vCard Format Extension : To Represent the Social Network Information of an Individual
draft-ietf-vcarddav-social-networks-00

Abstract

This document defines an extension to the vCard data format for representing and exchanging a variety of social network information.

Status of this Memo

This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

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This Internet-Draft will expire on April 26, 2012.

Copyright Notice

Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.

This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 1.1. Terminology Used in This Document
• 2. Social Network Properties
• 2.1. Property: OPENID
• 2.2. Property: SOCIALPROFILE
• 2.3. Property: ALBUM
• 2.4. Property: DEPICTION
• 2.5. Property: SOCIALCODE
• 2.6. Property: INTEREST
• 2.7. Property: XX
• 3. Security Considerations
• 4. IANA Considerations
• 5. References
• 5.1. Normative References
• 5.2. Informative References
• Authors' Addresses

1. Introduction

As social networking has become common, it has become clear that users would like to include information in their vCards [RFC6350] about their social networks. Well organized social network information allows the vCard owner to share his profile information and to import or subscribe to profile information of others on joining a new network.

This extension takes some property definitions from the vCard OMA CAB Extensions [I-D.ietf-vcarddav-oma-cab-extensions], and that document should be considered as a prerequisite to this one.

1.1. Terminology Used in This Document

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119]. These terms take their normative meaning only when presented in ALL CAPS.

Syntax specifications shown here use the augmented Backus-Naur Form (ABNF) as described in [RFC5234], and are specified as in the base vcard specification [RFC6350].

2. Social Network Properties

These properties are related to sharing social-network information. The basis for some of these properties came from the "Friend of a Friend" specification [FOAF], and we thank the authors of that document for their work.

2.1. Property: OPENID

  OPENID:http://www.alice.openid.example.org
                

Namespace:

Property name:

OPENID

Purpose:

OpenID is an open, decentralized user identification standard, allowing users to log onto many services with the same digital identity. Inclusion of an OpenID URI in a vCard lets others add the vCard owner's ID to their authorization lists.

Value type:

A single URI value.

Cardinality:

*

Property parameters:

(none)

Description:

Format definition:

OPENID-param =

pid-param / pref-param /
any-param

OPENID-value =

uri

Example:

2.2. Property: SOCIALPROFILE

  SOCIALPROFILE;type=linkedin:http://www.linkedin.com/in/barryleiba

  SOCIALPROFILE;type=facebook:http://www.facebook.com/barackobama
                

Namespace:

Property name:

SOCIALPROFILE

Purpose:

Designates the vCard owner's profile page on a particular social network.

Value type:

A single URI value.

Cardinality:

*

Property parameters:

TYPE

Description:

This property SHOULD include the parameter "TYPE" to specify the name of the social network that it refers to. Usually, that will also be discernible from the URI, which is why it's optional. But it can be helpful to have it specified explicitly.

Format definition:

SOCIALPROFILE-param =

pid-param / pref-param /
any-param

SOCIALPROFILE-value =

uri

Examples:

2.3. Property: ALBUM

  ALBUM;type=photo:http://picasaweb.google.com/barryleiba
  ALBUM;type=video:http://www.youtube.com/user/barryleiba
                

Namespace:

Property name:

ALBUM

Purpose:

Designates an online album, such as a photo album or video album.

Value type:

A single URI value.

Cardinality:

*

Property parameters:

TYPE

Description:

This property SHOULD include the parameter "TYPE" to specify the type of album that it refers to. Usually, that will also be discernible from the URI, which is why it's optional. But it can be helpful to have it specified explicitly.

Format definition:

ALBUM-param =

pid-param / pref-param /
any-param

ALBUM-value =

uri

Example:

2.4. Property: DEPICTION

  DEPICTION:http://www.example.com/pub/photos/IMG_001.jpg
  DEPICTION:http://www.example.com/pub/photos/IMG_003.jpg
  DEPICTION:http://www.example.com/pub/photos/IMG_004.jpg
                

Namespace:

Property name:

DEPICTION

Purpose:

To note that the referenced URI depicts, in come way, the entity represented by this vCard.

Value type:

A single URI value.

Cardinality:

*

Property parameters:

Description:

DEPICTION can be used to point to images in online photo galleries, specifying which ones include the subject of this vCard (perhaps in addition to other people or things).

