Social infrastructure is a general term referring to a class of internet services which allow websites or mobile devices to integrate social functionality into their application user experience. Such functionality includes social login, sharing, commenting, activity feeds, online identity storage, gamification and others.
The technologies and services comprising social infrastructure are made available by a variety of sources including social network providers such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, etc. Additionally, 3rd party providers like Gigya, Livefyre, Hull, Echo, BazaarVoice, Janrain, Loginradius, AddThis, and ShareThis provide services that allow applications to integrate social functionality using multiple social networks. While each provider offers a different range of social functionality to applications, all providers offer their own set of tools, plugins, SDKs and APIs to ensure their platform is accessible across as many devices as possible. Using standard programming languages (HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Java, Objective-C, etc.), applications can interface with social infrastructure from desktops, laptops, mobile phones and tablets. Indian ICT company United Telecoms Limited has implemented social infrastructure projects targeting health exchanges, tsunami warning systems, city surveillance, broadband and communication systems for rapid transportation systems.