Facebook’s new Built-In Follow Action Could Improve GoodReads

Last week, Facebook announced that developers can now utilise a built in follow action through the API. Similar to the subscribe feature, this new follow action means users can follow others in apps, without having to add them as a friend.

When the followed user then publishes content through the application, it will feature in their followers’ newsfeed. This content doesn’t have to be hand-crafted by the user (such as a wall post); the follow option allows followers to see actions automatically published by the app in their newsfeed. Of course, all users can control who sees their content through Facebook’s privacy settings.

So, how does this affect GoodReads? Well, the book community already has a follow feature, but it only allows you to follow a reader’s reviews. So, if you opt to follow someone (currently) in GoodReads, you’ll only receive updates when they publish a review. However, with the new built-in follow, if you opt to subscribe/follow a specific reader you can potentially learn more about:

This could potentially mean that if you follow notable book critic or reviewer on GoodReads, you’ll have an unparalleled insight into what they’re reading, enjoying and quoting, direct to your newsfeed. However, it’s unfortunately not known whether GoodReads will make use of this new feature.