Google is extending and integrating DodgeBall with its other services. Chris Mesina writes about it. Why should people be forced into integrating their accounts because one of the big silo’s buys them. People really don’t want to do that. Perhaps their DodgeBall persona is really different then their one for sharing spreadsheets with work colleagues. I think consumers are going to demand more choice in how they manage their online selves (personas) and that the companies that respond well will be rewarded in the market.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but now when you try to log into your favorite neighborhood spyware, you’ll be greeted by a prompt to login with either your old skool Dodgeball account credentials or your Gauth account (the one that you use for Docs, Gmail, Gcal, Orkut, or other Google Services like YouTube (whoops — did I just say YouTube?).
Should you choose to login with your Dodgeball account, you’ll then be asked what your Gauth account is… again… or to create a new one. I chose to eff it and just merge my accounts (hoping that there’s an export of my checkins to Google Earth). Now I can manage Dodgeball from Google (note the last service):