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Facebook Adopts Single Sign-on with OpenID

Techtree News Staff, May 20, 2009 1550 hrs IST

A single key access to several networking avenues

Facebook said it will adopt an OpenID framework for simplifying how users would sign on to the social networking website. Even though community website enthusiasts would be delighted to include the OpenID sign-on option, an average Internet user hasn't heard much about OpenID concept.

So, what exactly is OpenID? It is a single sign-on option that eliminates the need of multiple user names and passwords across different participating websites.

With a strong 200 million user base, Facebook is truly looking forward to implement a more secure and easy way for users to sign in. Interestingly, this comes right after the recent phishing attack was launched to steal Facebook users' sign-on credentials.

A new Facebook account could be created using Gmail credentials and existing users will be automatically logged into Facebook if they're logged into Gmail or other OpenID account.

OpenID might sound like an attractive proposition, but many users have already been signing in to Facebook using their Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL IDs. The point is Facebook never had a Facebook ID! Earlier, users used to sign-in using university email accounts when Facebook was restricted to the UK and U.S. based universities.

Luke Shepard, a Facebook software engineer, stated in a post at Facebook Developers blog that users can register for Facebook using their Gmail accounts. This is a quicker, more streamlined way for new users to register for the site, find their friends, and start exploring. The interesting part here is that Facebook suspended Google s Friend Connect feature as it passed on user information without their knowledge. And now, Facebook is pushing its Facebook Connect with a Gmail sign-in support in the name of OpenID.

All this might sound too confusing for a simple user who wants to be on Facebook at one time and Gmail at the other. Offering a number of sign-in options will just increase the clutter on the now simple login page. Shepherd further stated, "We've noticed that first-time users who register on the site with OpenID are more likely to become active Facebook users. They get up and running after registering even faster than before, find their friends easily, and quickly engage on the site."

According to critics, Facebook Connect was OpenID's rival. And now, when Facebook adopts OpenID, it would be interesting to see the implementations of it. Michael Hickins of Digital Life Weblog aptly points out that it's unlikely to imagine that someone would sign up for Gmail account from his Facebook pages. Whether users will adore the OpenID implementation or not, only time will tell.