Around the Net

Wall Street Journal Adds Facebook App

The Wall Street Journal is adding a feature to its Web site that allows users to see which of its stories are popular among their Facebook friends. The application, called "SeenThis?," is powered by a company called Loomia, which already provides the "People who read this...also read these stories" feature on WSJ.com.

"SeenThis?" will be opt-in, and can be added to a users Wall Street Journal or Facebook homepage. It does not collect personally identifiable information about which people read which articles; it aggregates information on which articles are most read by a users group of friends.

"SeenThis?" a variation of the same tactic deployed by ecommerce sites like Amazon.com, but with a social bent. The idea here is that "SeenThis?" gets existing readers to consume more content, but it also expands the Journal's reach by leveraging Facebook's user base. WSJ.com today becomes the first site to deploy the Loomia app, but NBC Universal and CNET have also signed up. According to the AP, both companies plan to display video and other material in addition to articles.

Read the whole story at Associated Press »

Next story loading loading..