Well… not exactly. The social media giant announced yesterday, at their F8 conference, that they will be doing away with the Facebook Connect name / brand. Open Graph, a new protocol and API, will be replacing the FB Connect.
This new feature will allow users to integrate other websites and web applications into their Facebook profile! The first major companies to jump on board are Microsoft, Yelp, and Pandora. Previously, sites that used Facebook Connect were only able to store users information for 24 hours. Now, these websites and companies will be able to store your data for longer and use this information to better analyze their audience. For instance, if I were to post on Facebook that I love pizza, Yelp would be able to pull this information and use it to both gear “pizza” related ads at me and better filter my search results when I’m looking for a place to eat!
Another cool feature Facebook has already started implementing, is the “Like,” button. Obviously, you’ve been able to “like” friend’s status updates, photos, and comments on facebook. Now, the “Like” button is being added to a ton of websites. So if you like an article, photo, or whatever on a particular website, you can now like it and it will be shared with friends on Facebook.
I like the idea of websites being able to customize my online viewing experience, by analyzing my Facebook data. Rather than having to sort thru all the bullshit on a site, it will be tailored to my interests! One concern some people are going to have is, privacy. From what I understand, privacy will be the users responsibility. Meaning that it’s up to users to select what information that want shared and with who. I’ve accepted the fact the we live in a VERY public world now. And whether we like it or not, our information is constantly being gathered from a variety of sources. Nothing is private anymore…We’re constantly on camera whether we know it or not. Pictures you don’t even know your in end up on Facebook, including pictures you would never want certain people to see! Everyone has turned paparazzi with their camera phones! So I’m embracing this new “public” lifestyle and patiently awaiting my 15 minutes of fame!
What do you think about Open Graph? Are you concerned about your privacy?
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