Yesterday Facebook launched the new “Send” button feature which is designed to be a more targeted way of sharing information with friends and groups. Whereas the original “Like” button is a mechanism for aggregating information to your News Feed, the new Send button allows you to hand-select the individuals that will receive your message.
Taking a look at the illustration below you’ll see the main distinction between Like and Send. When using the Send button you will first notice a pop-up box that allows you to select recipients from your friends, groups or by email address. This in turn becomes a more targeted way of consumer sharing with those they think will be most interested in the link they are sharing. In fact, if you want to try it out now, please send this post to a friend now:
This new Send button is designed to compliment the Like button and is more focused on private sharing. The messages themselves will appear in users’ Facebook messages inbox which breaks through any clutter or account settings that may prohibit Liked messages from appearing on one’s News Feed. The implication for marketers is that messages or links shared using the new Send feature will more likely get seen and read. Additionally, Send sharing will also count towards the overall number of Likes a web page has tallied giving more credit to those pages with heavily shared content. The “Like” total of a URL will now be calculated by totaling the number of actual Likes along with comments, inbox messages and shares (i.e. “Sends”).
