Facebook Connect launches – Did you know? Do you care?

Written on December 12, 2008 by clare

Announced in July at their second annual developers conference, Facebook Connect, a new integration tool for outside websites, just launched this week. Partners like Vimeo, Hulu and Joost provide an application and when you, as a Facebook user, add it, you can share what you’re watching, what you recommend, etc. Facebook had been slow on the uptake with their video applications, so the partners they have give a real boost there.

We all know how our lives have been transformed by the ease of connecting on Facebook, so what kind of impact will Facebook Connect have? Here’s how it will work: as an authentication tool, when you add the app you need only to log into your Facebook and soon all your friends will see what you’re watching on Hulu or Howcast. Not that any of my hundreds of friends are hip to these applications – I had to search through applications before I could find ones to add.

And here’s what people are saying about these apps so far:

Vimeo, it notes, has over 7 billion users who have uploaded over 950 trillion videos. Their Facebook page has 623 fans who rate it from 1 to 3 stars: “whats the point of this app? it doesnt appear in my app list and nobody can see your vids…” and “this app works fine for me. but now with the new ugly Facebook design it’s pushed to “Boxes”. wtf? a Vimeo tab app would be ideal.”

Joost Connect is rated 1 out of 5 stars with 24 users. 9 out of 12 wall posts are by the developer: “There was a nasty bug with the CF Facebook library, that I have now fixed, things should work again.” and “I had that problem for a while, if you have upgraded Joost recently, you may have to uninstall the plugin, and then re-install it.”

If I could find others, I’d give you a rundown of those, too…

Here’s why you should care: While Facebook says that they’re not currently concerned about monetization, what they are concerned with is raking in your personal information. As Om Malik of GigaOm explains: “Each service adds a few more data points about you inside the Facebook brain, which is quite aware of your activities inside the Facebook ecosystem. The brain can then crunch all that information and build a fairly accurate image of who you are, what you like and what might interest you. With all that information at its disposal, Facebook can build a fairly large cash register.”

If you didn’t already know this was happening with the stuff that you post on Facebook, you’ve been living under a rock. Yes, I care, but I don’t post financial data, IP in early stages, incriminating information about me or my friends, or anything I don’t want the world to see. Remember, the internet is forever. And if Facebook wants my recipe for banana bread, they’re welcome to it.

Posted in Biz, Obsessions