This guest post was written by Orli Yakuel, an analyst of Web 2.0 and co-founder of Go2web20, a directory of Web 2.0 applications. Previously, she was an analyst at AOL, where she was charged with finding promising startups from the United States and Israel. You can read the Go2web20 blog, which she edits, here.
Last week, I was lucky enough to be one of the first to embed Google’s friend connect gadget in my blog. It was quite overwhelming to see how fast the list of my friends grew. It was also interesting to read all the comments that people left at Google’s comment widget.
OK, so first, for all of you who’ve asked: I don’t have invitations to this one. I’m guessing that when the time is right, everyone will get access to this as part of Google services.
Since I’ve been watching this new application closely for a few days now, I do have some insights that I’d like to share with you:
What can you actually do with this gadget?
When more people add this gadget to their blogs, you’ll be able to add yourself as a member to your favorite blogs, and invite more people to read those blogs as well. This can definitely increase the traffic of those blogs. However, I’m having trouble finding something beyond just this singular benefit.
Who are those people who connected to me on friend connect? If they have not uploaded a picture to one of their accounts (i.e., plaxo, orkut, gtalk, …) then there’s a slight chance I’ll know who they really are. Why not ask people to upload pictures to Google Friend Connect to make sure people will recognize them? (and for the last time, people: cutesy screen names are so not cool anymore, use your real name if you want people to get to you faster and know you). Now lets assume that you recognize someone by his/her username, picture or both, what now? Nothing. Now… you can Google their name to search for more information about them. Where are the profiles, you guys?! I think that a profile/info page, like the one we have on Google Reader, is a must have! - Otherwise, most of the time, you’ll end up bummed out with the fact you can’t connect with a certain person in person.
I’m a little concerned about the slowness. I don’t know how many users are in on this stage, but I can only assume that many will want to use it in the future, and the truth is that right now, these two gadgets are really slow. It’s not just when refreshing the page, it is also when you click on a person’s name.
Which leads me to another issue:
When you click on a person’s name, it takes you to a box with the person’s community of friends, meaning, all the people who connected to them via this blog. I’m having trouble deciding whether this list of friends should go with you everywhere or not. Right now, it’s not. You’re going to have different friends on each blog you’ll sign-in for as a member. I actually think that if the list of your friends (same friends) shows on every one of your favorite blogs, it highly increases the chance of higher traffic to the blog. Another option is to simply add a list of all the blogs that I’m already a member in and reveal new content to new members.
I must say I do like the comment gadget. I’ve chosen the format that allows you have to receive different comments on each post. I don’t even think it’s clashing with my comment system on Blogger since it is more like a short conversation than anything else. For heavy opinions, you’ll still want to use the blog’s comment’s most convenient format. The gadget conversation is a fresh and nice bonus. However, Google has yet to add the notification ability, so when someone adds a comment on any post, they are pretty hard to find and discover. Also, submitted links to this gadget should be clickable.
The UI surprised me the most. We all fell in love when Google came up with Gmail. Back then, it was a new AJAXy technology that was different from what we knew and were accustomed to seeing and using. I think there’s a discrepancy between what Google is capable of and what they’ve actually released and I’m sorry to say neither the design nor the technology impressed me.
Yet, I definitely think Google Friend Connect maybe one of the more popular services to debut this year. No doubt the potential is there. Once people begin using it, gain the ability to add gadgets from other networks or build gadgets based on friend connect, and it catches on — then the show will begin.
WOW google is so inventive.. this is cutting edge technology — NOT
more comments from people…. boring!
And how is Google going to make money off this… someone please explain?
What is their business model?
Where are the profiles, you guys?
Ha, you must be stupid then. Guys (or Girls) who don’t put too much detail (or go anonymous) on the internet are very wise not to do so. The ones who do give the details (including personal info) of their daily life on the internet are the those who have exaggerated self important feeling as I frequently quoted here at TechCrunch. Identity theft is on the rise and it will continue to do so. Those that are vain who put too much on the internet will regret this at some stage in the future. The digital information age can archive info for the next 1000 years or so. In the age of paper-based info society, official info could last for about 80 years, today it can last forever.
…or just wait for Facebook Connect?
“I must say I do like the comment gadget. I’ve chosen the format that allows you have to receive different comments on each post.”
Is there a grammar gadget? ;-p
I was fortunate enough to get a Friend Connect invite for mapdango (http://www.mapdango.com). It is the first map mashup site (not blog) to get Friend Connect, and I see some good potential for the Friend Connect widgets for a site like mapdango.
You can read more about how Friend Connect has been integrated with mapdango here: http://www.cartosoft.com/node/18
And you can see an example comment for a specific location (Portland, Oregon) here:
http://tinyurl.com/6rexo5
As more visitors enter comments for a location (e.g., Portland), I think that sites like mapdango can offer regional and ‘hyperlocal’ social interaction/networking based on a common geography.
