Open Graph: Facebook Becomes a More Social Network

At Facebook’s f8 developer conference on Thursday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the Open Graph. Described as a whole new class of apps, Open Graph will allow Facebook users to add activities to their news streams without being bothered by prompts asking for their consent.

When Zuckerberg announced the new Open Graph, he said, “Today we’re making it possible to create a whole new class of apps and change industries at the same time.”  During his presentation, Zuckerberg emphasized that the Open Graph will provide Facebook users with frictionless experiences and realtime serendipity that can be shared on the fly without permission prompts.

The three “industry changing” components of the new Open Graph are listed below:

1. Apps will not have to ask permission every time content is posted to Facebook. Instead, there will be a new Facebook permissions screen that users will complete one time.
2. Open Graph updates will always appear in the ticker, but will only appear in the News Feed if it is an important event.
3. Facebook’s new Open Graph will allow users to share experiences in real-time using the ticker.

Facebook released a video demonstrating a practical example of how Open Graph might be used. As shown in the movie, Facebook users will see their friends’ activities in realtime in the News Ticker. For friends to share an experience, such as listening to a song or watching a movie, it is as simple as clicking on the item in the News Ticker.

The Open Graph will enable Facebook to seamlessly integrate Facebook users’ realtime activities into the News Ticker and will allow friends to participate in activities together in realtime. Open Graph should help Facebook make gaming, movie watching, listening to music and many other activities a more social experience.