A couple of days ago I discussed two social networking applications that local business owners might consider for turning their local website into a social community for their users. Facebook Connect and Google FriendConnect both look to be promising tools. But there has been a change in one of them.
Facebook has decided not to let Google FriendConnect use its API unless the search engine decides to protect Facebook users’ privacy. Good move on Facebook’s part.
What this means for local business owners is you now have two equally considerable options. Facebook Connect will allow you to give your local website access to Facebook profiles and allow your site users the ability to network with others through Facebook – privacy and all. Google FriendConnect will still be a bit more flexible, but there will be less privacy and no Facebook.
Why are these choices equal? Because Facebook has a lot of useful applications and options for you, but it currently is limited in its interface capability with other networking applications. The Google FriendConnect will allow you to interface with a broad array of social applications even if Facebook isn’t involved. It will essentially mean that Facebook Connect and Google FriendConnect will be direct competitors with Facebook offering privacy as a selling point and Google FriendConnect offering flexibility as a selling point. The question for local businesses to answer for themselves and their users will be which benefit is more valuable to them.
Learn more about website design and development for social connectivity.
