Facebook's Open Graph Socializes the Web

Facebook has just announced a plan to socialize the web in ways that have far reaching implications.  This is a game changer for consumers and marketers.

You may have noticed that Facebook Fan Pages switched over to becoming “Like” pages instead this week. That was only the beginning. With a Facebook “Like” button that every website can install for free, you will now be able to show your interest in articles, bands, movies and every other type of content on the Internet. Once you click “Like” on a piece of content it will automatically show up on your Facebook wall with a link back to the page that you like.

Because this is so easy, and will soon be ubiquitous wherever you go on the web, you will be bringing your friends with you to every site you visit. When you click on a CNN article you will see which of your friends have “Liked” it before you. CNN is one of the first websites implementing the Facebook “Like” technology.

Facebook is now the fourth most-visited Web site in the world with over 500 million visitors a month. According to Nielsen Co., Facebook visitors spend more than five and a half hours each month on the site.

In essence, the biggest shift from this is that many people who do not participate very much on the social web outside of Facebook will now. Imagine a year from now how much participation will be going on when you see a “Like” button on every web page. People who have never bookmarked a website through Digg, Delicious or Stumble Upon will find it second nature to click the “Like” button on Fandango while purchasing movie tickets.

Everyone is an influencer and now we will be influencing each other at warp speed. The top down model of companies with the most money and power controlling a monologue of information is dead. As brands interact more with consumers through all social media channels their outreach will deliver greater benefits. We have moved from monologue marketing to dialogue marketing. Now we are entering a new phase where community marketing is gaining traction because technology is laying the highway for it to happen naturally.

To better understand the changes coming with Facebook’s Open Graph, read Jeremiah Owyang’s excellent post with a matrix breaking down all the implications. To delve deeper into How to Delete Facebook Applications (and Why You Should) check out Read, Write, Web. To discover how Facebook’s Open Web will affect your privacy read this Mashable article. This is only the beginning of what you will be reading about regarding Facebook’s Open Graph. It’s changing how we use the Internet.