<p>IDG News Service - Facebook has updated its policies for third-party application developers in a bid to explain why Twitter's new Vine video-sharing app is unable to access Facebook's friend-finder tool.</p><p>While the updated policies don't mention Vine by name, the biggest changes appear designed to explain why Facebook decided to block the app, a move that sparked a wave of criticism this week.</p><p>In a blog post Friday, Facebook's Justin Osofsky, director of platform partnerships and operations, said the "clarifications" were published after the site received questions about its policies over the past few days.</p><p>"For the vast majority of developers building social apps and games, keep doing what you're doing," he wrote. But a "much smaller number of apps" violate its policy by using Facebook to "replicate our functionality or bootstrap their growth in a way that creates little value for people on Facebook, such as not providing users an easy way to share back to Facebook."</p><p><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9236248/Facebook_updates_developer_policy_after_Vine_scuffle">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/01/facebook-vine-policy/">Facebook Gets Passive-Aggressive About Blocking Vine</a> (Wired)</p><p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/vine-facebook-fall-out-facebook-clarifies-policies/2013/01/25/36720d98-6702-11e2-9e1b-07db1d2ccd5b_story.html">Vine, Facebook fall out; Facebook clarifies policies</a> (Washington Post)</p><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/25/facebook-needs-its-crystal-ball-back/">How Long Til Facebook Clones Vine? No, Facebook Should Have Invented Vine</a> (TechCrunch)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=d3egKO38S87Bb8MVD07XpUbPNXGLM&ned=us">335 additional articles.</a></p>