Google Friend Connect Or Facebook Connect? Which Is Right For You?

Everyone seems to be comparing two new social networking applications – Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect. I haven’t tried the latter, but I have tried the former. But this post isn’t about which is better. It’s about which is better for you.

How do you decide whether you should use Google Friend Connect or Facebook Connect for your blog? Or neither? First, ask yourself this question, “Would having your very own social network aid your target audience?”

If the answer to that question is yes then you’ve taken the first step.

Now you just have to decide whether Facebook Connect or Google Friend Connect is a better choice. Either way, it’s a big step and you should know what you are getting into. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Are you a member of Facebook and are you active there?
• Do you see a need for Facebook and would it improve your networking any?
• How are your technical skills?
• Do you have it in your budget to hire a developer to help you set up a social network?
• Is your target audience using Facebook?

If your answer to any of these questions is negative then you shouldn’t bother with Facebook Connect. You should use Google Friend Connect instead. Here’s why:

• Google Friend Connect is easier to install for the average user.
• Facebook Connect is proprietary and if neither you nor your target audience can benefit from networking through Facebook it just doesn’t make sense to use their service because you can’t use it with any service other than Facebook; Google Friend Connect, by contrast, is open source and therefore provides the ability to network across multiple websites.
• Even if your technical skills are not that great, if your audience is on Facebook and you have the budget to pay a developer to install Facebook Connect for you then it could pay off in the long run (you need to be where your audience is).

Social networking is here to stay. Thanks to both Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect, niche websites can get in on the niche social networking action now. To find sites that use Google Friend Connect, visit Friend Connectified.