Facebook introduced a limited beta test of social bookmarking today, hopefully without the outcry some previous new additions received not too long ago. Facebook members from California universities Cal-Berkeley and Stanford are testing the feature and as Techcrunch pointed out, the ability to socially bookmark doesn’t have the same security issues faced by other recent features, so the outcry should be minimum.
Much like tags in Flickr or Technorati, Facebook’s social bookmarks (Facebook simply calls it “sharing”) will work in pretty much the same manner. Once you come across something you like or find interesting, you can “socially bookmark” it in two ways – either share it friends or by posting it on your Facebook page.
If you share it with your friends, the information is private. However, as the image of Facebook’s social bookmarking details page explains, if you post it on your page, the information becomes public. Facebook also reminds users the only way people can share your content is if they had access to it in the first place.
Techcrunch provides an explanation of the sharing process:
Users can submit items to share with others through their Facebook pages or with a browser bookmarklet. URLs from off site and pictures, notes or user profiles from inside Facebook can be tagged. Tagged items include the URL, a text excerpt and any notes a user cares to add. They can be either sent to your public profile or sent privately to particular friends.
As indicated, Facebook’s new sharing feature is only available to students at Stanford and UC-Berkeley. Once it is determined the social bookmarking works as its supposed to, Facebook plans on making it an all member feature.
Chris Richardson
Staff Writer | Murdok Blog
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