Marc Andreessen takes a deep look into the new Facebook platform, concluding it is a “dramatic leap forward for the Internet industry.” Here’s why:
“In a nutshell, the Facebook API enables outside web developers to inject new features and content into the Facebook environment. After signing up for a developer account on Facebook, the developer writes a web application (in the simplest case, a piece of web content; in the most advanced case, a full fledge web application with deep functionality) and hosts it on her own servers. The developer then registers her application with Facebook, and then users can add that application to their Facebook user experience in several different ways, including within their Facebook profile pages.”