While Twitter having plans to become the ‘Pulse of the Internet’ in the next few years to come is common knowledge now, someone who is actually taking big steps in the direction is Facebook. And if some screenshots that FBHive, a blog revolving around everything Facebook is to be believed, it is soon to launch features that will make being the web a better possibility for FB.
Facebook new features
There are two significant points that the blog has noted – one is a beaker sign on the top left and the other a credit sign on one of the videos.
What got me more excited of course is the former which has a label saying Outside World. It is speculated that this a Facebook version of Feed Reader, which if true will be big news. While Google Reader, the biggest name in feed subscription these days itself is trying to get more social, Facebook can easily overpower Google Reader’s reach. In fact it can build in a lot more feed reading users which would be a very pleasant news for publishers and bloggers.
The plus sign which is the same as the credit symbol on Facebook is speculated as monetary credits for multi media content provided by users. Credits of course being Facebook’s digital money which is works in the ratio of 10 credits for 1 dollar. Credits are used for digital gifting on Facebook, however this could easily be turned into a monetizable option for content producers. To stretch the speculation further it can also be automatic credits assigned to content on certain number of likes and comments. Facebook’s way of encouraging creation of more engaging content to my mind. Of course FB Hive’s version carries more practicality.
These features if and when they’d be made live can extend Facebook’s stretch for commanding the web social graph longer. It will also put a lot of questions on how Twitter and Google the other two premier competitors will try and fight this point. Because Facebook with these features, the way they seem to be shaping, is banking on content produced on Twitter and Google to drive its use (RSS feeds of updates and YouTube videos). Can they use content created on FB to their advantage likewise?
