The entire world has already heard the amazing and earth-shattering news that Facebook Connect has now been unleased to the general public.
Without question, these types of services, like the Google Friend Connect, will increase engagement. The screenshot of the amount of comments on that particular test post for TechCrunch is living proof.
I mean, who wouldn’t want close to 1k comments? A good read here by NYTimes can give a n00b a good overview.
Comparing FB connect commenting vs. regular WP comment engine.
But here’s why I’m “crying”: it’s because the bar of implementation is too high, even for some of the lay-dev’s out there. In fact, even for me, a seasoned dev-junkie, it’s to a point where I’d much rather gather a team to group-hug the API rather than solo-it like Van Damme (even though I could).
And see, that’s flawed. It’s like providing the Gospel to a non-believer but saying that they have to jump through hoops to ensure their adoption. Just wrong.
That’s why social api’s like Google Friend Connect will fare much better, in my opinion. You can sign up, implement, and deploy in less than 5 minutes. And if you’re already versed in uploading content to your blog then you’re a candidate for social++.
So, as we move forward and continue to dive deeply into developing social apps and services for the Church, is the adoption bar high or low? Philosophically speaking, which one is biblical?
ooOooOooOoOooOooOhhhhhhhhhh. I did not… … … … … … … … … yeah, I did.
What are your thoughts? I’ve already seen 20+ posts on extremely high praise (a few are “perhaps” a bit ignorant). But I’m following the conversation. Joe from MyChurch will be one of them.
Look at that. I am famous now. My comment even has a circle around it.
I agree at the level of implementation. Google Friend Connect is extremely easy to setup which certainly gives it an edge for the typical website owner. It will be interesting to see if ease in implementation can out weigh Facebooks massive user base.
well, here's the big q… everyone needs email… but not everyone needs facebook (or has it).
which one's more important? it's ultimately an adoption-based q.
Hmm, I think it might be the opposite and more in line with what Jeff thought. It seems everyone has Facebook, but not everyone has Google. Yes, Google is a behemouth, but I know of a large number of people that do not have a Google account or Gmail. These same people do have a Facebook account.
That may be because Gmail is a relative newcomer compared with Yahoo Mail and Hotmail. And do not even get me started with the people who use their cable-provided email accounts.
good points. but what about "email" generally speaking? also, gmail might be the lightweight newcomer, but it rocks yahoo and hotmail combined.
legacy does have power tho…
I agree, everyone needs (possibly has??) email "in general." The problem is that email addresses are broken down from there with so many different email providers. I have countless friends that use their isp-provided email accounts.
I also agree that gmail is far superior to Yahoo and Hotmail, but I have found that in the online world, a large percentage of the population just sticks with what they know. They do this despite the fact that another service might be far better.
We are the early adopters, but we cannot forget about those that do not switch so easily. As an example, I have a friend who is using a sub-par web hosting service. I have tried to get him to switch to something else, but it is just easier for him to stick with what he has. The two services cost approximately the same and for his needs the current service works for him.
Likewise for email, there is not much of a reason to go through the hassle of switching email providers even to join Google's Friend connect on someone's blog.
To make FriendConnect truly beneficial you would have to create an app that lets anyone with an email address join the service. Then you would have a more universal FC for use on a blog.
Have you thought of putting both Facebook and Google on your site? Do you think it would confuse people?
I have… and i'm looking into it this week. what are your thoughts?
Yes, I'm getting updates on a Facebook Connect Plugin here: http://www.sociable.es/2008/12/14/facebook-connec…