From the latest issue of the Syncapse Social, Syncapse’s monthly newsletter. To start receiving the Syncapse Social in your inbox each month please send us an email at press@syncapse.com. Happy reading!
Opening up the Social Graph
Facebook has announced that Open Graph is now available, completing the feature rollout previously presented at f8. Starting today, developers—and marketers—can build apps that let people add any action to their Timelines — whether it is eating, traveling, shopping, running, or taking pictures.
As part of the launch, more than 60 apps from select Facebook partners are now live, spanning a whole host of domains, from food to fitness to travel. They are available to install immediately; see the Resources section, below, for a link to these apps.
Open Graph
In 2010, Facebook extended the social graph with the introduction of the Open Graph. The Open Graph enabled new links between users and 3rd party websites or pages through what ultimately became the ubiquitous Like button.
At the most recent f8, Facebook sought to push this extension further, asserting that a new class of social connections were required beyond basic endorsements. They announced an extension to the Open Graph that would allow arbitrary verbs and nouns to be created by 3rd parties. This would enable app developers to define new actions and objects — such as cooking (action) a recipe (object), listening to a song, or reading a book — that extend the social graph, effectively codifying user behavior.
A New Class of Social Apps: New Capabilities, New Rules
Apps that take advantage of these new actions and objects are referred to as Open Graph apps, or Timeline apps.
These new apps are tightly integrated with the recently released Facebook features. Open Graph Apps can post custom content to your Timeline, expanding your digital scrapbook in ways that weren’t previously possible. As you interact with these apps, actions are posted to the Ticker for your friends to see. If the action is considered an important event — as vaguely defined by Facebook — it will also display in your friends’ News Feeds.
All in all, this gives Open Graph apps much greater visibility in the Facebook ecosystem than legacy apps. These apps create a perpetual opportunity for engagement. And they’re stickier, too. As people add apps to their Timelines to capture their activities, they will be much more hesitant to remove them out of fear of losing the connections/expressions they’ve made — like ripping a page out of a diary.
Open Graph apps also come with a very powerful new capability: frictionless sharing. After the initial authorization, apps can share your activity without explicit action on your behalf. You will have likely already seen this behavior in your Facebook Ticker with the Spotify app and The Washington Post social reading app.
Given the capabilities of Open Graph apps, Facebook is being cautious. These apps have the power to rapidly deteriorate the curated Facebook experience, destroy user trust, and weaken Facebook’s core IP — the social graph itself. While Facebook is launching with 60 carefully selected partners, they are now accepting apps from the broader development community. Taking a page from Apple’s playbook, some elements of Open Graph apps must be approved by Facebook prior to distribution. This was not the case with legacy apps. We expect more details to emerge around the approval process in the coming days.
What You Need to Know
With this announcement, Facebook has cemented itself as the social kingpin. As users diversify their online social media activities to meaningful second tier networks such as Pinterest or TripAdvisor, Facebook will remain the hub — keeper of the best, most comprehensive social graph in the world.
As a marketer, the natural question at this point is: should I build a Timeline app?
As with all things social, it depends. Would building an app help further your business objectives? Could you provide lasting entertainment or utility to your customers through an app? Do you already have an independent application that would benefit from a connection to the social graph? Many of the new apps cover media, entertainment and e-commerce; does your business fit this profile? If not, are there opportunities to bridge physical actions with social media? There are many more questions and considerations, and every brand is unique.
It is worth considering where Facebook is headed with this rich new social graph. Capturing user preferences, or Likes, has run its course. Capturing what you’re doing right now, whom you’re with, and where you are, is now Facebook’s primary objective. These Open Graph apps are how they will do it. By codifying reading habits, musical tastes, travel preferences, and gift purchases, Facebook will unlock incredibly powerful opportunities for marketers.
From an advertising perspective, Sponsored Story media buys will become increasingly critical as the volume of activity in Facebook grows with these new apps. Similar to Google’s PageRank, Facebook’s Graph Rank will weigh the importance of each connection in the social graph and determine what activity is ultimately displayed throughout the ecosystem. This is a ranking that will be increasingly influenced through purchase. Given that Sponsored Stories receive 46% higher click through rates, they will likely form the pillar of Facebook’s future advertising strategy.
The data analytics made possible by this new social graph are equally endless, though it remains to be seen how “available” the data will be. Facebook is unlikely to allow marketers to see beyond their individual connection with a user as a means of protecting privacy. It may not be too far a stretch, however, for Facebook to offer predictive media buying, based on correlations between anonymous users.
F.A.Q.
Will this impact my Facebook brand Page?
No.
Does this announcement mean Timeline is coming to Facebook Pages?
No. Facebook hasn’t released any details around this potential transition.
Are Like buttons going away?
No. The changes to the Open Graph are in addition to the existing Like buttons.
Will my existing Facebook apps stop working?
No. While the Open Graph provides new opportunities for apps, existing apps are unaffected.
Will my existing Facebook app automatically “upgrade” to take advantage of the Open Graph?
No. Open Graph apps are an entirely new class of app. Some existing Facebook apps may be modified to take advantage of these new capabilities.
Conclusion
In summary, it is worth mentioning that privacy concerns will undoubtedly take the stage as these new apps are adopted at scale. Features such as frictionless sharing, essentially a repackaging of the ill-fated Facebook Beacon, will likely draw ire from users. As a world-class marketer, you’re already well aware of the need to be sensitive to these potential issues.
Facebook’s Open Graph app strategy will evolve. Brands considering working in this part of the ecosystem will need a clear strategy, planning, and most importantly, analytics. Syncapse’s Client Services team is always available to advise on the best way to navigate the new Open Graph.
