The launch of Google+, in addition to generating a rush for invitations, is already sharpening the ingenuity of those who wish to test the new Google social network without spending too much time manually adding contacts.
Thus, a plugin was born to export friends from Facebook to Google+, using a Chrome feature. This way, you can access your contact list on Facebook: a ready-made list with no effort.
Clearly, the propagation of Facebook Friend Exporter – this is the name of the plugin, conceived by Mohamed Mansour – did not bring joy to Facebook’s headquarters, which decided to block the plugin’s operation, inhibiting the export of the contact list and changing the policy to refer to in cases like this.
The outcry should not be surprising at all; it would have been quite strange if it were the opposite.
The developer, on the official page from which you can download Facebook Friend Exporter for Chrome, left a message for everyone, making it clear that the plugin will likely not function correctly starting July 5th, as Facebook (according to his version) would have begun removing friends’ emails from their profiles on the social network.
We recall that Facebook Friend Exporter is not only used for exporting to Google+: this is just the most recent innovation, as until today the service has been successfully used to export contacts (in CSV format) to other social networks.
Is it therefore the “journey” to Google that bothers Facebook?
If and when Google establishes itself as a social network, will it allow the same mechanism?
Questions that are likely rhetorical if not pointless, given that Google is entering a user base already “socialized.”
Facebook undoubtedly paved the way, which, with methods that are debatable or not, now tries to maintain its primacy.
If only it could satisfy its users regarding privacy – a perennially sore point for subscribers who complain about too little of it – then perhaps, beyond the novelty factor, people wouldn’t be looking for a freer alternative.
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