As more and more app developers make use of Facebook’s powerful Open Graph to increase social reach, Facebook has just announced a new feature sure to cement its must-use status even further.

Open Graph-integrated apps will now be able to generate mention notifications—not just action notifications—on users' timelines and their mentioned friends.

More socially integrated than ever

Up until now, 3rd party Open Graph-enabled apps have only been able to generate action tags on Facebook timeline. Foursquare or Spotify, for example, allow users to share where they've been or what they're listening to.

The newly announced functionality, however, means users are able mention friends by name and have the notifications show up on their timeline,  just as if the user mentioned them in Facebook proper. 

Developer Considerations

Any app using the new functionality will be required by Facebook guidelines to explicitly inform users of the capability, while app-generated pre-filled messages won’t be allowed.

While this latest Open Graph innovation isn’t exactly going to revolutionise the social media experience, letting users send friends a personal Facebook notification without having to leave a specific app is a handy new feature for the social network.

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