There's a better way: a network of independent microblogs. Short posts like tweets but on your own web site that you control.
Micro.blog is a safe community for microblogs. A timeline to follow friends and discover new posts. Hosting built on open standards.
The admins of Medium.com put the documentation for their REST API on Github to assist developers and hackers with integrating code into their service.
An online site with an API for tracking and searching for legislation currently working its way through the US congress. Everything's in XML, but what can you do?
A site that has presents a step-by-step howto for getting involved with OpenStreetmap.