SPECIAL NOTICE CONCERNING "FOLLOWING" AND FITK

If you “follow” this blog you might want to read this notice from my hosting service (Blogspot), it might mean something to you:

The latest from Blogger Buzz

An update on Google Friend Connect

In 2011, we announced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs.

As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.

We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.

Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer

NOTE: I don’t have the faintest ability nor the inclination to attempt to understand this in any way. I never use “follower” schemes, I simply put my posts out there for whomever might enjoy them. I know some of my regular readers are “followers”, but I don’t think it matters much to them.

A “social network” is never a requirement for FITK.