DEPICTION might also be used to refer to videos, icons, avatars, or the like. Consider someone's avatars in virtual worlds, or one or more corporate logos in a vCard representing a company.

This is distinct from the PHOTO property, in that the latter is meant to define a specific representation of the vCard subject (a "profile photo", or a publicity headshot, say), while DEPICTION might often be used to say that the subject appears in a group photo or in a photo that is primarily a picture of something or someone else.

Format definition:

DEPICTION-param =

pid-param / pref-param /
any-param

DEPICTION-value =

uri

Example:

Suppose a gallery contains the following photos:

• IMG_001.jpg: Alexey and Barry at a reception.
• IMG_002.jpg: Alexey, Chris, and Dave having a conversation.
• IMG_003.jpg: Barry making a comment in the plenary session.
• IMG_004.jpg: A meeting session that Alexey, Barry, Chris, Dave, and Eric are all attending.

Barry's vCard might include the following:

2.5. Property: SOCIALCODE

  SOCIALCODE;type=geek:"s: a--"

        [Which means "I'm average size, and my age is 20-24."]
                

Namespace:

Property name:

SOCIALCODE

Purpose:

Description of the vCard owner, in the form of a "social code", such as the "geek code" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek_code). Social codes are popularly used to exchange a large amount of social information in a compact way, and provide a somewhat frivolous and willfully obscure "fun" mechanism for characterizing technical expertise, interests, and habits.

Value type:

A single text value.

Cardinality:

*

Property parameters:

TYPE

Description:

This property MUST include the parameter "TYPE" to specify the type of social network code being used. There are no predefined values for "TYPE", here -- the types will be understood (or not) by the vCard users.

Implementations need to be especially careful with character quoting in this property, because these codes tend to use odd characters, and many might require quoting [RFC6350].

Format definition:

SOCIALCODE-param =

pid-param / pref-param /
any-param

SOCIALCODE-value =

text

Example:

2.6. Property: INTEREST

  INTEREST;type=business:Internet standards,consulting,job offers
  INTEREST;type=social:friends and family,new friends
  INTEREST;type=hobby:model trains,reading Sci Fi,travel
  INTEREST;type=music:classical,jazz,folk,opera
                

Namespace:

Property name:

INTEREST

Purpose:

Lists the vCard owner's interests (social, recreational, technical, etc.). This allows users to identify others with common interests.

Value type:

A string value consisting of one or more text values separated by a COMMA character (ASCII decimal 44).

Cardinality:

*

Property parameters:

TYPE, LANGUAGE

Description:

This property MAY include the parameter "TYPE" to group interests in categories. TYPE might be used to separate "business" interests from "social" interests, for example. There are no predefined values for "TYPE", here -- the types will be understood (or not) by the vCard users, and it's likely that an ad hoc taxonomy will develop, as has happened with social tagging.

Format definition:

INTEREST-param =

pid-param / pref-param /
any-param

INTEREST-value =

text

Example:

2.7. Property: XX

[RFC2425] [RFC2426] [RFC2739] [RFC4770] )

  xx:zz
                

Namespace:

Property name:

Purpose:

Value type:

A single text value.

Cardinality:

*

Property parameters:

VALUE, LANGUAGE

Description:

Format definition:

XX-param =

pid-param / pref-param /
any-param

XX-value =

text

Example:

3. Security Considerations

This presents no security considerations beyond those in section 9 of the base vcard specification [RFC6350].

4. IANA Considerations

The IANA is requested to add the following entries to the vCard Properties registry, defined in [RFC6350] section 10.3.1.

  +-----------+---------------+------------------------+
  | Namespace | Property      | Reference              |
  +-----------+---------------+------------------------+
  |           | OPENID        | RFCXXXX, section 2.1   |
  |           | SOCIALPROFILE | RFCXXXX, section 2.2   |
  |           | ALBUM         | RFCXXXX, section 2.3   |
  |           | DEPICTION     | RFCXXXX, section 2.4   |
  |           | SOCIALCODE    | RFCXXXX, section 2.5   |
  |           | INTEREST      | RFCXXXX, section 2.6   |
  +-----------+---------------+------------------------+
           

5. References

5.1. Normative References

5.2. Informative References

Authors' Addresses