Facebook Website Integration

Facebook is probably the first thing you think of when it comes to social media and networking. It’s the first thing I think of but that’s probably because I’m always connected. I can’t fathom missing an update that my high school friend – whom I haven’t spoken with in 10 years – went to Starbucks to grab a caramel machiatto. Anyway, Facebook is undeniably the giant player in the space. Facebook caters to more than 100 million monthly users!! 100 million users, wow. It’s no surprise that websites are starting to integrate the social networking site into their own. This is great news for Facebook but even better news for us the users!

The array of integration tactics is amazing as well as diverse. Youtube has integrated the “Like” feature for videos. In addition, you can share the video on Facebook and Twitter directly from the video’s webpage.

CNN.com displays Friends’ activity on the homepage. This includes anything they’ve shared or commented on.

Tripadvisor has developed a widget within Facebook that allows users to pin places they’ve visited. Then add photos from that location and publish everything to their Facebook wall.

These are all great, but my favorite integration is on Pandora.com. This caught me by surprise. When I logged in, it played my favorite station – Matchbox Twenty. Then I noticed a friend’s picture from Facebook with a message that they liked this song too. I was intrigued and my first thought was, “I had no idea!” I immediately wanted to chat with her to talk about how this is by far the best station on Pandora. As I continued to play, I mean work; I discovered the coolest feature ever. There is a link for, “Friends’ Music”. This shows you a list of Facebook friends and the stations they like.

While all of the different Facebook integrations are cool, Pandora got it right. They have taken one’s passion – music – and opened it up in a very social and viral way.
The web is a revolving door of passions. We share, we explore and we create these networks based on simply what we “Like.” The default for web experience is becoming a social experience, no doubt about that. Pandora has long been one of my favorite web applications and now that it’s integrated with Facebook it has become a place where I can not only indulge my passion for music but also share that passion with others.