Google announces launch of Friend Connect.

Google just announced a set of tools that will allow you to import into your website features usually associated with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Friend Connect allows people to join your site, tell friends about it, leave comments, and add photos. Of course most of these capabilities can already be incorporated into sites using existing tools and plugins but the biggest feature of Friend Connect is that it allows you to instantly import preexisting social networks into your site. According to the Google site you can bring friends from existing sites like Facebook and Orkut by simply copying and pasting code snippets into your site. You can also add gadgets from Google and the OpenSource developer community to your site that enrich your site with social features. Friend Connect is still a preview release but I will be signing up to see how I can use Friend Connect to improve my WordPress blog. More to follow after I give Friend Connect a try.