Google FriendConnect Adds Twitter Support

If you’ve visited this blog in the past week and a half, you’ve probably noticed a Google Friend Connect community widget on the side of the site. The service enables any site to instantly create their own community and users can login from Google, Yahoo, AIM, or via OpenID. Now users can promote their communities via Twitter. The way that is works is that when you click the “Invite” link to contact other people the service posts a message.

The service is pretty straight-forward. Aside from being able to tweet out the site you are at, you can also import your contacts on Twitter and the Friend Connect widget will immediately list other Twitter users that you’re following on Twitter that have also joined your community. Finally, if you want to switch your existing Friend Connect profile, you can simply import your Twitter profile rather than use your Google profile.

The one thing missing from this service is the ability to log into Twitter with your Google account. Twitter has publicly stated that they will be implementing Facebook Connect before any other service. For now though, you can use your Twitter profile within Google Friend Connect.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.