MySpace to let users share profiles on other websites

News Corp.'s MySpace social networking site said Thursday it will let users share their public profile information and media across the web.

MySpace unveiled a new "data availability" function that will let users share profile information, video, photos and contacts on the websites of partners Yahoo Inc., eBay Inc., Photobucket and Twitter.

"The walls around the garden are coming down," said MySpace chief executive Chris DeWolfe. "We, alongside our data availability launch partners, are pioneering a new way for the global community to integrate their social experiences web-wide."

Social networking websites like MySpace and rival Facebook allow users to upload material and keep information about themselves on their profile pages, but traditionally the only way to use that information in conjunction with other websites were through small applications that effectively allowed outside companies to bring the tools of their websites to the social networking site.

MySpace, the world's largest social network with nearly 120 million users, said the new service will allow users to control where and what types of information are shared and that this feature can be turned on and off at any time. Other sites will also be restricted in storing MySpace user data.

The company didn't provide a specific launch date but said it would roll out the service in the next few weeks.

The move is in keeping with MySpace's gradual move towards more open standards for its social network. In November last year, it joined Google Inc.'s OpenSocial platform, an initiative to develop a set of standards governing the small programs that developers create for social networks, programs that allow users to share messages, quizzes, photos, or other media.