Le Web: Facebook and the Technology of Networks

On to social media.

Ethan Beard of Facebook is talking about the basis of the social network in the basic human need for connection. In fact, a lot of what a human being is can be represented by the connections between people and ideas that appeal to them – and Facebook can create that representation. 

Facebook aspires to be more than a website, but instead to be a technology that allows people to connect with the people and things they like. The platform is extending from being a place for applications within the site, to Facebook Connect, which allows you to bring Facebook into your own sites. And there are companies making good profits almost exclusively on the Facebook platform.

80,000 sites are now using Facebook Connect, with around 60 million people taking advantage of it…

They’re adding e-mail address sharing to Facebook Connect. Huffington Post users can see what stories their friends are using, because the social graph that lives in Facebook comes across – but it can also be use to push content back into Facebook and drive traffic back to the site. HuffPost’s comments jumped by 50% after adding Facebook Connect. 

JibJab is using Facebook Connect to allow users to pull their photos straight in from Facebook to the JbJab videos.