Google Friends Connect is Apparently Sticking Around...For Now Anyways

You know how most of us have been going crazy trying to get everything with Bloglovin' set up before Google Friend Connect (GFC) disappears in July?  Well, guess what, apparently it was a bad rumour.  Now normally, I investigate things myself before passing information on.  However, I had heard from so very many people that it was happening, I just took it to be truth.  So, first and foremost I need to apologize for the continued spreading of this rumour.  Note to self:  research in the future before opening mouth up to the world...well, my corner of the world anyways.

The idea that is was a rumour was first brought to my attention by Deb from A Look Through My Eyes, who had done some research and found out that only Google Reader (GR) was disappearing.  So, I figured it was time to explore the situation further.  Here is what I have found out.  

GFC and Google Reader are two separate tools. The way it currently works is that when GFC users follow a new blog, it’s placed in Google Reader and on their Blogger Reading List. Now word is that the latter will still exist on your dashboard after July 1st once GR is retired.  So apparently, what this means for us is this:  You will no longer be able to follow blogs via Google Reader; however, you will not lose your GFC widget or your Blogger Reading List.  At least for now.  Here is the exact quote from the official Google blog that started all of this panic:

 We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months. (Urs Hölzle, Official Blog:  Google)

It is interesting, but nowhere here did it say anything about GFC disappearing so I have no idea how the rumour originally started.

So, what does the future hold?

With Google's push for people to become part of Google + this may change down the road.  They have already retired GFR for non-Blogger users.  There are also rumours and I repeat, rumours, that Feedburner and GFC will disappear.  They just won't be going as of July 1st.   

Given the possible changes that could still happen, it is important for all of us to have alternative ways for people to follow us.  Bloglovin' is still a viable option.  Now for most of us, knowing who is following us is important, especially when we have draws geared to the loyal people who stick with us.  Right now with Bloglovin' you are only able to access the names of the first 20 people that have signed up to your blog.  However, this is a feature that they are working on.  This comes directly from Bloglovin' themselves as I sent in the question and got a quick response.  The lady who wrote me back indicated that you have the option of whether to follow publicly or privately and that they have just recently released these profiles.  Here is what she said about making this list accessible:

...we will make it possible to view all followers that are following your blogs publicly in the near future. We started these profiles as a project and it seems like our users really appreciate these so we will have to work this out. (Bloglovin' representative)

So, thankfully it will just be a matter of time before we can do so.

There are other options as well:  Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and even more.  Unfortunately, I'm not really connected to the social world and don't have these options available.  Although, given the current trend towards these sites, I may just have to, sometime in the near future.

If you are interested in reading for yourselves everything I've outlined above, you can follow the links in the reference section.  Hopefully this will clear up some of your worries and help to curb the addition of any further rumours among those of you who read this.  At least that is a start for now.  You are welcome to link up my post and/or share the information I have provided here with any of your own readers.

However, keep in mind that I do want to alert you to the fact that there are still those saying that since Google Reader feeds our dashboard, once it disappears, it will make GFC defunct.  So, I will leave it up to do your own research and decide for yourself what you believe.

Until Next time,

References:
Author Unknown. (2013). Don’t Panic! Google Friend Connect and Google Reader: What You Need to Know. Available: http://bloggingedge.com/blog/dont-panic-google-friend-connect-and-google-reader-what-you-need-to-know/. Last accessed 2nd April 2013.

Hölzle, Urs. (2013). A second spring of cleaning . Available: http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2013/03/a-second-spring-of-cleaning.html. Last accessed 2nd April 2013.

Last name unknown, Sal. (2013). GFC IS NOT DISAPPEARING!!! (yet?) READ THIS! . Available: http://petitesal.blogspot.ca/2013/03/gfc-is-not-disappearing-yet-read-this.html. Last accessed 2nd April 2013.

R., Nathan. (2013). Google Reader/GFC Information. Available: http://www.lifeandeverythingelseinbetween.com/2013/03/google-readergfc-information.html. Last accessed 2nd April 2013.

Silberman, Jordan . (2013). Google Friend Connect Is NOT Leaving Us! . Available: http://www.sillysilberman.com/2013/03/google-friend-connect-is-not-leaving-us.html. Last accessed 2nd April 2013.