What’s better than keeping up with the famous and nearly famous on Facebook?
Not much, perhaps.
Note that almost 800 million people are connected to public figures on the social media site. Users track and interact with athletes, musicians, actors, and other “influencers” and — according to Facebook Product Manager Allison Swope — consider it an integral part of their Facebook experience.
“From cheering on World Cup players to checking out updates from favorite celebrities, there are more than a billion interactions between public figures and their fans on Facebook every week,” says Swope in a recent Facebook news post.
Swope says Facebook “wants to make these interactions even better.”
To that end, the site is introducing Facebook Mentions, a new Facebook Creative Labs iPhone app that makes it easy for public figures to “talk with their fans and each other on the go.”
The app allows public figures to see what fans are saying and join the conversation, share stories and post updates, share photos and videos, and also host live Q&As.
Facebook users can get “streamlined notifications about posts, including mentions from other influencers or the media.”
“Mentions” is currently only available for people with verified pages in the United States. According to Swope, Facebook plans to roll out the app to more countries and verified profiles in the coming months.
