What is Google Facebook login called?

Google Facebook login, also known as social login, refers to the ability to sign in to websites and applications using your Facebook, Google, Twitter or other social media accounts instead of creating new accounts specifically for those sites. This feature allows for quicker, more convenient access to online services without having to remember multiple usernames and passwords.

How Does Social Login Work?

Social login works by allowing you to leverage your existing logins to major social media sites like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. to sign into other accounts across the internet. It utilizes a technology called OAuth (Open Authorization) that allows you to give external sites or apps permission to access your social media profile information and log you in without handing over your password.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

1. You visit a website or app and click a button to log in with a social media account, like “Log in with Facebook.”
2. You are redirected to the social media site to log in if you aren’t already.
3. The website or app then accesses basic info from your public social media profile, like your name and email address.
4. Using this info, a user account is either created on the site (if it’s your first visit) or matched to your existing account if you’ve visited before.
5. You are then logged into the website or app without needing to manually enter any login credentials.

This allows you to quickly sign in to new sites without filling out lengthy registration forms or remembering new usernames and passwords. The convenience makes people more likely to sign up for and use internet services.

Benefits of Social Login

Here are some of the major benefits of social login:

• Convenience – Signing in with social media is often much faster and easier than manually creating accounts.
• No need to remember passwords – You avoid the headache of coming up with and recalling unique passwords for every site.
• Accessibility – Logging in through major social networks makes it easy for users to return access their accounts if they switch devices.
• Personalization – Sites can access basic social profile info to auto-fill and customize parts of the account creation process.
• Security – No need to give unfamiliar sites your email address or other personal info.
• Verifies identity – Leverages a trusted social media identity you’ve already established.

Common Social Login Platforms

Some of the most commonly used platforms for social login include:

Facebook Login

Facebook Login allows users to sign into third-party apps and sites with their Facebook accounts. According to Facebook, there are over 10 million websites that implement Facebook Login.

Google Sign-in

Google Sign-in enables users to register and sign into apps and sites through their Google accounts. It’s based on standard OAuth 2.0 protocols and can use Gmail addresses or Google usernames for authentication.

Twitter Login

Twitter Login lets users sign in to external sites with their Twitter accounts. It provides fast, one-click access without needing to create a new account.

LinkedIn Login

The LinkedIn Login allows members to seamlessly sign into other apps and sites with their LinkedIn account information. LinkedIn says over 10,000 websites have integrated their login capabilities.

Instagram Login

Instagram Login allows users to sign into apps and websites through their Instagram accounts. It can be integrated using Instagram’s OAuth API system.

Amazon Login

The Amazon login service lets users sign in on external sites using their Amazon credentials. It provides access to data like names, emails, and delivery addresses that users have saved to their Amazon accounts.

Disqus Login

The Disqus platform powers comment sections for millions of websites. The Disqus login allows users to sign in to these communities using their Disqus, Facebook, Twitter or Google accounts.

Twitch Login

The Twitch login allows users to easily sign up and sign into other apps and sites using their Twitch gaming community credentials.

Snapchat Login

Snapchat Login lets users sign in to external sites and apps with their Snapchat accounts. It uses Snapchat’s OAuth implementation.

Pros and Cons of Social Login

Social login simplifies the sign up process and makes life easier for the user. But there are also some drawbacks and risks to consider from the user and site owner perspective.

Pros

• Convenience and speed of setup.
• Users don’t need to remember multiple sets of credentials.
• Higher conversion rates – more users complete sign ups.
• Better security than weak, reused passwords.
• Lower abandonment rates as users can easily return.

Cons

• Privacy risks since more data is shared.
• Overreliance on large platforms like Facebook and Google.
• Lock-in effects – difficult to switch services.
• Potential identity mismatches and errors.
• Social media outages can block logins.

Privacy Concerns

While social login provides great convenience for users, it also raises some privacy concerns:

• When you sign in with social media profiles, you grant external apps and sites access to basic profile info like names, emails, photos, friends lists, birthdays, locations, etc.
• Your browsing activity on third-party sites may be tracked and linked back to your social media identity.
• Social platforms may be able to monitor some activity originating from third-party site logins.
• Malicious apps could misuse permissions and access more data than required.

To protect yourself, be selective about which apps you enable social login for and periodically check and revoke permissions for apps you’ve stopped using.

Social Login Security

Social login inherits the security practices and protocols of the major social platforms it relies on like Facebook Login, Google Sign-in, etc. Here are some steps these platforms take:

• Use secure HTTPS connections with valid SSL certificates when redirecting users to social login.
• Leverage OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect standards for authentication and authorization.
• Encrypt user access tokens and store them securely.
• Enable site-specific state parameters and nonce values to prevent CSRF attacks.
• Support two-factor authentication for users.
• Provide user consent screens clearly indicating permissions requested.

Despite these measures, vulnerabilities like access token leaks, session hijacking, UI spoofing and man-in-the-middle phishing attacks still pose threats. Users should be vigilant about checking application permissions and use unique strong passwords for their social accounts.

Alternatives to Social Login

While social login is convenient, some users may prefer not to use their social media profiles. Alternative options include:

• Email login – Simple account creation using just an email and password.
• SMS/text login – Account verification via text message codes.
• QR code login – Scan a QR code on the site with an authenticator app.
• Federated login – Standardized sign-in using OpenID or OAuth.
• Biometric login – Fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, etc.

However, these may be less convenient for users, so most sites opt to support both social and classic login options.

Implementation for Developers

For developers and site owners looking to implement social login, here are the basic steps:

1. Choose which social platforms you want to support (Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc).
2. Create developer accounts and register your app with each platform’s API.
3. Generate API keys, IDs, secrets, and OAuth credentials.
4. Integrate the SDKs and APIs into your sign-in code.
5. Design the front-end buttons/UI and back-end account linking flow.
6. Redirect users to authorize and authenticate via the social platform APIs.
7. Pull basic profile data like name and email on registration.
8. Link social accounts to existing user accounts when possible.
9. Store access tokens securely to enable future logins.
10. Handle error conditions gracefully.

Overall the integration process is relatively straightforward following each platform’s published guides and documentation.

Conclusion

Social login provides a convenient way for users to sign into websites and apps without needing to create dozens of accounts and remember multiple logins. By allowing logins via major platforms like Facebook, Google and Twitter, it saves time and effort for consumers. It also helps drive higher sign up and retention rates for the sites that implement it. However, handing over sign-in processes to large social media platforms also carries risks around privacy, data sharing, security vulnerabilities, and reliance on third parties. Users should be thoughtful about sharing access and selectively revoke permissions, while developers need to properly implement secure integrations. Going forward, social login is likely to become an increasingly standardized part of the sign-up workflows across the web and mobile apps.