Widget-makers reacted with a mix of hope and trepidation Friday after social networker MySpace confirmed it may open its site to third-party software developers.

     MySpace’s move would amount to an about face given that it had developed a reputation for locking out widget makers that were trying to host videos and make money from applications posted to the social networking site.

     MySpace’s new approach, first reported by the Financial Times, would enable widget developers to create more easy-to-use, viral applications for the Internet’s leading social network, but said they would have to decide whether the opportunities were worth the cost of maintaining sophisticated widgets on multiple platforms.

     “We would love to do that, but it’s comparable to building applications for Windows and Macintosh. There’s an expense to maintaining two versions of all of your features,” Ali Partovi, CEO of music recommendation widget iLike, said at a conference Thursday.  

     MySpace would follows rival Facebook, which recently launched it own developer program that has enabled third-party software makers to create more than 1,000 applications that the site’s members can use to decorate their personal pages. Facebook visits have increased 10 percent in the month since it opened up its platform, according to Hitwise.

     Widget developers, however, said MySpace representatives had not directly spoken with them about the company’s intentions. Earlier this week, business social network LinkedIn also announced that it was planning on opening up its platform to third party applications.

     RockYou co-founder Jia Shen said he has to factor in not only the software differences, but distinctions in audience taste and user experience. The widget maker has become one of the largest Facebook developers, but got its start by giving MySpace users pieces of code add elements like virtual glitter to their pages.