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Digg Finally Releases API, Flash Application Toolkit

Digg has finally released a publicly available application programming interface along with a Flash application toolkit.

The API allows users to access Digg data dating all the way back to 2004, and returns the data in a format that can be integrated into third-party applications and web sites.

Currently, you can use the API to request very specific information about news stories and videos submitted to Digg, digging activity, comments, and users.

The kind of information you can extract is detailed on the API website, and is actually quite extensive. Furthermore, to celebrate the launch of the API and the Flash toolkit, Digg has launched a contest for the most creative and innovative visualizations and applications developed by the Digg community.

While that sounds like a lot of fun, ultimately I have to agree with the following Digg comment,

How about instead of focusing on getting more eye candy digg focus on some real improvements to the site. A few changes would be much nicer than yet another way to visualise the way stories are being dugg, such as ...

- real comment threading

- a real way to browse your comments eg: http://www.headzoo.com/comments.php

- precaching stories on shared hosting sites (can be entirely automated)

- a real search system

- a real comment moderation system eg: slashdot

- probably lots more

All this competition is going to do is identify the weakest areas of digg and get other people & companies taking a chunk of digg's thunder. Really I could care less if I get the best experience on digg directly through digg.com or through someone using the api, except I'd rather it was here since it'd be one site instead of x pages and y tools.

And as always, the most notably missing in show award goes to any ability to extract data regarding who is burying content and on what grounds.

Disclaimer: I am a Netscape Navigator.

Peter van der Graaf, April 20, 2007

Yet another security hole to abuse! All the existing digg holes are an accident waiting to happen. But even before I've checked this thing out, I can say this is going to be even more vulnerable to hacking.

I'm thinking about posting the holes on my blog, but then everybody would exploit them and there will be a slim chance they will fix it (yet opening many others).

The name digg does them credit. They're sure good at digging holes.

Ilya Lichtenstein, April 20, 2007

Peter: How the hell can you hack an API that only returns data?