Google Friend Connect launched with Twitter this morning, a big win for Google in the fight for control over user logins on third party sites. Recent speculation was that Twitter would be partnering with Facebook to integrate Connect first.
Twitter quickly corrected stories, telling reporters that they’ll soon integrate with Facebook Connect, too. Twitter CEO Evan Williams even Tweeted about it, saying “For the record: Twitter did not “choose Google, not Facebook.” We’re working with both. We have more to do on the FB side before launch.”
But, er, hey Twitter, what about MySpace? You know, the company that you agreed to launch with back in May? Here, this screen shot may jog your memory.
But Twitter is dead silent on their MySpace relationship. No mention of it in Evan’s twitter message. No response to my email asking for their current position on MySpace. Just silence.
MySpace isn’t much help either. All they’ll say is “Twitter has been a valuable strategic partner in defining the MySpaceID program. We continue to work collaboratively with Twitter and will share more news on MySpaceID implementation specifics when we have it.”
Which is sort of like saying nothing at all.
Update: Twitter’s Evan Williams responds “Yes, [we are integrating with MySpace]. The onus is on us currently to apply the engineering resources.” He actually said “Yes, all of the above. The onus is on us currently to apply the engineering resources.” But I take that to mean he’s integrating with MySpace given my question.
Update 2: Biz Stone made it even clearer on the Twitter blog that the company is working on its MySpace integration as well. In a post titled “Let’s All Be Friends,” he explains:
Twitter plans to integrate with the open initiatives offered by our friends at MySpace, Facebook, and Google. We officially announced our intent to work with MySpace back in May because we believe strongly in offering the exchange of public information between our complimentary services.
Yesterday, Google included Twitter in their Friend Connect program which means folks can stay connected with their Twitter network on web sites that have activated the service. This particular integration did not require effort on our part so it was a quick win for folks who use Twitter and want to connect on participating web sites.
Integrating with MySpace as well as Facebook Connect will require some development effort on our part. Now that we have 13 software engineers working at Twitter and our reliability continues to improve we’re getting closer to integrating with your favorite social networks.
Ouch. That’s gotta hurt Myspace both now and for any future partnerships. seems like myspace has a huge vision and a bunch of ideas but their implementation seems to always be flawed.
Peter Epstein
http://www.thew...war.com/myspace
MySpace should just embrace Google Friend Connect. Together they’ll have a much better chance of taking on Facebook Connect.
Otherwise Facebook wins.
facebook already won.
Michael, how have they won? I ask because, I don’t have the code skills to use FaceBook (or myspace) so I have to go all in with google. Just want some clarity so I know what I’m dealing with and what to do next.
Hey Mike why do you say facebook won already?
Couldn’t Twitter or other sites let people login using a variety of services? e.g. openID, MySpace, Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, and Twitter’s own account system?
Wouldn’t they just get more users by accepting all the different services?
Facebook won because they have the audience and existing social network. Google + Twitter doesn’t equal much of a social network IMO. Plus, GFC doesn’t even have an open API that allows us at any useful data. You just plug some code into your site but can’t really control much beyond that. With Connect you can basically create a user profile with the data provided, including their network of friends. Very useful.
I’m sure they will all converge and be very similar in the future, but it’s all about who was first, and that would be Connect.
spoken like a true Fanboy =)
Eric, MySpaceID is built on the same open standards Friend Connect uses, and will be integrated with Friend Connect – that was announced at Le Web last week.
Haha Arrington I love how much the press lately has been giving everyone credit for stuff they didn’t do. I mean you don’t even need to get a quote from someone in order to quote them anymore! Holy crap I want to get into journalism!
It’s sort of like when the Fox Street Journal quotes Lessig as “softening” his view on network neutrality. Lessig was like “WTF? When did I say that?”
I’m just going to start quoting people and not even care whether they said it or not.
don’t be creepy.
Sigh come on I was kidding.
i agree that it will heart myspace for a future partnerships
Please file story under subheading:
Real problems in economy. No one cares about this story.
Thanks.
In these “hard” times I want to better my site and perhaps earn some cash. So I care. besides, what is the point of taking the time out to hate on a post that you claim no one cares about. Wow, haters are so strange.
just say it twitter will probably be brought by google.
ok. Twitter will probably be bought by Google.
Got a figure or year in mind Michael?
Also, I know personally I’d not mind if Google acquired Twitter, it wouldn’t change my opinion of the service – but I’d have second thoughts about continuing on the service if MySpace, Yahoo!, or Microsoft were to acquire them…
Well, we know Twitter already turned down $100+ million in stock. So, I’m guessing 12 months from now. $250 million (50% cash, 50% stock).
MIke, Robert and others -
I often wonder, and I do not mean to be overly critical, if you guys ever long to write about something truly meaningful?
You have produced some of the best news and advice about Tech anywhere, but it all seems to be focused on applications or popular “kiddie” developments that just happen to “look” like money in the bank these days, I do not fully understand?
Robert is throwing out numbers as if we were talking about buying a company like General Electric was back in the 50’s – or almost a certain success.
