Facebook has joined the OpenID Foundation, a significant move that many OpenID advocates have been pining for, for some time, according to Read Write Web's Marshall Kirkpatrick. Both systems allow
users to log into distributed Web sites; as such, they have been called rivals--but not anymore. Instead, they're joining forces (kind of). Some cynics believe Facebook's secret plan is to destroy
OpenID, but Kirkpatrick disagrees, saying that the move is very good news for both companies.
Both systems offer a number of benefits, including making it easier to participate in Web sites
without joining those Web sites; they also carry loads of user data that can instantly personalize any Web experience for their users; and they both offer authentication that verifies you are who you
say you are.
Kirkpatrick argues that ID systems should be integrated--users shouldn't have to choose between logging in with either Facebook Connect or OpenID, and we should be given both
options wherever possible, even on Facebook. He adds that OpenID's momentum is really pretty incredible for a company that is younger than Facebook, and that momentum will probably only accelerate.
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