Google Friend Connect: Making Sites More Interactive & Social

A week ago, Google announced the release of the beta version of Google Friend Connect. This is what Mussie Shore, Google Product Manager, had to say about the new released service:

We're pleased to share that Google Friend Connect is now available in beta to any webmaster looking to add a "dash of social" to his or her site. This service lets webmasters add social features to their sites by simply copying and pasting a few snippets of code — no advanced coding or technical background required.

The following YouTube video explains the concept of Google Friend Connect:



The main two types of gadgets you can add to your site/blog are Members Gadgets and Social Gadgets. Members gadget allows visitors to join your site, sign in and out, see other members, and use other social features. You may also use a more minimal, simple sign-in gadget, on multiple pages on your site to ensure that visitors can sign in and out as desired. Once you've installed one of these, visitors can start joining your site.

On the other hand, Social Gadgets include wall gadget and review/rate gadget. Wall gadget allows viewers to post comments, or links to videos on your site. Review/rate gadget allows viewers to rate a page, or a section of a page. Viewers can use this to rate videos, articles, books, photos, songs, or anything else. You can put multiple Review/Rate gadgets on one page, one for each item you want viewers to review.

Google Friend Connect is a service worth implementing in sites and blogs. It's free and will help making your site more interactive and social.