Hey all,
I’ve been researching open standards this weekend and I’m wondering if there is a standard for one user inviting another user to be their “friend” (i.e. establish a two-way reciprocal social graph connection.)
It seems like there are a few basic mechanisms to follow or subscribe to public updates (i.e. establish a one-way connection) but I’m curious if there is any thinking that folks could point me to around a standard API for requesting a two-way connection. I’ve skimmed specs for OStatus, PubSubHubbub, and Portable Contacts but there doesn’t seem to be a clear match.
Thanks very much—
--Rob
P.S. In the mock-up below, I’m viewing Douglas and I’m offered the option to connect with him on LinkedIn, Mingle, and Windows Live Messenger. If I select LinkedIn, I would not just want to subscribe to public updates from Douglas on LinkedIn, but I would want to initiate an invitation for Douglas to be my “friend” on LinkedIn. LinkedIn (just as an example) has an API for this today, but I’m wondering if there is an existing or emerging standard.