I think that it’s important to keep in mind that Friend Connect is still at a very early stage, and I think that the performance, capabilities, and functionality will improve/expand with time.
Friend Connect includes the ability to use OpenSocial widgets, so as more widgets are developed by Google and/or third parties, sites that use Friend Connect will be able to include various types of functionality.
Still waiting for TechCrunch to at least mention mapdango in one of its posts
Can anybody hook me up with a bigger firehose?
Here’s what BOTHERS ME. And i hope somebody from GOOGLE is reading this.
Since I am making my social network sitespaces.net into a script to compete with PHPFox, I am going to implement OpenSocial, or at least to the best of my ability. I have already gone over the basics of implementation on the client side.
If only the BIGger networks like Facebook and Hi5 are listed on the friend connect screen, then how is Open Social OPEN???
I should be able to implement open social into my social networking script PHPSocialize.com and then resell that to tens of thousands of webmasters which can then LEVERAGE friend connect for their own social network. Perhaps they will use my script to import their members from an existing vBulletin installation which I will provide a script to do.
If I implement Open Social, can I list friend connect to THEIR instance of my social network script as a feature?
If it’s so Open, then why the hell not?
Chris, stop trying to promote your irrelevant product on the blogosphere. There is no such thing as open social network. There is only something called voluntary agreement if one chooses to make it open to the public? Do you get it? I think that you still haven’t got your head around the property rights issues that I communicated to you on another thread.
You should not be sorry to say that the UI sucks. Have you played with some of their other products lately, like Google Apps? Somebody at Google needs to wake up. They’re starting to look more and more like the (old) Microsoft of the Web, while Apple, with its Mobile.me, is starting to look more and more like, er… the Apple of the Web (especially since it’s paying).
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/T.....893542_3_0
I’m watching this right now from Netflix and the MPAA reminds me of Google and their board that approves “membership” to “open” social.
I’m not trying to promote anything. I’m asking a legitimate question. It’s simple and straight forward.
If I include open social server side into my social networking script, will friend connect work for those that purchase and instantiate my social networking script???
If it were truly open wouldn’t they have written an RFC???
This to me seems like a total joke if they can’t promise that.
http://www.internetnews.com/xS.....hp/3487041
“All machines run on a stripped-down Linux kernel. The distribution is Red Hat, but Hoelzle said Google doesn’t use much of the distro. Moreover, Google has created its own patches for things that haven’t been fixed in the original kernel.”
Geez, I’d really like to download and see those changes Google made to that GPL code. Where is the download link? Anyone?
well some of the google gadgets are really interesting and as you mentioned above google friend can surely build up some traffic but the fact its slower is omewhat understood as google is still developing new creative and different gadgets might they work on it and who knows we might have lot of interesting things still coming. and that comment gadget that you referred is quite interesting too.
Just go to http://www.loudappeal.com - add it to your blog in a click and all the widgets you’d ever need.
Hi Orli,
How does Friend Connect compare to MyBlogLog? Do you show up in the gadget if you don’t explicitly add yourself to the community?
How does the comment gadget compare to Disqus? I don’t really understand what you mean that it works in addition to the native commenting system.
Thanks,
Lawrence
Loud Appeal is actually a really cool service, you should try it out! Much better organized than Google Friend Connect!
One more great article from Orli, so thanks for sharing! I really love when you share with us new technologies which are just on their first steps. Hey, but this is your job, isn’t it ? eh eh…..
Like you, I’m excited on one hand about “connect” and I trust Google to make it a success, but yep - the design is still rough… so we will have to wait and give Google a chance.
Nice !
Isn’t this more like MyBlogLog?
I was just going to say, sounds like myBlogLog in a lot of ways (you beat me #19) - you know, that company that was kind of cool ~3 years ago and then they got bought out and then everyone realized the service was almost completely pointless and served no purpose and now no one uses it. Yeah, makes sense to copy that product. Nice going Google. I will totally install friend connect on all of my web sites because it sounds so amazing and ground breaking and wow I’d have to be insane not to use it I guess?
your Go2web20 does very badly. Sucked 100% of my cpu upon opening the home page. i’m using firefox 3
A nice list of all the best web 2.0 site here:
http://techwatch.reviewk.com/2.....00-list-2/
Just had a look at your blog (and subscribed). You are right, I’m not sure if its just FriendConnect, but it took ages to finish loading. The FriendConnect widget looks a bit plain compared to what we are used to seeing from Google, and not very useful I’m afraid.
Great post, Orli. Keep on writing!
I think now it is time for me to jump into the bandwagon and start using friendfeed.
Yahoo with mybloglog has been once again surpassed by Google even that this widget is not yet powerfull as LoudAppeal.
