socialmedian: 3 Ways To Utilize Google Friend Connect

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Source: Bwana.org

Dec 04, 2008

Summary

The masterminds behind Google are pushing an initiative known as OpenSocial which aims to connect many different types of web sites using one single API. One of the fruits of OpenSocial is Google Friend Connect which seems like a technology demo on the surface, but I’ve found a couple of possibly useful gems to utilize. First off, to get started with Google Friend Connect, make sure you are logged in your Google Account, then navigate to http://www.google.com/friendconnect. If all goes well, you should see this screen:

Click “Set up a new site” and you’ll be presented with a wizard to set up your website. I don’t want to focus on this part, but the main four steps to creation are:

Add two required files to your web server

Copy “members gadget” code

Paste into a page on your site

Choose more social features as desired

The focus of this blog post will be step 4. I’m going to show you some of the things you can do with Google Friend Connect which may not be obvious.

The first of the three is done by default once your site is setup: Setup a members gadget.

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Comments (7)

Frankxr,

Dec 05, 2008

Is it just me? Most sites want to be social? I never heard this. Why would a web site want to give its CRM data to Google or facebook or anyone else? Why do people want to give their personnel data to a vendor? Is it just me? Why do I want to be a walking billboard for a company?

Frankxr,

Dec 05, 2008

who is going to manage the friends connect experience ? If I am a competitor would i not just camp out on the website of my competitor and dis the vendor infront of new prospects? Do I really want total stranges to approach me just becuse we happen to be on same web page? what is the real value for the consumer???

Jasongoldberg,

Dec 05, 2008

@frankxr I think you're missing it Frank. It's not total strangers connecting with you on a website, it's bringing your social network with you to the website.

Jasongoldberg,

Dec 05, 2008

@frankxr Here's a good case in point of the value in this. I have never once previously created an account to leave a comment on TechCrunch. Yesterday I left a comment on TechCrunch logged in via Facebook (effectively creating an account on TechCrunch) and the instant value of that for me was that my comment was simultaneously posted to my Facebook network, as well as my Facebook profile info was displayed next to my comment on TechCrunch which validates that the comment is from me, the real Jason Goldberg.

There is a ton of value for websites to ride on Facebook's established network vs. tryign to create their own social networks from scratch. We will embrace Facebook Connect at socialmedian as well as other forms of distributed social networks.

Rah33ls,

Dec 05, 2008

one word: granularity. if fb is following the identity broker route; flexibility on how much you want to reveal is key. this is an important evolution of the internet and i can't wait for all the possibilities --, but what many people don't want to see is permeability of the web lessen, and i hope that fb (esp destination sites) do not abuse this trust. no more dominance, pls fb -- and pls open up.