It was in May 2011 when Gmail decided to add a 'People Widget' to the sidebar that brings you contextual information of people that you communicate with in Gmail. So whenever you open an email from a friend, colleague or family, it will display a thumbnail with their image, email address, chat button, recent communication, calendar events and documents.

You may start to think that this is all the information that you need, but when you'll start using Rapportive, you will won't be able to imagine Gmail without it. Rapportive is a Gmail plugin that not only displays vital information of the person you are corresponding with, but will also display latest social network updates. You will be able to connect with your Gmail contacts via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, Blogger, Flickr or any other network where your Gmail contact is active; it also displays recent tweets.

What is important to note is that Rapportive does not use your Gmail credentials or has any access to your password. It asks you to login to your Gmail account via secure Open ID. The entire process takes less than 30 secs...trust me! And once you start using it, you will never be able to go back.




Rapportive was founded by Rahul Vohra, Martin Kleppmann and Sam Strokes in 2010. This plugin received a massive positive response and was recently acquired by LinkedIn. Here's what Rahul Vohra has to say about this recent acquisition:

Since we accidentally launched, we have relentlessly pursued this vision, integrating LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and your address book right into your email.

During our partnership with LinkedIn, we got to know them very well. We found a great overlap between our visions. We found a high-calibre and extremely driven team. We found, crucially, a "members-first" company: everything that LinkedIn does is about making its members more successful.

In business, partnership is dating — and we went on a lot of dates with LinkedIn. Slowly, but surely, we fell in love.

We would love to hear your views on Rapportive, do share them with us in the comment section below.


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