Facebook is a recognized brand. The blue field, the white font, the minimalist "f" that reminds you of friends, of checking what's going on with the people you like to connect has been etched in our psyche irrevocably. Facebook's whole business model, its entire philosophy is to connect people. To invite users to express themselves and as a result we have a living embodiment of the phrase "the more the merrier" on a social network.

And this is why; Facebook is ever present, both in our thoughts and in our screens. But where does that help an entrepreneur like you, who is eager to have the next big business of web? Especially if your business idea targets an audience that is immune to the adherence of categories?
August, 2006: Facebook introduced the first version of the Facebook API, allowing its users to share public and private information, should they choose so, with third party website.

May, 2007: Facebook introduces the next level Facebook Platform, a capability for third party websites to create web rich applications within the Facebook's framework

May, 2008: One year later, Facebook introduced Facebook Connect. The be-all-end-all API integration tool for developers and web businesses for an endless number of third party websites, enabling users to get access without too much hassle.

Here's how it has benefitted both sides of the screen.

Benefits (User side)

• The bulky sign up forms quickly became irrelevant. Facebook Connect provided the lightning fast access to a website with a single click sign up.
• Facebook Connect API enabled users to choose which areas of information are they willing to share with the website they were signing up on.
• Users were now not only capable of a quicker login/sign up, but also able to access several websites that they previous shied away from due to a sign up process that was tedious.
• Users can invite their Facebook friends to the websites and start a network and engage in features/services collectively.

Benefits (Developers Side)

• Reduced requirement of coding in order to create a proper sign up form which allows the websites to have a cogent database of user information.
• Signup forms that are shorter and more precise, allowing a faster initiation of core user experience.
• Streamlining of the web developer's toolbox, enabling them to utilize their time in enhancing the engineering to support the UI much better without being anxious about the grindstones of user signup.

Benefits (Business Side)

• Universally applicable Facebook Connect API encourages previously reluctant users to access the websites without worrying about exhaustive signup.The ability to not only reach out and invite a larger volume of traffic but also streamline the efforts through the patterns in user information collected through Facebook to generate user loyalty.
• A better understanding of audience through the pages and groups shared in the public information through Facebook Connect.

With the universal use of Facebook Connect; it was natural that its surge caused a few frowns regarding the following points:
Changes in Facebook API are solely the jurisdiction of Facebook and do not take in consideration the impact it can have on business across the scales and variety.

Users who do not have Facebook accounts.
What if Facebook goes down?

However, the verdict regarding the above mentioned drawbacks was

• Due to the considerable scale of advantages, keeping up with the changes is not an extraneous effort for Developers and Businesses.
• Native Signup/Login forms as well as User ID and password generation can be relied upon as backup in case of any such problems.

Startup web development naturally gears towards maximum lead generation and Facebook API serves as an important tool for the same. There is ample reasoning available to not ignore this crucial developer's tool. We previously did a study on Facebook's Business Model to better understand Social Network Design and Development which you can read here.

Vinfotech is a leading social network design and startup web development firm based in India and San Francisco, USA. We invite to you have a conversation with us regarding your web development and design needs.