8 chat APIs for Social Networks [kwiqq]

Posted on | April 9, 2009 | View Comments

I’m currently on a mission to create a single resource for list of APIs for developers to integrate into their website. I’m releasing them in batches, this post is dedicated to integrate chat into your social network. Our favourite so far is Imified API.

Instant Messenger / Voice Chat

1. Facebook Chat API (Unofficial) : Facebook doesn’t have an API for its chat but Coderrr created a hack using the existing Facebook API. The resource is now available but doesn’t work as it is.
2. MSN: Has a JSON based API which allows users to see and interact with each other via the web. The APIs only work in IE 6.0 or greater, Firefox 2.0 on Mac or Windows.
3. AIM: Allows developers to create mashups or rich internet applications integrated with AIM. The experience developed using the API is fairly flexible.
4. Bold Chat: is a chat avialable to be installed on your website to instant message / Call / Speak with sales leads. The API is designed to supply user information via SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) over HTTP.
5. Lingr: Lingr is a community of Chatrooms (think IRC). The Lingr API helps people to incorporate the tool into any external software using HTTP requests.
6. Meebo Platform: Meebo web-based instant messaging company. It gives users the ability to access multiple chat clients from one place without the need for desktop software. Meebo has now opened doors for developers to build on their platform, think Facebook Apps for chatting (Walled garden approach?). The platform provides Javascript or Flash libraries. The platform is still in its early stages but has great potential.
7. Skype API: Skype is perhaps the biggest peer-to-peer Internet telephony service. The develop kit allows users to build their own independent applicationsusing Skype. There is an enormous resource available in Java and Python (also available in ActiveX Environment)  for PC and MAC. If you are still struggling with developing applications there are Code Snippets you can follow.
8. Imified: The IMified platform allows existing applications to instant messaging networks or create stand alone IM bots for fun or getting work done.This allows users to create virtual assistants or send real time alerts. API is available for developers of PHP and CFML (Coldfusion Markup Language). Some examples are available on their Google Group.

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