OpenID Gains Ground, Goes Live on Blogger.com

By Marisa Peacock | Published Dec 17, 2007

In the final days of 2007, many a to-do list is being checked off. With all the last minute, “revolutionary” social web updates, you'd think Santa's elves were part of the operation.

Case in point: OpenID, a universal signature mechanism that eliminates the need for multiple site logins, has been incorporated into Blogger.

Two weeks after announcing that it would support the platform, Blogger enables “anyone with an OpenID-enabled service, such as WordPress.com, LiveJournal, AOL Journal, or AOL/AIM accounts, to leave authenticated comments on your blog using their existing OpenID identities.”

Translation: Good-bye, comment spoofing, hello, identity management.

A small OpenID icon will appear next to the name of the user leaving a comment. The icon links back to that person’s URL so you can verify his or her identity.

In addition, implementations for the other new open standard, OAuth, a user authentication protocol that allows users “to access one web service's API from another site or from a desktop client without actually entering a full set of credentials,” are available for Nouncer and Ma.gnolia, with Twitter to follow.

Such integration of social Web technologies may signify the end of 2007 and signal the beginning of things to come in 2008. (Feels almost like it should be the vice-versa, doesn't it?)