Facebook has introduced a new social plug-in aimed at boosting the sociability of your online reading habits.

Friend-ly recommendations

Understanding that most of us are more likely to accept and act on recommendations received from trusted friends, the Recommendations Bar allows visitors to websites running the plug-in to share what they’re reading, like stories, and receive recommendations from them on what to read next.

How it works

When you visit a site and begin to read, a small pop-up appears at the bottom of the screen. It features a like button for the article you’re currently reading, two recommended articles on the same site based on your friends’ likes (presuming you’re logged in to Facebook) and an icon to minimise the pop-up.

If you think your friends would enjoy the article you’re reading, like it within the Recommendations Bar and will tell your friends when they visit the site. The plug-in’s like button still works like a normal like button too, publishing the story to your timeline and friend’s news feeds.

How to get it

Implementing the Recommendation Bar on your own site is the usual code cut-and-paste routine. Just configure the plug-in to suit your preferences (there are a number of pop-up trigger settings to play with), copy the code and paste it into your site.  Just make sure you include Facebook’s Open Graph mark-up on your articles, otherwise the Recommendation Bar may not display the recommendations correctly. 

Promising numbers

Essentially a better-evolved version of the existing static Recommendation Box, Facebook claims early tests with sites using Recommendation Bar “are seeing 3x the click through on the stories it recommends” than the older Box. While these claims should be taken with a grain of salt, the potential for increased social validation to keep readers at your site longer shouldn’t be dismissed.