Depending on where you fall on the scale with Facebook—whether you love it or hate it—yesterday’s announcement of a new Comments plugin will either please or bother you. One of the changes is that comments will be sorted based on social relevance; if a particular comment receives a lot of attention through likes or replies, it’ll move up the list. But what’s more intriguing (or possibly, annoying) is that your comments on a partner site can now be shared on your Facebook Wall.
A Broader Way of Sharing
What does this mean? Let’s say you post a comment in response to an article you’ve read at The Economist (one of Facebook’s partner sites). This action will now get posted to your Facebook Wall for all your friends to see. Now they’ll have an opportunity to either read the article—which they may never have seen—or even participate in the conversation. And here’s another feature: if they respond to your comment on Facebook, that can/will (?) appear on the partner site as well.
So Who Benefits?
Well for one, the partner sites, with increased traffic and potentially new, repeat visitors. Facebook, of course, will grow its sphere of influence across the web and integrate even more with sites beyond its own URL. And finally, if you’re into sharing your experiences with the internet, then you too could gain from this new model. But I must say, I hope Facebook puts some filters into place. I’m sure there’ll be times when you don’t want your comment to be shared with others. After all, everyone has a little something they like to hide, don’t they?
