Whiteboard//Session: What is an API?

Not a day goes by when I don't see complex technical terms thrown around in media press or on blogs. I often wonder if the average marketer knows what half of these terms mean. This new series is aimed at graphically illustrating (this is where the whiteboard comes into play) complex terms in ways that normal, non-geek people can understand.

First up is the API. One of the core tenets of Web2.0 is the idea around "open APIs", you've no doubt heard it before. API stands for Application Programming Interface and is really pretty simple when you break it down. Here is my whiteboard video that explains the process.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Key takeaways:

• APIs open up and regulate a library of data and services that you can access
  
• APIs are controlled to give and deny access depending on your permissions
  
• Marketers only need to know what's available in the library, not how to get it back (that's the technology person's job)
  
• Mashups are applications that use these APIs to get and combine data from multiple sources
  

Is there a term that's confusing you? Do your tech guys like to show you up and you want a little revenge? Email me or leave me a comment with the buzzwords that you would like to see explained in a similar post in the future. Also, let me know if you have ways I can improve on this concept for new posts.

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marketing, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, technology, video, Web2.0, API, whiteboard//session, whiteboard

Comments

[mvellandi]

Right on bro; tell em how it is.
Look forward to more

[Matt Dickman]

Mario -- Thanks for that. I'm looking forward to experimenting with this a bit more.

[Ryan Karpeles]

Good stuff, Matt. Looking to more of these ;-)

[Ryan Karpeles]

Looking *forward* that is...

[Matt Dickman]

Ryan -- Thanks. I'm completely opening this up to everyone. I love thinking in front of a white board.

[Herb]

Matt -

I was just thinking about a crazy idea for you. Once a month (and I know, this would be more work for you) you could montage all your videos together and then have 'The Matt Dickman Social Media Hour'. Once long video that you could ship out, post, whatever....or something like that.

Idea #2 On the same lines, I was thinking about starting a Social Media breakfast here in Minneapolis. Because I don't have the money to fly you up here, I was thinking about grabbing a bunch of your videos and playing them in a row...then having a special twitter feed or gchat where people could ask you questions.

I don't know...I'm rambling and thinking. Your thoughts?