For now, I see mostly the first part: we, the websites, get tags. You, the user, get other’s tags. Not only yours.

PS I guess there are websites already offering this service. I apologize if one cited by me already has it. I am only trying to get real examples.