Digg (finally) gets Facebook Connect integration
After 10 months of promising that it was on the way, Digg is finally implementing Facebook Connect. In the next few hours Facebook users will be able to log into Digg with their Facebook credentials and use the site as if they had spent the time registering. It will also push their activity back to Facebook so their friends can see what they've been digging, and let them find other Facebook users who are using Digg too.
Digg is one of largest sites to implement Facebook Connect thus far. Second after that is likely CNN and CitySearch, both of which implemented Connect late last year.
This move is definitely a win-win for both parties. Users of both sites have long been able to post stories they've dugg to their Facebook profiles through various third party Facebook apps. The real magic here is that Digg will have an alternate way for newcomers to use the site in a way where long-term usage can be tracked and promoted back over to Facebook users who have not yet registered with Digg (and no longer need to).
Still missing from Digg's log-in options, and what was originally unveiled when Facebook Connect was announced, is support for OpenID. Like with Facebook Connect, this would let OpenID users log in with their OpenID credentials. However, it's likely taken the backseat to the implementation of Facebook Connect since there are fewer ways to resyndicate that segment of user activity.
Digg: Facebook Connect Demo from Digg Meetups on Vimeo.
Update: I just tried this out on my account, and what's nice is that if you're already a registered Digg user it simply links up your two accounts and finds your Facebook friends who are also Digg users. You can also choose which actions on Digg you want syndicated over to your news feed back on Facebook. You might want to double check these settings if you're the kind of person who leaves, creepy or otherwise not-safe-for-Facebook comments on Digg. Screenshot after the break.
Once you link up your Facebook account with Digg it gives you a fast way to add your FB friends as Digg friends, and choose which content you want to port over.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Josh Lowensohn writes for Webware.com, CNET's blog about Web applications and services. E-mail Josh, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Josh. 
%20gets%20Facebook%20Connect%20integration%20%7C%20Webware%20-%20CNET&srcUrl=http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10234534-2.html){kind=small}
(goes to link my profile)
Facebook is a powerful brand, but it certainly isn't the only game in town, and data we've compiled shows that there are plenty of web users who identify strongly with brands like Google, Yahoo, AOL and Windows Live. RPX casts a wide net over each of these providers and puts the user in control.
Here's another vote for JanRain's RPX as the easiest way to do this. If Digg had gone with that then we'd be seeing OpenID support right now alongside Facebook Conenct -- and it probably wouldn't have taken 10 months.
We're working on integrating RPX now and hope to have support for login using an ID on Facebook, MySpace, MSN/Live/Hotmail and OpenID some time next month.
Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz
- by denharsh May 8, 2009 8:17 AM PDT
- I enabled the feature after seeing on official Digg blog, but It turns out to be very annoying because whenever we digg any article it enable a pop up saying Do you want to post it on facebook.
- Reply to this comment
-
(6 Comments)If you are an active digger who Digg more then 100 posts a day. You will always find this feature very annoying.
Its better to keep a check box, which can be used to publish any dugg article on your facebook wall.