For now, Facebook remains the top dog in social sign-ins, but a recent report shows that it's got a lot of competition, notably from Google — and that's not even counting Google+ yet.
The report, conducted by Janrain— a company that carries various products that focus on "user engagement and brand awareness" — explores second-quarter results of the company's social login and sharing preferences and found that 39 percent of its targeted users signed in with Facebook, but Google was close behind at 30 percent. Yahoo came in at 12 percent and Twitter at 8 percent. But while Facebook has the biggest chunk of that pie now, it is far from dominant, as more than 60 percent of these users identify with other sites when they log in elsewhere.
But where Facebook does jump is as a social sign-in for mobile apps: from 35 percent to 56 percent, while Google lost 7 percent and Twitter 6 percent.
The reports gather data from the 350,000 websites that use Janrain Engage, one of the company's products that provides social logins that converts anonymous visitors into those who have already registered with existing accounts on Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo! and other sites. The one-click buttons allow users to bypass tedious registration forms.
In its analysis of its products' users, Janrain has categorized the social media world like this: "People use Facebook to interact with close friends and family; Twitter to follow influencers and share opinions; LinkedIn to maintain their professional network; and Gmail, Yahoo! or Hotmail/MSN to communicate directly with their contacts."
Janrain's social sharing data also confirmed that Facebook reigns as a sharing destination, with 59 percent of Janrain users, while 33 percent chose Twitter as a place to share.
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