I’ve had a couple of weeks to try out the new Facebook features and it’s truly Game On for the evolution of social media platforms. They have made the types of changes that were needed to move the platform forward as it was becoming too big and unwieldy for easy communication, quick/fun moments and meaningful use.  Although the attrition of users was still small, the signs were there and I believe this will add a nice bump to engagement as well.  It’s still not as easy to use as Google+ which is an elegant interface, but this was a big step up.  Here is a nice recap of the changes from Chris Taylor of Mashable.

The gamechanger for me is that you can watch TV and movies, listen to music, and read news with your friends — all within Facebook.  While there are certainly international rights issues to make this complex as our friends are now spread around the world and may not be able to share the same content at the same time, it also gives us a new level of sharing possibilities in the moment.  Of course, we may not want everyone to see what we are watching as pointed out by Pete Cashmore in Facebook Users Beware.  Auto-sharing can be very dangerous, especially if it’s accidentally made public.  Note to myself:  re-write the company social media policy.

These changes will also dramatically impact the possibilities for commerce through social shopping, driving discovery through friends in real time along with more authentic opportunities for brands.

Game On.