Having Google Friend Connect gadgets installed on your site is a great way to start building a community. Friend Connect is a free service from Google that allows webmasters to “easily”(in theory) create engaging online communities out of their existing websites.

Google Friend Connect just recently went open beta, allowing a larger userbase to experiment with the service. Already I’m starting to see a core of interested developers brainstorm ideas on gadgets for friend connect.

Listed below are the friend connect gadgets available from google and independent developers. I’ve included a description of what each gadget does and any surrounding thoughts on it.

As an internet marketer for many years now, I’ve developed my own strategies for finding highly effective keyword phrases targeted specifically for a niche. Using a combination of current world events, creativity, and internet marketing know-how(earned the hard way) I can come up with a list of keyword phrases on any specific niche with a burst of high-intensity brainstorming.

This is a wonderful skill to have, and yet, it can be way too distracting. I find terms from every niche imaginable that are highly trafficked with little to no competition. Awesome right? Thing is, this can get way too distracting for me.

As I am a perfectionist at heart, I don’t like to outsource much of my content - meaning I don’t have the time to write on all these topics that I come up with naturally throughout a week.

Hey, just a heads up to all you Wordpress users. The new version of Wordpress is released and available for download. Just logged in and noticed the update was available. I used the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade plugin to update from the previously available version and it literally took under 10 mins.. maybe under 5.

[caption id="attachment_627" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="QR Code for the Social Arrow"][/caption]

An interesting concept called QR Code Marketing, developed in Japan and brought to North America in 2007, looks to be picking up in popularity.

QR Codes are images encoded with information, somewhat like a barcode, they can be decoded by snapping a picture with mobile devices equipped with a QR Code Reader. The Q.R. stands for Quick Response, and named as such by the creator, who worked for DensoWave, a subsidiary of TOYOTA.

The theory was to have a matrix code that would could be decoded at very high speeds - originally to be used on car parts.

Developed in 1994, QR code has been in use for many years on the Japanese market with highly successful results. Mobile QR Readers are now a standard app of Japanese cameraphones.

Reading through as much of the Google Friend Connect and OpenSocial documentation as I could handle, I’ve made some progress into customizing a few interesting widgets.

The Friend Connect API is a very neat organized structure that parrallels OpenSocial directly. The supported list of social networks in OpenSocial v0.8 is getting longer, allowing for a broader audience reach for any gadget produced.

Take the Friend Connect Reviews and Ratings Gadget for instance. This nice little feature allows you to add ratings to anything you want on your site. Members can post reviews and rate using a neat customizable interface. Here’s a working example: