Note: While this article is heavy on tech and social media, the following information is very important, and the implications for all of us in the sports industry are clear.
In case you weren’t aware, Facebook made some pretty big announcements at last week’s F8 Conference. Mashable‘s Pete Cashmore went so far as to say that Facebook “won the web.” In an F8 summary piece, my coworker, Neil Sarkar, summarized the announcements very well. “The shift boils down to this,” he wrote, “the barrier to entry for integrating Facebookâs social data into any site has been dramatically lowered.”
Social Plugins
At F8, Facebook released 8 social plugins. They are: Like Button, Activity Feed, Recommendations, Like Box, Login with Faces, Facepile, Comments, & Live Stream. Facebook calls them, “the easiest way to add Facebook to your site.” Take a look at the plugins when you have a chance. Facebook is admitting they don’t necessarily need to be the destination anymore. They want to be the Internet. Pretty soon, every site on the web will be Facebook-integrated. We won’t have to go to Facebook.com anymore to feel like we’re on Facebook. Take a look at NHL.com, for example:
By utilizing the Like Button plugin, the NHL allows visitors to NHL.com (who are logged in on Facebook) to “like” their favorite teams directly from their site.
The API
One of the problems developers have had with Facebook for so long has been their API. Taking from my coworker (and lead developer at VaynerMedia), Neil Sarkar, once again:
The platform was non-standard, laughably documented, difficult to test and debug, and rife with baffling inconsistent design decisions… Facebook, in F8, has introduced both a well-designed and open API and lower barriers to entry for user interaction… They’ve essentially stepped out of the way and allowed their innovation to be powered by the open market of the hundreds of thousands of developers who want a piece of *their* pie.
Implications
Facebook’s announcements have implications beyond what I can even begin to imagine. Social plugins mean that every (smart) website on the Internet will soon be fully Facebook-integrated, utilizing a mix and match of plugins that fit best for the audience. The newly opened API means that we will begin to see a rush of apps, platforms, and other products built around Facebook. Either way, we will spend less and less of our time on Facebook. The proof is there. Even though Twitter has 100+ million registered users, 75% of Twitter traffic comes from outside Twitter.com (e.g. third-party applications), because of their open API. From Tweetdeck to Tweetie to Twitterholic to Cotweet, third-party developers (not Twitter employees) have been working to build a layer on top of Twitter for several years. Now, the same thing is about to happen to Facebook (except Facebook has 4x the userbase).
Every brand that uses Facebook, and every Facebook user, will be affected by these changes. We, in the sports industry, are not devoid of the F8 announcements. It is up to you to decide how you will take advantage. We will soon see a flood of Facebook applications and products, and more and more sites will be utilizing the social plugins. The changes are coming.
Imagine a website that organizes the Facebook pages of all of the leagues, teams, and players in professional sports, allowing you to “like” any of them instantly, as long as you are logged in through Facebook. The site also shows you the most recent status update from each page. This site is now possible because of Facebook’s recent announcements.
Were you aware of Facebook’s announcements prior to this post? What do you think of them? How are you planning on adjusting to these changes, if at all? Let’s continue the conversation below in the comment section. Would love to brainstorm some of the possibilities together!
With FaceBook's notorious reputation for deleting accounts with no recourse, buggy and difficult to use aps, do we really want this poor management affecting our own company website content? How much worse is FaceBook's lack of support and application usability going to get with the flood of 3rd party apps?
Appreciate the comment and agree to an extent. However, I would think that Facebook is going to make every effort to improve their customer service with their recent announcements. Also, Facebook doesn't suggest we integrate third party applications into our own sites, just the social plugins they released (which are clean and simple and not buggy). Twitter isn't necessarily the most reliable of platforms (a lot of downtime), but their third-party application market has boomed and Twitter users haven't strayed from using them at all! We will see.
nope I was not aware. Being a Baby-Boomer, I usually play the catch-up game anyways with all this new technology. However, my preferred platform is twitter so I guess I will be surprised by the changes each time I visit facebook
I can't keep up, so I don't even try, I just go along for the ride.
Cindy
@notjustagranny
Cindy, thanks for your comment! Facebook is making rapid changes and not all of them are easy to understand/navigate. The most recent announcements are quite important for personal and consumer brands alike. Pretty soon, you'll see the effects of these announcements, and they'll be hard to ignore!
Great recap Sam the “Like Anywhere” concept is awesome and so easy to implement looking forward to seeing how what traffic bumps from Facebook sites starts getting. One enhancement I’d like is to be able to link the like back to a Fan Page as well as web site eg Sean Liked Article from Sports Networker making links for both which could increase fans (or likers) to Facebook pages as well.
I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This
piece of writing posted at this site is in fact good.
This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!
! Finally I’ve found something which helped me. Appreciate it!
Excellent site you have here but I was curious about if you knew
of any forums that cover the same topics talked about here?
I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get opinions from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Cheers!
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this superb blog! I suppose for now i’ll
settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to fresh updates and will talk about this website with my Facebook group.
Talk soon!
Just want to say your article is as astonishing. The clearness
for your post is just nice and i can think you’re a professional in this subject. Well along with your permission allow me to clutch your feed to stay updated with coming near near post. Thank you 1,000,000 and please keep up the rewarding work.
I tend not to leave a response, however I glanced through a few responses on What You Need to Know About
Facebook’s Recent Announcements – Sports Networker. I actually do have a few questions for you if it’s allright.
Could it be simply me or do a few of these remarks look like they are left by brain dead folks?
Could you make a list of all of your shared pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?