Dissatisfied with the social network throng in which it's found itself, Facebook has opened the door for developers to develop add-ons and new features for the site, reports The New York Times. This is part of Facebook's effort to become a social computing source, not merely another six-degrees friender.

Facebook held an event to announce the initiative to technology companies and developers yesterday. Creators of these software features are free to make money through them without Facebook taking a cut, for the time being.

While Facebook remains well behind MySpace in user volume, this gesture could increase user activity. Facebook has said that it wants to be the center of members' online lives. The ability to contribute to the site itself, and not just personalize a profile, could go a long way toward that end.

In contrast MySpace is increasingly cracking down on third-party software and is blocking outside efforts to make money using widget add-ons.