APML - Attention Profiling Mark-up Language

A new draft standard for an APML - Attention Profiling Mark-up Language has been proposed, with the involvement of Faraday Media, the developers of Touchstone:

[from APML.org]

APML will allow users to export and use their own personal Attention Profile in much the same way that OPML allows them to export their reading lists from Feed Readers.

The idea is to boil down all forms of Attention Data – including Browser History, OPML, Attention.XML, Email etc – to a portable file format containing a description of ranked user interests.

Possible Uses:

• Keep control of your own Attention Profile - it's very valuable (read attentiontrust.org)
• Ask Amazon to export an APML file of your Attention Profile (the same one they use to recommend books to you) so you can move to another bookstore (just like OPML lets you easily switch feed readers).
• Upload your APML file to Digg to get a customized view of Digg stories that match your interests.
• Use your APML to filter incoming alerts (using something like Touchstone)
• Submit your APML to an Attention Brokerage service to allow synchronized access to your Attention Profile across all APML compatible services. In this way all your sites and services can keep track of your changing interests.

In principle, I am in favor of managing my own "attention data" -- information that identifies what I like, buy, look at, etc. -- and managing such data calls for such a standard to exist. But I am unsure as to whether general interest in the notion of attention management has grown to the point where we can be sure that we are capturing the right data, or modeling it appropriately. I guess even to foster experimentation having such a standard specification will be helpful.

I didn't see any mention of the Attention Trust organization. Is this an alternative standards group, or are they working in concert? It would be good to get all the heads together on this, rather than a bunch of schimatic groups, each pursuing their own vision.

tags: attention+economy, apml, attention+profile+markup+language, touchstone, faraday+media, attention+trust

Comments

[bahlip]

Attention Trust is mentioned on the site, in fact you quoted the part. Seems they are trying to include everyone so hopefully it won’t become too fractured

[PJ]

You can already manage attention data with a blog (if you host it yourself) and manage the form of this data too, which I enjoy. I see benefits of a fixed form for certain kinds of attention data, but I also see the risks, for abuse. But I don't really see why you would want to force multiple data flavors to follow one form, one language? Why not let applications sprout when they're needed, in new forms. Let forms grow in their own directions, as needed or inspired, results of form flavors. Or is something really broke that I don't know about?

[Hashim]

great idea. "Discovery" is the next generation of search, but it needs attention data to run through the recommendation engines.

Currently, there's no way for me to take my ten years of attention data that I've stored in Google Search, and move it somewhere else. Hopefully, this project will change that.