A few days ago, we released a new feature to allow Gulch members to sign in to the Gulch using their facebook and twitter accounts. While we actually saw many new member signups immediately upon release, much to our surprise, the new feature was met with some pretty harsh criticism by some existing members.

Below is a brief list of questions and answers that attempt to clear up some of the confusion about the option.

What is the main purpose of the feature?
We have a lot of followers on facebook and twitter. The option will allow them to create an account and sign in to the Gulch with the single click of a button. It's a simple convenience function.

Will my Gulch posts or comments be automatically posted to facebook or twitter?
No. Never.

Will facebook or twitter automatically "see" what I'm doing in the Gulch?
No. Never.

Is it mandatory that I log in using my facebook or twitter account?
No. Never.

If I do login with my facebook or twitter account, will the Gulch now have access to my facebook or twitter password?
No. Never.

Will facebook or twitter have access to my Galt's Gulch username and password?
No. Never.

Won't this open up the Gulch and potentially allow undesirables in?
The vast majority of the Gulch is already publicly accessible. Gulch accounts can be created by anyone at anytime. As always however, the Gulch community remains in complete control of what content rises to the top and what content sinks to the bottom or... completely disappears.

I hope this clears things up a bit. If there are remaining questions, don't hesitate to ask.