The Facebook f8 developer conference, which is set for Thursday of this week, will focus on the socialization of content. According to inside reports, Facebook is planning to introduce ‘read’, ‘watched’, and ‘listened’ buttons at the upcoming conference. These buttons, which will supplement the Facebook ‘like’ button, will allow Facebook users to share and indicate appreciation for content with friends and subscribers.
An anonymous Facebook source told All Things D:
“This is really about extending its sharing tools and influence by a factor of 10. Facebook has talked about socializing the Internet, but this is actually the biggest step to doing it.”
Although it is not immediately clear what Facebook will do with the additional data these buttons collect, the information should enable Facebook to offer a more customized user experience. In addition, the segmented data set will provide advertisers with information that will allow them to more effectively target their audience using the Facebook ad platform.
In addition to the ‘read’, ‘watched’, and ‘listened’ buttons, Facebook is planning to launch a ‘want’ button. The social commerce ‘want’ button, which is anticipated to launch shortly after the new sharing buttons, will act as a social indicator regarding products a user would like to purchase.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Thursday morning keynote address is expected to focus on content sharing and content partnerships. The Facebook founder is expected to introduce multiple video, music, and content partnerships during the keynote. Although many of these partnerships have already been leaked, Zuckerberg is expected to announce additional partners as well as the framework that users will use to share interactions with content.
The appropriate motto of the upcoming f8 conference will be, “Read, Watch, and Listen.”
[Sources Include: TechCrunch, AllThingsD, Brian Solis, & ZDNet]
