• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 21, 2014

Encouraging more connections, Facebook is now letting users share the music, TV show or movie they’re enjoying at the moment -- all without typing a single word.
 
When the new feature is turned on, the microphone in a user’s smartphone will attempt to identify what song is playing nearby, or what show or movie is on their TV.
 
“If the feature finds a match, you can then choose to add the song, TV show or movie to your post,” Aryeh Selekman, a product manager at Facebook, explained on a blog post on Wednesday.

“That means if you want to share that you’re listening to your favorite Beyoncé track or watching the season premiere of "Game of Thrones," you can do it quickly and easily, without typing.”
 
Stateside, the new feature is expected to become available on Android and iOS in the coming weeks.
 
If users share music, their friends can see a 30-second preview of the song. For TV shows, the story in News Feed will highlight the specific season and episode they are watching, to avoid any spoilers.
 
The lifeblood of Facebook is shared experiences between users.
 
In the last year alone, people shared more than 5 billion status updates that made mention of all manner of feelings and activities, according to Selekman.
 
Yet never has the social giant made it so easy for users to share the media they are consuming in the real world, beyond Web services like a song on music streaming service Spotify or a funny video on YouTube.  
 
If users leave the feature on, they should see the audio icon move and attempt to detect a match when they’re writing a status update.
 
In an attempt to calm privacy concerns, Facebook says that no sounds are stored. Users will always get to choose whether they post to friends.