Is there a Ruby gem that abstracts multiple social networking APIs into one simple API?

Question

My team is building a website that would like to integrate with several social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, etc. However, integration into social networks is not necessarily the main focus of the site, and our team is small, so we do not want to spend weeks on integration.

As for authentication, we are aware of the many options available to us. What we are looking for is an abstraction over other social APIs such as sharing status, getting friends / connections lists and getting a profile.

Basically, I wonder if there is a gem equivalent to Janrain Engage? (and not the authentication part, mind you, the social part of the API)

Answer 1

In order not to answer your question: we decided to pay JanRain $$ for processing login / auth files.

I struggled with this for a while, but most companies - especially especially - tend to quickly change APIs and cannot be sure of backward compatibility. support can become PITA. even with third-party tools, they may not be updated on time ... so your team may finish the fix to make everything work. I like the idea of ​​calling someone and yelling at them if they don’t offer a schedule that I like, referring to the SLA offer in the contract.

In any case, if you continue to follow this route and do not find a ruby ​​stone, you can at least transfer something from Python. there are several django plugins that handle abstraction, in addition to at least half a dozen other PyPi projects - including Velruse, which is decently supported by Ben Bangert of Pylons, Beaker, etc.