The Open Graph initiative introduced by Facebook on April 21st will enable members to customize and set social features on any website and share their interaction back to Facebook.
Sound scary? It does to some, but as a marketer I must admit I'm thrilled. This new initiative provides a way to tap into 400 million users on the most popular social networking platform and you don't even have to have your own Facebook page for your business.
Of course, Facebook has their reasoning for doing this. They will be able to harvest fresh user data as social tools are upgraded by individuals that exchange information regarding their social activities and and interests on other websites with their friends and associates on Facebook. Currently Facebook has only opened it's Open Graph suite of products to three partners - Microsoft Docs, Pandora and Yelp.
The Open Graph also offers a series of social plug-ins that website developers can install. An example of one of those plug-ins is the "Like" button we have all become aware of lately. The like button enables individuals - your consumers to indicate their preference for a given item and opens the possibilities of sharing other site activities - including the activity they are participating in on your website.
That's not the only plug-in available, just look at the latest offerings:
Recommendations - This plug-in shows personalized recommendation to your user based on what their friends and everyone else is liking on the website. This will help and is intended to drive website users to other pages on the site.
Login with Faces and Facepile - This plug-in is used to enhance the current Facebook Connect. The enhancement entices users to sign in by utilizing Facebook cookies and showing Facebook friends who are already members of the service.
Really, when you boil it down Facebook just enable every site to become social - just by adding plug-ins. The "Like" button alone instantly adds social functionality to your site. Facebook is also planning to introduce a toolbar that website developers and publishers can install on their websites. This toolbar provides the "Like" button, Facebook chat and friend list information.
What about privacy?
It's true, many consumers are concerned about their privacy. The question boils down to will they be willing to trade personalization for privacy? The one thing that will persuade individuals to personalize is to gain more information about their friends. By trading some privacy they will be able to see what their friends think about other things on the web and curiosity may just get the best of them.
Don't get me wrong, I do think we need to be concerned about privacy. Truth is it's unclear at this point that the privacy issue should be of real concern for users of Facebook - but there are some finding merit enough to question it. I'm taking the wait and see approach, but in the meantime I won't ignore what this new initiative can offer to marketers.
