NEW CODE FROM FACEBOOK provides all pages on the internet with the same tools that all Facebook Pages have. If Pat Phelan had a “like” button to his article on Foursquare check-ins, he would have been able to send a follow-up news feed story to all Facebook users who liked his discussion of growing bored with checking into venues. This goes beyond just carrying a conversation from a blog to Facebook. With "like" buttons as the plumbing, any object that you "like" will be able to communicate with you directly through Facebook's news feed. In other words, all likeable webpages become more than linkable--they gain two-way communication power.
Now imagine Pat Phelan talks about new offers from Maxroam. He would be able to track how those new offers spread through Facebook via the addition of upgraded analytics features. Facebook’s documentation describes how Pat the Publisher can add the “ref” attribute to any like button. That "ref" attribute passes information back to an analytics panel, displaying where new visitors came from on Facebook ("home" or "profile" or "search" or "other"). For example, Pat could add the ref attribute to an item describing how backpackers can reduce their costs of making cell calls from Ireland, and then review "Page Insights" to find out what percentage of incoming visitors found the page through Facebook Search for Ireland.
Nick O'Neill -- "HUGE: Facebook Lets Publishers Contact 'Likers'" on the All Facebook blog, 23 July 2010.
Austin Haughen -- "Adding More Features to the Like Button", 23 July 2010.
