Facebook has been quick to learn and adopt cool features introduced by other social media sites. It’s “like” function for one, was inspired by FriendFeed, which it eventually acquired.
Just 12 hours ago, we saw Facebook treating Twitter’s @ tagging feature as its own. The feature has enabled Twitter users to tag their friends in their tweets and has become the natural way for one to one conversations. Being such a simple and yet brilliant communication method, it is no wonder Facebook finds it irresistible!
How Facebook’s @ Tagging Works
Facebook’s Engineer, Tom Occhino explains:
“Now, when you are writing a status update and want to add a friend’s name to something you are posting, just include the “@” symbol beforehand. As you type the name of what you would like to reference, a drop-down menu will appear that allows you to choose from your list of friends and other connections, including groups, events, applications and Pages. Soon, you’ll be able to tag friends from applications as well. The “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update or post after you’ve added your tags.”
“Friends you tag in your status updates will receive a notification and a Wall post linking them to your post. They also will have the option to remove tags of themselves from your posts. We hope that tagging your status updates and others posts from the Publisher will enable you to share in a more meaningful and engaging way, and connect with even more people”
It works like Twitter’s @mention but only better – without the “@” sign appearing in its updates, it is definitely easier on the eyes.
Don’t bother looking for this feature yet as it would take Facebook a couple of weeks before it gets rolled out.
Insights
1. We’ll Spend More Time on Facebook
More tagging = More involvement + interaction = More fun.
With Facebook’s new @ tagging feature, communication gets easier. Save the hassle of visiting a wall to talk to friends and no more missing out on comments. Interacting with your friends, brands and groups should be simple and direct!
Would Facebook have its own #FollowFriday one day?
2. Facebook Makes More Money
More Fun = More Time Spent on Facebook = More Money
With 250 millions users spending more time on its site, ad exposure, impressions and clicks are naturally going to increase. What else but revenue for the social networking giant!
3. Hurray For Businesses on Facebook
Businesses that are promoting products through Facebook page and group would definitely welcome this new feature.
Innovative ways to create buzz (such as tagging the brand’s name to be entered into a lucky draw) will definitely surface and like Twitter, Facebook can now become a great customer relationship tool as well.
Summary
For Personal Use: Be prepared to spend more time on Facebook. In fact, it is a better conversational tool since Facebook updates and comments are threaded into one.
For Business Use: Although @ tagging is adopted from Twitter, the two platforms are fundamentally different. What works on Twitter might not be welcomed on Facebook. We look forward to see how users react to this new feature and what new marketing methods would rise up on Facebook.
Update: With @tagging now live, we wonder what are the next features Facebook will roll out in the future.
