Facebook introduced a new feature on their platform.  Just over a year ago, they introduced the “Like” button to help people share worthwhile information with all their friends. However, there are many times when people want to share something with just certain people. On Monday April 25th, Facebook  introduced the Send button to allow us now to privately share things with groups and individuals. 

How It Works
The NEW Send button is a social plugin that allows websites to let people send a link to a friend through Facebook Messages, posting it to a Group, or emailing it to an individual. A great example - if you see a Mother's Day gift idea on 1-800-Flowers.com, you can send a message or email to one of your family members to discuss the gift idea.  This new button allows your readers to choose who they want to share your content with.

 
The NEW Send button drives traffic by letting users to now send a link and a short message to the people that would be most interested. They no longer have to leave the web page they're on or fill out a long time consuming form. Compared to the alternatives, the NEW Send button has fewer required steps. It removes the need to look up an email address by auto-suggesting friends and Groups. 
Facebook designed the “Send” button to be used alongside the “Like” button. By including both these button on your website, people will have the ability to broadcast the things they like and also send the information to specific people.

How to Add the Send Button
The Send button can be easily added to existing “Like” buttons or as a standalone feature. Developers currently using the XFBML Like button can include the send="true" attribute in their Like button code to generate a combined button, and those using an iFrame version of the “Like” button will need to upgrade to XFBML to display the NEW Send button.

 The following code will generate a combined Like and Send button:
<div id="fb-root"></div>
<script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script>
<fb:like href="example.com" show_faces="true" width="450" send="true">
</fb:like>
Developers can add a standalone Send button with the following code:
<div id="fb-root"></div>
<script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script>
<fb:send href="example.com"></fb:send>

If you want to learn more about the combined Like and Send Button, visit here on the Facebook Developers’ Page:http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/



 
If you want to integrate your Website pages into the social graph, set up the Open Graph Protocol. When a user clicks on your Like Button on your Facebook Page, a connection would be made between your page and the user’s page.  Your page would appear in the “Likes and Interests” section of the user’s profile and you would then have the ability to publish updates to the user.
To turn your Website Page into graphic objects, you will need to add Open Graph Protocol <meta> tags and the Like Button to your Website Pages.  The tabs will allow you to specify structured information about your website pages. The more information you provide, the more opportunities your website pages will be surfaced within the Facebook pages. 
Facebook Deals launched new Test Program in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco.  This new program is similar to Facebook Deals and Groupon that allows local businesses to offer digital coupons on Facebook.
See example below:

 
Klout.com  launched their new site version on their site allowing you to “compare your Klout” profile to others to gain new insight on your score. Klout identifies top influencers on topics across the social web.
When I signed up, my score is a 22.  Even though it says I have the ability to generate actions and discussions and engage with a good mix of influencers and friends, along with building a good size network that is highly engaged -  I have a lot of work to do.
 

Another recent thing that has happened on the social networking platforms is that YouTube Founders acquiredDelicious.  Delicious users will be happy to hear that this very popular book marketing platform has a new owner.   Avos has made plans to make the site even easier and more fun to save and share content.

 
Another great platform to be aware of is http://www.pressjack.com/  that is a desktop application that allows publishers to convert their web content instantly into digital magazines. A desktop version of the application is now available in beta.

 

Did you know that WordPress has come out with a Free Template to create Facebook landing Pages? Check it out here:  http://www.wp4fb.com/

 

DJ Heckes, CEO & Author
EXHIB-IT! Tradeshow Marketing Experts
www.exhib-it.com
Full BRAIN Marketing
www.fullbrainmarketing.com