Govit: “58% of New Users Choose Facebook Connect”

December 10th, 2008

Govit.com, a site that allows users to connect with congressional representatives by voting on active legislation, has recently become one of the first to add Facebook Connect integration into the democratic experience. By adding Connect functionality, they have not only made it possible for the 130 million Facebook users to use their credentials to log into the site but also to inform all the connections in their social graph when they do so. Now, with Facebook integration, Govit users can vote, compare voting trends, leave comments and loop all of this activity back to Facebook.

The site has also bypassed the need to create another unique account and password, an annoying problem that Facebok Connect definitely solves. Apparently the Govit community is excited about the change. Taylor Norrish, who created Govit, told Inside Facebook, “To date, 58% of new users choose Facebook Connect. I’m not surprised, but very happy about that. I believe most of those people would not use the site without it.”

While Facebook Connect was just recently only available to a small group of developers, last week marked the official open availability to the general public. If you’re interested in adding the Facebook Connect utility to your site or if you just want to learn more, check out Facebook’s documentation on Connect and their sample site, The Run Around!

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11 Responses to “Govit: “58% of New Users Choose Facebook Connect””

Taylor Norrish Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
This is Taylor from Govit. Thanks for the post.

Recently got a note from Facebook that they will be giving developers “metrics” for FB Connect. They wouldn’t give any more details, but I can imagine the # of feeds posted, activity of users (good to find your enthusiast), and maybe demographics of your users.

I’m sure they’ll tie this info to their ad platform to help site owners target new users.

A few ideas I wish FB Connect would roll out…

1) Integration with Twitter… FB should become like Ping.fm and allow members to publish to other platforms than Facebook.

2) Messaging. Feeds are great, but being able to send your friends messages can be powerful

3) Sending friends messages, posting widgets postings, and other FB actions along with posting to your feed.
SitePoint » Uh oh, Facebook is About to Become the Internet Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
[...] Inside Facebook reports that after adding Facebook Connect as a login option, new users of Govit.com are choosing to login with Facebook 58% of the time. Govit founder Taylor Norrish told Inside Facebook that he thinks Facebook Connect is actually driving registration of new users. That’s a powerful statement that we’re sure other developers will pay attention to. As Needleman wrote: self-interest wins. [...]
Justin Smith Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Taylor, thanks for your comment. I agree there are lots of ways Connect can be enhanced in the future, both in terms of metrics and communication channels. It is still in the early days!
Ronnie Cheng Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Taylor,
You can publish stories to your friend’s feed. Simply include the friend’s id as the target_ids parameter for showFeedDialog.
Wei Zhu Says:
December 11th, 2008 at 1:41 am
Taylor,

Great presentation at today’s developer meetup. Your implementation of Facebook Connect rocks.

As I mentioned to you at the meetup, you can actually emails users with Facebook Connect the same way other Facebook applications can today.
See http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/JS_API_M_FB.Connect.ShowPermissionDialog
and
http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Extended_permissions for details.
Gemilo blog » Blog Archive » Yhä useampi kirjautuu Facebook Connectilla verkkopalveluihin Says:
December 12th, 2008 at 7:19 am
[...] -sivuston luoja Taylor Norrish kertoi aiemmin tällä viikolla uusista käyttäjistä 58 %:ia kirjautuu sivustolle käyttämällä [...]
Is Facebook Taking over the Internets? by Niche Store Now Says:
December 14th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
[...] According to Inside Facebook, Govit.com has reported that after adding Connect to its login system, users are choosing to login with Facebook 58% of the time. [...]
Social Lipstick » Blog Archive » I’m running for the OpenID board of directors Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
[...] how much data they get from their users, and how much more content users contribute. For example, Govit reported that more than half of their new users use Connect, and they all have names and profile pictures, [...]
Mobile Social Network Brightkite Launches Facebook Connect Integration Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 12:39 pm
[...] that are already signed up with competitors. Sites that have recently added Facebook Connect, like Govit, have already discovered that it’s a great way to increase traffic. Brightkite competes with [...]
Facebook Convert - A Revenue Earning Idea for Facebook at Idea Tagging Says:
January 9th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] is already well on its way to doing this. Apparently Govit.com, an early adopter of Connect, saw 58% of new users choosing to login with Facebook. That is huge. However the problem Facebook has is that it can’t charge businesses for this [...]
Le réseau social mobile Brightkite intègre Facebook Connect Says:
March 29th, 2009 at 8:36 am
[...] déjà un service concurrent. Les sites qui ont récemment installé Facebook Connect, comme Govit, ont déjà constaté que c’est un moyen très efficace d’attirer du trafic. Brightkite [...]