Google friend connect (a.k.a GFC) was a cool feature that allowed site webmaster’s to add social features to their sites by embedding just a few piece of code.

This allowed  users to join and engage with the community using the OpenID mechanism without the need for another registration process and filling out huge profile forms. With the launch of Google+ and pages, it became more of an redundant and obsolete feature that lives more disconnected from the social world.

Google Friend Connect Widget (Sample)

You guessed it what’s going to happen next? As part of Google spring cleanup it’s been dropped/discontinued (as of 1st March 2012) in favor of Google+ pages and badges along with other products like bookmarks, gears, wave, search timeline, knol, etc..

So, if you are a webmaster and use GFC in your site, you may want to do the following to engage with your community

• If you are not on Google+, you may want to signup at https://google.com/+
• Once you signed up, create a Google+ page for your site
• After creation of the page, create a Google+ badge (steps explained)
• Place the badge on your site (replacing with your GFC widget)
• That’s it, all done.
• For your reference, checkout our Google+ news page and the badge on the right side of this post

Please share your thoughts through comments below.