Share It a Google Friend Connect Gadget

Google Friend Connect is featured in the side bar on this blog. Google Friend Connect is a free social networking site established on the 12th of May 2008.[1]. Similar in practice to Facebook Platform and MySpaceID, it takes a decentralised approach, allowing users to build a profile to share and update information (through messaging, photographs and video content) via third-party sites. These sites act as a host for profile sharing and social exchanges.[2]

Google Friend Connect uses open standards such as OpenID, oAuth and OpenSocial. By using these open standards and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) a user does not have to register for additional accounts or usernames. Once authenticated they can use their existing profile and access a social graph when posting messages.

It has been said that "social network APIs (how different services on the web talk to each other) such as the MySpace API, Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect take the online social graph beyond social networking sites to external web sites and applications".[3] This social graph feature allows a user to post a message on a third-party site, but only allows viewing access by other authorised "friends" contained within the user's chosen social graph.

On November 23, 2011, Google's Senior Vice President of Operations Urs Hölzle announced that Friend Connect will be retired for all non-Blogger sites by March 1, 2012, and encouraged Google+'s pages and off-site Page badges as the preferred alternative[4].

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