If you have been wondering how you can build a true social website for your local community without shelling out thousands of dollars in technology and software to make it happen, there are two new tools on the way to beta right now that can help you do that. And both are recognizable names.

Facebook is in the process of rolling out Facebook Connect .

And Google is opening up the beta version of Google FriendConnect.

Both of these applications look very promising. Which one you choose depends a lot on your preferences and there may be reasons why you’d want to use either one. Facebook, of course, needs no introduction. The friend connect application for Facebook will be limited to allowing your site visitors to connect using only Facebook. If Facebook is popular in your community then you might find that to be useful. Google FriendConnect, on the other hand, is more versatile. You’ll be able to add networking features on your local website that allow your visitors to connect with their friends through Facebook, hi5, Orkut, Plaxo, and a few other social websites.

That may make Google a bit more attractive to many users, but if you’re looking for online privacy, Google FriendConnect will likely be a less attractive application than Facebook Connect. With Facebook Connect you’ll still be able to tap into the same privacy features that Facebook has built into its community. But Google FriendConnect, being that it will be compatible with several networking sites, can’t promise that level of privacy. And some people are a little jittery about how much information they want Google knowing about them, so that’s one concern.

Both Google FriendConnect and Facebook Connect will allow you to turn your local website into a community portal. That could mean more traffic for you and a way to ensure that you can charge more for advertising dollars.

More Information about Google Friend Connect