[OpenID] OpenID and Friendfeed

SitG Admin sysadmin at shadowsinthegarden.com
Thu Apr 30 05:01:06 UTC 2009


>It is is very difficult to integrate third party signin's
>whithout email addresses. Friendfeed seems to have pulled it off with some
>glitches though.

Friendfeed and Pibb and . . . okay, I'll stop now.

>Also please see my blogpost on a related subject on Facebook here.
>http://santrajan.blogspot.com/2009/04/facebook-support-for-openid-farce-or.html

"Once we have all the OpenID officionadoes and users signed up to 
facebook with their email addresses how about releasing email 
addresses with Facebook Connect? BAM! Every RP who requires an email 
address will adopt Facebook connect before adopting OpenID."

Assuming the RP's trust Facebook to give out users' E-mail addresses, 
the question then becomes: do *users* trust *Facebook*?

If users become aware that there are two different options for 
logging in at other sites with their Facebook account, one which 
gives away their E-mail address and one which doesn't, they may start 
clamoring for OpenID - if they can't get it at Facebook, they may 
stop using Facebook for their OP.

RP's that want to attract users may have to start accepting OpenID 
logins. Such is the "free market". If we promote the privacy benefits 
of OpenID, grassroots advertising may - simply by educating users 
about their options - bring about change in the RP's.

Assume a value 'x' for users that a RP needs to be self-sustaining, 
which is larger than a value 'y' for users visiting that RP who have 
*not* rejected the E-mail login system; then, assume a value 'z' for 
users who have already switched to OpenID for the privacy benefits, 
where 'z' is MUCH larger than 'y'. The first RP's to begin supporting 
OpenID will probably gain a disproportionate amount of 'z' users.

This is also part of what happens when "critical mass" is attained, 
but hopefully this more detailed narrative will help you to 
understand how RP's could so soon "give up" their requirement for 
E-mail addresses.

-Shade



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