At the F8 Facebook conference yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg announced several new Facebook features, including partnerships with a number of entertainment platforms. Facebook’s goal is to make the things we do on the internet more social, including watching movies and TV shows. Two of the most notable partnerships are with Hulu and Netflix, which allow Facebook users to watch shows in Facebook through a canvas application.
The new Facebook Ticker will update users about what shows their friends are watching as they are watching them. With this new element, users can simply share with their friends what shows they are tuning in to. This feature is predicted to encourage users to watch more TV and movie content throughout Facebook, and to consider watching shows their friends watch as well. As was described during F8, Netflix itself may have recommended a show to you many times based on your previous preferences and demographic data, but maybe what you need to actually watch the show is a recommendation from a friend. Facebook now shows those recommendations from friends while you are logged into Netflix through Facebook.
Another new feature, the Facebook Timeline, will show your Facebook friends the movies and TV shows you watch the most, giving your friends the opportunity to see what you are watching. At launch, the Netflix app will be available in 44 of 45 states, or everywhere but the United States, because of legal constraints (they are being reviewed).
In addition, Facebook began a partnership with Spotify to bring listening to music to the social atmosphere. When you see that one of your friends is listening to a song in the Ticker, you can simply hover over the ticker and click on the song, enabling you and your friend to listen to the same song. Also, if one of your friends plays a song that you were listening to, you will receive a notification because the content is relevant to you, and you might find it engaging. Through Facebook, users have the potential to discover a large amount of new music from what their friends are listening to.
These new features will change the landscape of Social media as we know it. Do you think you will listen to music and watch TV through Facebook?
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