Facebook partners with publishers to update comments box

Facebook has updated its comments plugin that allows users to make comments on third party websites using their Facebook profiles, with IPC Media and the Economist among the first UK launch partners.

The new comment box plugin orders comments based on quality, with comments from friends or friends of friends displayed more prominently than those by unrelated people.

When a user leaves a comment on a launch partner site, a news feed story is published on Facebook alongside a link to where the comment originated. A Facebook Page administrator can also leave a comment under the Page’s identity, which will in turn be published on the Page’s wall.

Facebook says the new plugin makes commenting online more like having a real-world conversation because it leverages authentic identities.

Facebook adds: “The comments box makes it easy for people to quickly comment on blogs and websites and share those comments with friends back on Facebook, which can lead to increased referral traffic for the websites.”

In the UK, the new plugin is integrated into IPC’s Nuts.co.uk and HorseandHound.co.uk websites and is soon to go live on the Economist’s website.

IPC’s social media product manager Cathy Ma says: “Increasing on-site user engagement and improving social bridging between IPC Media’s websites and social sites such as Facebook is a crucial part of our ongoing strategy.”

A spokeswoman from the Economist says the new plugin will “further increase the online discussion that is such a core part of our website”.

Facebook says it now has 30 million active monthly users in the UK.

Internationally, comment box launch partners include: Real Madrid, the Daily Beast, MTV.de, TechCrunch and Photobucket.

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