Social Media / Web 2.0

Introducing Facebook’s New “SEND” Button

Yesterday Facebook launched the new “Send” button feature which is designed to be a more targeted way of sharing information with friends and groups. Whereas the original “Like” button is a mechanism for aggregating information to your News Feed, the new Send button allows you to hand-select the individuals that will receive your message.

Taking a look at the illustration below you’ll see the main distinction between Like and Send. When using the Send button you will first notice a pop-up box that allows you to select recipients from your friends, groups or by email address. This in turn becomes a more targeted way of consumer sharing with those they think will be most interested in the link they are sharing. In fact, if you want to try it out now, please send this post to a friend now:

This new Send button is designed to compliment the Like button and is more focused on private sharing. The messages themselves will appear in users’ Facebook messages inbox which breaks through any clutter or account settings that may prohibit Liked messages from appearing on one’s News Feed. The implication for marketers is that messages or links shared using the new Send feature will more likely get seen and read. Additionally, Send sharing will also count towards the overall number of Likes a web page has tallied giving more credit to those pages with heavily shared content. The “Like” total of a URL will now be calculated by totaling the number of actual Likes along with comments, inbox messages and shares (i.e. “Sends”).

Posted in Social Media / Web 2.0

Facebook’s NEW “Messages”

Facebook’s NEW “Messages” features were announced this week surrounded by much anticipation and hoopla. It appears that Facebook is finally diving full-steam ahead on becoming an all-in-one communication hub which includes a complete email service.

For those that choose to create a @facebook.com email address, the new Messages area will combine your daily interactions into a central place to view and control Facebook direct messages, chats, texts and now email.

The Facebook help page goes on to explain a few of the added features that members can now enjoy. These include:

Faster interaction: If you want, you can send messages just by hitting your Enter key, so the new Messages is as fast (and as informal) as an in-person conversation.

Integrated communication: No matter what you’re using to communicate (Facebook, mobile or email), your conversation streams quickly and seamlessly into one place.

Smart filtering: You’ll always see what’s important to you first – messages from the people you’re close to take precedence over mailing lists.

Revamped search: Search for either the person you were talking with or what you were talking about to quickly find your message and all the related context.

Adding people to group conversations: Loop new people into the conversation, giving them full access to everything that’s been said so far.

Forwarding: Pass individual messages along to other friends.

Unsubscribing, or removing yourself from a conversation: Leave a group conversation when you no longer wish to receive new messages.

Sending attachments: In addition to sending links, photos and videos, you can now attach external files to your messages.

Facebook’s new email alternative is being hailed as a “reinvention of the inbox” and the“Gmail killer.” True, with over 500 million users already on Facebook, the idea of rolling in a complete email service seems like an instant win. No more having to toggle between your mailbox server to communicate with colleagues and your social media screen to contact your friends on Facebook.

However, one of the main problems that some are pointing to is that about 16% of companies who use OpenDNS, which is a security and network tools service, are still blocking the use of Facebook from work computers. One might quickly ask what good the email service is if it can’t be read or accessed from work? But one thing is for certain, this move in the direction of consolidating a user’s social networking with email capabilities shows Facebook’s general plan to be a “one stop shop” for the world’s communication.

Posted in Social Media / Web 2.0