"The critical qualifier, which Facebook buries in the middle of its announcement, is that developers "can access the stream on behalf of a user and then filter, remix and display the stream back to that user however you choose." (Bold added for emphasis.) Translation: The new applications will be able to publish data across the Web -- but the audience for that remixed data will be the original Facebook user, not the public. That distinction is important because Facebook's move to allow off-site developers to mine user information has been seen as an attempt to replicate the way Twitter's messaging system developed. Twitter, an outward-facing platform in which all user information is public by default, has nourished a wide ecosystem of third-party applications that take advantage of the high volume of public data Twitter users generate." - Paul Buchheit from Bookmarklet

This is also why the new API can NOT be used to import the things you share on Facebook back into FriendFeed (the way you are able to import your Tweets into FriendFeed, for example). - Paul Buchheit

Well that is clear as mud, ok is the bottom line then what done on Facebook stays on Facebook or with your Facebook followers? - Kim Landwehr

Twitter = "all user information is public by default" .....this is not the FB model (currently).....your data is only available to defined friends....as a user i would not be happy if FB opened all my data to developers without asking......no? - marko

Marko: They're not opening up all your data. Unless I'm missing something, they're coming at this from the viewer's perspective, not the person who posted the data. Using the new API, clients and services can access Facebook on my behalf, see what I would see as a user, and simply present that to me in a different format or context. - Ken Sheppardson

Marko, the difference is that you are not permitted usage of your own data even. - Paul Buchheit from BuddyFeed

Meaning they're relying on EULAs and TOS to control what you can and can't do with the data once you see it, right Paul? - Ken Sheppardson

Which doesn't seem much different than what it was before, no? Why I don't bother to originate anything useful in FB. Easier for stuff to end up there, since you still can't get it out. - ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ

I hear ya....but is this not the same in Flickr. Only public photos from my friends are shown in my RSS feed - not entire set I see in flickr itself. This is to prevent me from broadcasting all my friends 'private' photos across the web. Same paradigm principle with FB as I understand currently......it prevents me from pushing my friends content around. - marko

What I think is different is the to-FB direction. Last time I was on FB my FriendFeed activity was off in a separate tab, not the main stream. If I understand correctly, the new stream API will at least make it possible for FriendFeed to add items together with media to the main feed. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. - Bruce Lewis

There are two separate issues here: access to your friend's information, and access to your own information. I'm only talking about the second issue, access to your own information. Twitter (and most other web services) permit you to access and use your own information in any way you wish. The FB TOS prohibits this because data retrieved via their API must not be stored, so effectively they own your data. This is a very significant difference. - Paul Buchheit

And that issue, it was my understanding, is what was at the core of the FB user rebellion that got them to dial back the recent TOS change(s). Ownership of your own material should not have to be negotiated. - ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ

Is there a logical reason for this? Why would I be able to use other people's information but not my own? Why would they prohibit me from entering data via the API? Am I missing something or is this pretty illogical? - Andrew

That's correct Andy. This is why we can import your Twitter status but not your Facebook status (we used to be able to get your Facebook status via a special RSS url, but they recently removed that too). - Paul Buchheit

@Paul, what does the Facebook service on FF currently pull? - Micah

Paul: How recently did they pull support for status updates via RSS? Up until a few weeks ago (when I unsubscribed) I was reading friends' status updates in Google Reader. - Ken Sheppardson

Micah, we used to be able to pull in your FB status by having you copy and paste a url from their interface, but they recently removed access to that url. For people who already have it setup, it still works, but new people can't configure it because there is no way to discover the url for the RSS feed. - Paul Buchheit

Ah... that makes sense... - Ken Sheppardson

Ah, thanks (to you, Paul, and 'no thanks' to FB - wow). I'll have to stop advertising it for people I get to signup for FF on my service (http://bebepool.com ). FB keeps pulling a 'take my ball and go home.' They can fancy themselves street-wise purveyors of business stratagems, but to their user community it's just acting pathetic. - Micah

Andy, the trick you linked to won't work for newer Facebook users. Old users have the same key for all RSS feed, but new users have a per-feed key, and as far as I can tell, there is no way to discover the status feed key. - Paul Buchheit

Facebook is still a roach motel, but is it a better roach motel than it was before? The stream API doesn't help anybody get data out, but is it a better way of putting data in? - Bruce Lewis

Did some testing yesterday with 2 (non-geekie) users .... They loved the simplicity of the 'new' Facebook (and Beta Friendfeed) ... ala Twitter. "Easy to grasp = Dive in" ... They also found almost everyone they looked for on Facebook which says a lot about the penetration of the brand and platform. Controls, filters won't help these people. They'll simply love the fact that they found new web toys (and old friends). - Charlie Anzman

What about the content published to Facebook using the new API. Does FB impose any restrictions on ownership of content generated on the 3rd party sites. - Vivek Puri

I posted some thoughts on the FB announcement as well as recorded a screencast showing you how/where to set your privacy settings http://lifestreamblog.com/how-to-... - Mark Krynsky

Yes, thanks for doing that Mark. That cleared a few things up, FB have been moving stuff around everywhere lately, wonder when it will all settle down. Ha. - Chris Loft