And also great post (as usual) Orli.
I hope that this post will be followed by many others on Techcrunch
Both Google Friend Connect & MyBlogLog helps you find new friends based on their blog reading taste. As a result of that, your blog/site traffic grows.
Google’s Friend Connect, connects you through your favorite social networks, and not only you can see and be seen by friends who’ve joined your blog/site, and invite more friends to read and share, you can also publish your activities to your social news feeds.
But there’s more to it than just that. You can read about the concept in my previous post here:
http://blog.go2web20.net/2008/.....1-2-3.html
In my opinion, Google takes a step forward by providing a core set of social gadgets. Once you have added Friend Connect to your site, you can offer many of other applications built by others, and powered by OpenSocial to your users, simply by pasting the relevant snippet into your site.
Please bare in mind that this is still in beta testing, and even if the execution is not so great at the moment, it could become a huge deal when it will be.
I’d say, get ready to be social, because if your site is not so social right now, Friend Connect will make a difference.
One last thing (a tip):
When you signing up to this gadget (from any blog), please write something about yourself (screenshot attached), because right now this is the fastest way to get more info than just your name & picture.
http://flickr.com/photos/orliy1/2597471490/
theres realltynothing you can do. act accordingly!
Orli, thanks a bunch for the detailed review.
I think Friend Connect really has the potential to change some of our online habits.
The option for any website owner to have an instant social layer seems promising, not everyone has the time or skills to build a dedicated Ning, or a slow growing user based community.
The oldest attempt at this direction that i can recall was back in 1999, client based “Gooey”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gooey
Well, Google is now big enough to offer a wide standard of social layers, and i really hope it works!
“I’m having trouble deciding whether this list of friends should go with you everywhere or not.”
It should be an option, still i’d like to be able to relate specific friends to different sites according to their context.
Cheers!
chris.. (@12)
my god man.. you’re running the risk of becoming a joke. i know the point you’re trying to make. google isn’t giving you ur use is easy access to being listed on their open social app/widget/etc… or maybe i don’t know your point!!!
however, my point is that you don’t know the gpl licensing issue. the gpl states that you can take/use something that’s gpl’d… you can then do whatever the hell you want to do with it internally. you never need to give anything back to the community if your use is internal….
but, if you make what you changed, or the derivative works available to the public, then you must also offer the source to the derivative works.
someone else can chime in if i’ve left something out.. it’s been awhile since i’ve gotten into the gritty details of the gpl license…
peace.
well i certaintly hope things continue as planned. someone has to. will keep up with this tech crunch thing . good company! cul8r. tk
Sure mybloglog brought a few user pics to people’s websites through a widget but it’s about how one extends that idea, and mybloglog has clearly failed with the amount of time they’ve had. I think based on what i’ve read, friend-connect certainly has a useful widget but as #14 and stephane mention, http://www.loudappeal.com seems to have the right concept. The ability to get these things on people’s sites or blogs is going to be key, and having a one click on any blogger or typepad blog seems to be a good start.
Great post Orli………. keep on writing..
Good post Orli, Google will be a big player in that space. good to read you here.
Disclosure: TechCrunch is a sponsor of Go2web20.
This comment is a bit superficial, but it’s part of what I do…
Orli Yakuel is really georgous, but noone should ever wear horizontal stripes.
Great post
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Comments would be so much more informative and interesting if there was less sarcasm. It’s a childish way to communicate.
dont care abt friendconnect.. but man… she is hot!
It sounds like it will be a useful widget for a change IF they implement the changes you suggest. Otherwise it will be yet another thing that could drag down page load speed. Makes it hard to decide what to use and what to leave off.
Nice functionality I guess but why does Web 2.0 have to be so ugly? Seriously, can someone burn the ugly stick so people stop using it on these widgets?
@ michelle
actually, children don’t usually understand sarcasm…that part of their little brains hasn’t developed quite yet. So, I don’t know if you were being facetious or mildly sarcastic, but it’s actually not childish, its a ‘grown up’s affair.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06.....3sarc.html
Anyone can explain me simply their business model ?
Great post Orli, I really can’t find much of a difference between this and mybloglog. Yes its more advance, but bottom line, its the same…
The big addition in my opinion is the OpenSocial option, lets see how many bloggers will be able to use its benefits.
Arrington hasn’t been heard from in 24 hours. He must be negotiating with his bankers to keep “All Things Y!” above water. Inside sources say that executives might be leaving. We will post as we hear more.
hmm, i guess that i’ll be the first person to say it…great post, plus you are HOT - why haven’t you been on the valleywag babes roster??? manishma baby, i’m single, and a member of the tribe, and i’ve even lived on a kibbutz even if i do reject that salt-of-the-earth thing…please live in boston.