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Hold on there. We added RPX (wraps Google, FB, Twitter, etc, etc) signup/login in addition to our username/password and the response has been...unexpected. We s

Hold on there. We added RPX (wraps Google, FB, Twitter, etc, etc) signup/login in addition to our username/password and the response has been...unexpected. We still have well over 50% of people sign up with username/password instead of RPX. I had expected a huge shift, but it didn't happen. Sure, maybe some of those would have used RPX if that were the only thing we had, but apparently they still prefer a username. Going 100% with the 3rd party logins is a tricky route. It's impossible to know how many potential signups you're losing.

lr 16y ago
I use RPX only on my site, and the first time someone signs in they can choose a username other than the one which was forwarded by the AuthN provider. So, using RPX does not preclude you from offering custom usernames to your users.
- MicahWedemeyer 16y ago
  We do that too. The point is that > 50% of our users ignore RPX altogether and use the "normal" username/password signup workflow.
sadiq 16y ago
Not to mention that you're potentially putting a very crucial part of your company infrastructure in to the hands of another company whose interests are probably not aligned with yours. What happens to your startup if (though unlikely) in six months time Twitter decides to start charging for authentication or different levels of service? Something to consider.
- MicahWedemeyer 16y ago
  Yes, definitely an issue. If RPX disappears, we'd be in a world of hurt. I'm willing to take that chance, but they've really got us in a vice.
bkkissel 16y ago
We're seeing some customers like Universal Music Group get 90% of their users login with third party accounts: http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2010/02/lady-gaga-facebook-login-twitter.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2010/02/lady-gaga-facebook.... Other customers like the LA Times have gone with 100% third party login because they get much more complete and accurate user data than they do with site specific username/password approaches: http://blog.janrain.com/2010/04/news-sites-moving-away-from-anonymous.html http://blog.janrain.com/2010/04/news-sites-moving-away-from-... If you'd like assistance with optimizing the user experience to maximize 3rd party login success rate, please contact johnb at janrain.com

lr 16y ago

I use RPX only on my site, and the first time someone signs in they can choose a username other than the one which was forwarded by the AuthN provider. So, using RPX does not preclude you from offering custom usernames to your users.

MicahWedemeyer 16y ago
We do that too. The point is that > 50% of our users ignore RPX altogether and use the "normal" username/password signup workflow.

sadiq 16y ago

Not to mention that you're potentially putting a very crucial part of your company infrastructure in to the hands of another company whose interests are probably not aligned with yours. What happens to your startup if (though unlikely) in six months time Twitter decides to start charging for authentication or different levels of service? Something to consider.

MicahWedemeyer 16y ago
Yes, definitely an issue. If RPX disappears, we'd be in a world of hurt. I'm willing to take that chance, but they've really got us in a vice.

bkkissel 16y ago

We're seeing some customers like Universal Music Group get 90% of their users login with third party accounts: http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2010/02/lady-gaga-facebook-login-twitter.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2010/02/lady-gaga-facebook.... Other customers like the LA Times have gone with 100% third party login because they get much more complete and accurate user data than they do with site specific username/password approaches: http://blog.janrain.com/2010/04/news-sites-moving-away-from-anonymous.html http://blog.janrain.com/2010/04/news-sites-moving-away-from-... If you'd like assistance with optimizing the user experience to maximize 3rd party login success rate, please contact johnb at janrain.com