This week is Google Friend Connect week for the member sites of JapanSoc community. This community boasts in excess of 200 members who are generally regarded as Japan-related web users.

japansoc.org

Much talk has been made about how to bring this community closer together. This particular post from yonasu was the catalyst for some interesting thoughts. The debate also continued over at JapanSoc (the .com not the .org).

The primary theme of the debate was ‘intent’. What is the underlying motivator for bloggers to collaborate in a niche market when each individual blogger is ‘perceived’ to be competing for readership of a somewhat common target audience?

Some questioned the monetisation angle. Is the aim for bloggers on the fringe of success to leverage a united community to propel them closer to reward? Or is it just to make a cyber-friend?

Popular opinion appeared in favour of a closely binded network. A network who shared, at a minimum, a passion for Japan. Also, to quote Shane Sakata “The purpose of this group is about helping to promote each others work and to learn from each other in success and failure.”

Such an embryonic community already existed, which is evidenced by the popularity of the latest Japan Blog Matsuri (with over 20 submissions received this month). But the question became how to foster, cultivate and nurture this community.

Japan Blog Matsuri

Enter Nick Ramsay with an idea to utilise the latest (well, not beta) from Google in terms of ‘socialising’ the community using Google Friend Connect – an online service by Google that allows users on the internet to connect with their friends on different websites.

The basic premise of Google Friend Connect is to give websites the capability for people to join and connect with friends on enabled websites simply by logging in with their Google (or Yahoo, AIM, OpenID) credentials. An attempt at a single sign-on across the websphere.

Enabled sites can take advantage of the growing number of OpenSocial web gadgets, such as message boards and rating and reviewing gadgets. So once you ‘socilaise’ your site, you can start to ‘accessorise’ it and try to build visitor loyalty by making your site more interactive.

Google Friend Connect

The theory being is that if the adoption rates are high, this service will become an industry standard. Google are not without their competition though as they are competing with Facebook Connect and MySpace Data Availability along with all of the naysayers who believe more that web surfing is a personal journey rather than a co-ordinated experience.

Skeptics say that whilst this technology is labelled ‘data portability’ it is really about owning user identities. Read: Just another handle for the big guys to track user browsing activities and to sell such statistics to the salivating advertisers.

All said, I am a supporter of the Google Friend Connect service and the JapanSoc initiative and greatly appreciate all visitors who decide to join the micro-community which lives in this site. Please check the ‘Google Connect’ widget in my sidebar and join the smiling faces that are already there.

You can also visit the following Google Friend Connected sites that live in the greater JapanSoc community who will also welcome you to their widget with open arms:

If your site is not listed above and it should be, drop me a line here.

A special shout-out goes to Hao from Instant Ramen for winning the JapanSoc.org logo competition. He fended off some fierce competition to take the USD50.00 prize. I hear that, with these winnings, he has been able to retire on a beach in Costa Rica. :-) Check out Hao’s japansoc.org announcement here.

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