Enhancing User Interactions in Digital Libraries

Tech Note: Integrating Twitter Services into a Social Networking Platform, Part 2

This post provides a technical account of integrating Twitter services into a social networking platform. The implementation dovetails with a goal of the UX2.0 project, to explore social networking for digital library. Dealing with OAuth authentication is a prerequisite of any implementation involving Twitter services. The requirement not only underpins identity services (federated sign on), it is also mandatory for consuming the API methods of the social network. Part 1 of this post addresses this prerequisite and provides an account of how Twitter federated sign on can be developed. This post describes the development of tog - an existing open source social networking platform which we are experimenting with. The development involves an underpinning 'shared object' framework and a use scenario of diffusing messages to Twitter.

Tech Note: Integrating Twitter Services into a Social Networking Platform, Part 1

Everything is becoming user-centric these days. Signing on, the usual prerequisite to access additional features of a website is not as prescriptive as it used to be. Sites are now less disposed to demand user registration prior to signing on - a typical usability barrier. Instead, users can opt to log in by designating an existing identity provided by another site. Getting rid of the potentially disruptive registration process makes sense and in tune with creating flowing user experience. For example, users are more likely to comment on blog posts if their actions (and thoughts!) are not punctuated with lengthy form filling and authentication processes. Indeed, better 'flow' is a key goal in many emerging interaction design patterns, e.g. 'stay on the page'.

Federated identity represents the cutting edge of this user-centric trend which also coincides with Web 2.0 in many ways. First, digital content and services from heterogeneous and autonomous websites are increasingly intertwined and federated, in what could be described as diffusion user experience. Second, the plethora of APIs made available by services or sites such as Google, Yahoo!, Twitter and Facebook have really fostered the developments of federated use scenarios in which user identities and data are becoming interoperable.

The following provides a technical account of integrating Twitter sign on into a social networking platform, as a prerequisite for the UX2.0 project work in developing Twitter services for digital library use scenarios.