Facebook's Page Discovery: Directory & Shared Likes

Yesterday I wrote about the evolving importance of Facebook's "Like Graph". And today related news appeared from Facebook in a blog post named Discover Facebook Pages

In essence, Facebook has rolled out a more substantial way to find Facebook Pages and view shared likes with your Facebook graph... as compared to the more indirect method I wrote about yesterday.

The main directory is fun because it is highly visual... and effective for page owners because users can like pages through a mouse-over (potentially a big lever):

"Discover Facebook Pages: See something interesting? Roll over the Page and click Like to receive updates in your News Feed."

The far more interesting part is the sidebar: "Friends Similar to You". It features a simple way to view shared likes with your Facebook friends. As I wrote about yesterday, I believe this is the skeleton of something much larger: social search.

Good start. Interesting to see how Facebook chooses to drive traffic to this.

Facebook's 'Like Graph' is the Skeleton of Something Much Bigger

You might have noticed that Facebook profiles now include a "Likes" box below the "Friends" box. It includes a count and list of which pages each user likes: Very straightforward. More interesting is that you can also view "mutual likes": the overlapping likes of that person and you.

That too is straightforward - but it represents something much bigger. Likes will (and I use that word intentionally / carefully) become criteria for how we browse and search the web. As Likes extend beyond Facebook (you can now like pages, articles, sites, etc), the habits of your social graph will determine your content experience (finding, reading, etc) ... all using your 'like graph'.

It is already happening on websites: for instance, if you visit the New York Times, it will suggest articles read by your Facebook peers. That assumes though that you visited NYT.com or saw the feed update on Facebook. Now imagine a search experience or engine predicated on cross-site likes.

The Power of Statistics & Dashboards (About.me as an example)

In May of 2008 I wrote that statistics - specifically around referrals and influencers - could be a sizeable business model for Twitter. Last week, About.me launched publicly. It's a gorgeous site creator that allows very simple page creation and automatically pulls in content from your social presences: ie Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Wordpress, etc. You can view mine at About.me/rspoon

Much can be written about this - SEO, self-branding, social aggregators, etc. But I want to return to the premise that my 2008 article about Twitter and statistics... because one of the great features of About.me is their "dashboard":

First, the dashboard gets users to return to the site... making it "sticky" in an environment that might not otherwise encourage daily usage (after all, the service automatically updates all of your presences!).

Second, it is addictive... in the same way that game mechanics make other sites sticky and why Twitter's follow count can be credited with some of their early growth.

Third, it encourages promotion. Want more views and visitors? Promote your About.me page via Twitter, Facebook and email (of course About.me makes that easy).

Fourth, it is really useful and interesting... and unique. There are statistics on visits, views, etc - but more interesting, there are stats on the number of status updates pulled in, your total reach, the @replies, etc. Powerful ways to unite the data around "influencers" and your About.me page will emerge over time.

So how can you apply similar mechanics and a "Dashboard" mentality to your experience?

Robert Scoble & Building43 Visit Dogpatch Labs

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Robert Scoble of Building43.com and taking about Dogpatch Labs, entrepreneurship and Polaris Venture Partners. Scoble just posted the article, "Dogpatch Labs gives startups the room—and expertise—to thrive" and the video chat is included below.

I was first introduced to Robert at other Dogpatch Labs events - the most recently of which he gave a speech about the five companies and trends he is most excited about (if you are a Scoble follower on blog or Twitter, you know that Flipboard was absolutely in that list!). He enjoyed the space and the community of entrepreneurs, and we decided to do a piece on Dogpatch Labs:

Benefits of Working out of Dogpatch Labs (from an Entrepreneur)

Over the last couple weeks, I have selectively included excerpts form relevant Quora conversations - specifically about Dogpatch Labs, Polaris Ventures, etc. Here is an answer not written by myself - but rather by a Dogpatch Labs entrepeneur, Ming Yeow Ng. The topic is "What benefits can your startup get by joining Dogpatch Labs compared to just leasing an office space at Pier 38?". My response is here - Ming's is below (and in full on Quora here):

"Let me focus on the 2 most important benefits:

1) Without a doubt, here is the most important benefit of DP: http://imgur.com/X2F4a

2) The second most important benefit is really people. It is no exaggeration to say that Dogpatch has easily one of the highest concentration of amazing people anywhere in the bay area. Let me explain why:

- Pool of great entrepreneurs who are top of their game.

Over the last few months, I got onto really good terms with a whole range of excellent entrepreneurs, like etherpad, cardpool, learnboost (amongst many others whom you might not have heard of) For example, I am totally digging having access to the Learnboost team - they are doing cutting edge magic around javascript, and mongodb, and it is amazing discussing these technologies with them. Another example is Rob from EggHaus, who is definitely one of the top few designers in the valley.

- Peers who can take shit and give you shit

Honestly, startup is tough. Overnight successes are fascinating, but most require grinding through several iterations. The group at Dogpatch are not random entrepreneurs - most of us have had our fair share of great successes and major failures. You would get blunt feedback about where you are fucking up and you would get lots of encouragement - cause everyone here knows there is no magic bullet.

- Streaming pool of top investors.

This is really up to you to make the best of it, but lots of top angel investors drop by the lab. Being part of the lab gives you credibility, and it makes getting to know these guys far easier.

- Great events right beside you.

Free beer, fun people within a 20 foot radius, twice a week.

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I am actually really looking forward to doing a couple of fun things that hopefully improves the dynamics of the lab even more, like having a big whiteboard where I can pimp what i am good at, and ask for help for things i suck in. When those things gets embedded, i think the lab will be even more awesome. "

Quora and instant Facebook Phone Q&A

Earlier today rumors / news broke of Facebook building a phone (more thoughts to come). See TechCrunch, AlleyInsider, Gizmodo, etc. Without input or verification from Facebook, these remain rumors. And because Facebook represents over 50% of iPhone app usage, it is potentially a very big deal... and the tech world is consequently very curious.

Turn to Quora... where many leading tech thinkers spend time and they too are curious. Questions and answers are in motion - and whether or not facts emerge, the input and debate from relevant people is both insightful and fun. This screenshot was taken minutes after TechCrunch's article went live:

(un)Attractive Foursquare Mayor Offers

Traveling this week, I checked into Boston's Logan Airport on Foursquare. I noticed that a special 'local offer' existed. Hoping it was discounted Dunkin Donuts coffee, I took a look and uncovered one of that strangest Foursquare Mayor Offers I have seen: The mayor of Logan Airport gets Massport 'Swag'... which no doubt means that someone working inside of Logan is wearing an "I Love Boston" sweatshirt.

More seriously: this is a lesson in crafting compelling offers... which in turn drive activity, engagement, sharing, etc. Discounts (see Gap, McDonalds) and giveaways are more attractive, appeal to larger audiences, and likely drive new users / fans / check-ins.

Facebook Integrates Skype Into Friend Finder

Facebook has put a lot of effort into driving more 'friendships' through their Friend Finder tool. And Twitter has had great success with their new, excellent "Who to Follow" tool. Facebook already integrates with GMail, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ Chat, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger... and now Skype. And for Skype, Facebook has specifically promoted the integration very heavily.

These examples are from the last couple weeks (sorry for the delayed post), but notice how prominent the units are. They are placed on the homepage and beneath the header / search bar.

As Facebook attempts to drive deeper usage and more friend connections - they must be running out of partners with any reasonably close scale. Skype makes sense of course because: they are one of the few brands / services to big larger (by number of users) and to be a mix of US and international (big focus for Facebook).