After Yahoo Integrates Facebook, Google Integrates Twitter

After Yahoo integrates Facebook, Google integrates Twitter

BANGKOK: -- Search giant attempts to incorporate social networking and real-time live-streams through tie-up with microblogging service

That was fast. Yesterday Yahoo revealed that it was integrating Facebook Connect deeply into its site; today Google announced that Twitter will become a log-in option.

From now on, people using Twitter will be able to log in to any of the sites that use Google Friend Connect with their Twitter logins. That use Google what? Never heard of it? That's why they are teaming up with Twitter.

Google Friend Connect is an online service that allows web users to connect with their friends on different websites. It was announced last May in an attempt to become more social and has about 8 million monthly users – not a lot for the web.

Twitter might not have as many users as Facebook, which has 350 million users, but for Google that's not the point. Google has enough users – the problem is that they don't use Google for social networking. There are 146 million users of Gmail, but the days of email as or main message system might be numbered.

So to keep up pace with Facebook, Google tries to get more social because in todays internet you need to have a real-time live-stream. The integration of Twitter is definitely an interesting attempt.

But there is another point. Facebook and Twitter are becoming something like identity providers. And taking your identity from site to site might be convenient, but it is not always a good idea.

-- Guardian UK 2009-12-03