Uh-oh for the King and Queen of Social Media Sites, now Google is looking for a non-proprietary way for people to join and create social networks. In the article Google Wants To Be Your Universal Profile Too…, Stan Schroeder explains how Google’s “Friend Connect” service will make online profiles completely portable.
Here’s Google’s own explanatory video and Schroeder’s definition:
“Friend Connect is a tool which enables any website owner to add some code to their site and get a number of social features. You know, all that stuff you usually can’t be bothered to install plugins for: user registration, invites, members gallery, reviews, message posting, and – most importantly – third party OpenSocial apps.
In practice, this means that anyone will be able to log in, for example, with their OpenID on some blog, and converse with their Gtalk, Facbeook, or Plaxo friends. The web as a platform, it’s finally happening, folks.”
The idea of an Open Web is not without opposition. Zuckerburg’s Facebook again shows its monopolistic bent by obstructing Google’s initial launch of the service. So, in the battle to control the newest online medium, while Facebook and MySpace square-off over proprietary profile info, Google leaps both by creating a universal profile open app. The future of social media may be in another Google mashup. To truly achieve the effect of rubbing their noses in it, I think they should call it “MyFace” or “SpaceBook“.
Famous + Social = Relevant 