Excellent short post by Dick Hardt over at Identity 2.0 about Facebook’s new identity play. By enabling other sites to let users use Facebook’s login system (and pull in their Facebook profile data), Facebook is effectively spreading the reach of its system. Google has made a similar play with Google Accounts, but with less user data available for sites to access, it is ultimately less effective.
Interesting article on a blog I will likely add to my reader. I’m not sure whether to read this is a value move for Facebook or a capitulation to users and developers. With increasing competition in the social network space, however, perhaps capitulation is a value move. The company that becomes THE identity site will have to maintain a competitive edge in openness, balanced of course, with a dynamic respect for user privacy.