SendThisFile is now accepting Facebook users!

Have you ever visited a website with the intent to try the service only to leave at the sign-up screen? You are not alone. Account sign-up screens create problems for many potential users.

The first problem visitors encounter is the burdensome mental calculus of creating new account sign-in credentials that must remembered. Should you use an old password from another online service or create an unique password just for this website?

Using duplicate passwords for all your websites is a common bad practice that saves a lot of time but creates huge security risks. What if a password needs to be changed for another website? Must I then change all of my passwords too? Also, what if another website has weak security and my password is stolen? This could risk exposing every online service you use. As you can see, there are many downsides to this approach.
Let’s say you do the secure thing and create a new password. That’s good, but unfortunately there’s still more work to do.

A new user must also authenticate their email address. Websites must verify that your identity is correct and that your email address was not mistyped. This typically means that you must open your email client, go to your inbox (or spam folder) find the email, and click a confirmation link. Once clicked, you have proven your identity and are now able to sign-in. Did I mention that after all this effort you still have not used the service?

SendThisFile understands that this can be a big frustration for first-time users and have been looking to streamline the experience. We are happy to announce we have implemented one-click Facebook registration.

It turns out that Facebook offers a very compelling solution. By using your existing Facebook account we have eliminated both the password creation headache and email authentication steps. This greatly reduces the amount of time and effort it takes users to start using our service.

There are currently over 800 million active Facebook users worldwide, so the odds are good that if you are visiting SendThisFile.com for the first time that you also have a Facebook account. Any Facebook visitors can now sign-up for SendThisFile with just one click using a ‘Register with Facebook’ button. You can think of it as a free ‘single-sign-on’ service managed by Facebook.

Don’t worry though, we allow you to change your email address and password later if you choose not to use Facebook as your sign-in anymore.

Facebook also offers two-factor authentication security called ‘Login Approvals.’ This means that Facebook will text you a security code to confirm a new website registration. If you don’t desire to manage a bunch of different passwords, this can be a good way to simplify things without sacrificing security, and we recommend this opt-in feature. ‘Login Approvals’ can be found under your Facebook security settings.

Websites must balance their users need for security and ease-of-use. SendThisFile believes that the FaceBook solution provides a good balance of both.