If any of you investors out there, or Google for that matter, want to fork over a quarter of a billion, Well, here is an alternative business plan.
Put the dough in escrow in my name and I will guarantee a startup that will make Twitter look like what is is; A modern day equivalent to the slinky compared to General Electric. Here is where some of the money will go to start -
A Japanese Rocket Scientist CTO – $1 million yr.
5 Top notch engineers – $2.5 mil yr
1 bimbo executive assistant for each $500,000 yr
Top notch PR firm – $600,000 yr
Rack of IBM Blue Genie/L servers $2 million
7,000 sq ft office building in Menlo Park $5 mil
Hire David Airey for graphics design $500,000
Hire James Earl Jones for voice overs $800,000
Hire Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for 3 mos as chat hosts for users – 4 hours per day $20 mil
Give $10 mil to Jimmy Wales to make Search Wikia what it could be – no strings
Engage College students with $40,000 creativity, marketing, design, music, art and computer science awards at major Universities $1 mil plus
Spend another $10 mil on direct targeted ads on Veoh, YouTube, TechCrunch (this one’s for you Mike) and Google of course
I still have something over $190 mil left, let me see who or what could I buy wit that? Ah, I know, perhaps engage the least engaged segment of the Internet community – children. I think with $190 mil I could probably get a meeting with Stephen Speilberg to talk about Dreamworks sponsoring something profound for kids. A kid’s search engine maybe, or a destination other than Digg for 14 year olds.
Can we please at least begin to think about what is important? I know, I sound a little childish, but then Twittering our lives away does dwarf any idealistic profundity I can possibly expound upon.
I so look forward to, and back on a little, the possibility we all talked about back when Web 2.0 was supposed to take us somewhere. Yet here at the most important tech blog in the world, we are giggling over what? Someone’s vested interest in nothing more than a novel idea – cool and fun – but novel none the less.
Please do something with all that you excellent people possess in the way of intillect, influence and resources.
Always,
Phil Butler
Hope so and they integrate it into Gmail ..having a inbox tab and twitter tab in Gmail would be great!
Some1 did make a Twitter Gmail gadget, but I have to scroll down and its in a smallbox which is hard to read.
I would be hard pressed to think of anyone who would buy Twitter when Twitter does not make any money…
It is encouraging as an aspiring web entrepreneur to see that as long as you can command a huge number of eyeballs, you can sell for a large amount of money without actually having revenue.
Is it Twitter (Google) or Facebook or both? Who wins?
I’m not surprised. Myspace is relatively trashy. And Twitter is fairly respectable. Makes sense that they would choose Google and Facebook, which are clean, crisp, decent establishments.
NS
http://scienced...d.wordpress.com
Scoble is loose.
Someone grab the GPS and Taser.
LOL, No LMAOROF
No one will buy twitter… If Google, Myspace or Facebook want to have micro-blogging they’ll just do it theirselves…
Any 14 year old can build a twitter in an afternoon and all those big players have a much more solid client base than twitter can offer…
Twitter is a fad, much like Facebook. Guess what they have in commong? No real business model, yet.
Twitter, Facebook, and the internet (are all *fads*?)
So Jaiku has vanished out of everyone’s minds then?
traction
jaiku has none
Twitter and MySpace integration has always been terrible. From day one I’ve been able to update my Facebook status from Twitter but MySpace’s APIs make that impossible to do. I have to update my Twitter status from MySpace, which is unacceptable.
From what I understand that’s a MySpace limitation and not any fault of Twitter’s. If MySpace wants to stay relevant, they need to open up at a level deeper than just shared credentials.
=Ryan
ryan@adobe.com
that just isn’t true about our API. we have a REST API for updating status that is accessible behind OAuth. this feature has been live since that platform launched. you can find documentation at: http://develope.../resources.aspx
Maybe the app developers just don’t know how it works because I can’t find a Twitter app that updates my MySpace status from Twitter and I’m not alone – http://forum.my...71-37ee44024342
=Ryan
ryan@adobe.com
When did Twitter become the prettiest girl at the party???
when facebook and myspace got “married” and took sides (Microsoft and Google, respectively) – twitter is now the new young hot girl at the party and no one knows, yet, who she’ll go home and sleep with
Peter Epstein
http://www.thew...war.com/twitter
At the end of the day, how should we play it: comment with both Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect? Just to be sure to have it both ways?
Login with twitter creds? Now all those sites I’ve given my twitter creds to because twitter doesn’t have a decent third-party integration system have access to an even wider, and more desirable, series of sites to impersonate me on. This is a serious security problem waiting to happen.
WHY STICK W/ THIS TITLE IF, AFTER DOING THE WORK YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE BEFORE PUBLISHING IT, IT’S NOW INCORRECT??
BECAUSE IT WAS CORRECT UNTIL I SHAMED TWITTER INTO REMEMBERING THEIR PARTNER MYSPACE.
Just because you shamed them, they have now considered back the MySpace partnership?
http://www.prwe...rweb1737544.htm