A year on, Facebook Connect shows fast growth
The social identity service has attracted major sites and even more platforms. But where Facebook is planning to take Connect is a big unknown.
When Facebook Connect launched a little over a year ago, Facebook said it had big things planned for the service, which lets users log in to third-party sites with their Facebook credentials and bring their social identity with them. The numbers now seem to bear out those high hopes.
The social network said Wednesday that Facebook Connect is now available on more than 80,000 Web sites and is being used by more than 60 million people. Wow.
"Facebook was developed with the idea that friends make every experience better, and with Facebook Connect that same concept is extended off of Facebook so that you can view your News Feed and updates where and when you want," the company wrote in a blog post. "With just a few clicks on an external Web site, your Facebook content, privacy settings, and friends follow you to make your experience on that website more social and meaningful."
Perhaps Facebook Connect's best quality is ubiquity. The service is employed in several iPhone apps, it's available on sites like CBS.com (Disclosure: CBS.com is owned by CBS, which also owns CNET), as well as this site. Even Xbox 360 owners can use Facebook Connect.
But just where Facebook will be taking Connect in the future is unknown. The company didn't say in the blog post whether it had any plans to update the service. All it said was that "soon, connected experiences will extend to even more platforms, all with Facebook as the underlying technology."
Any guesses? Let's hear what you think in the comments below.