

Facebook changes Open Graph guidelines to stop applications auto-posting - brackin
https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2012/10/10/growing-quality-apps-with-open-graph/

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lincolnq
Great change. I'm glad Facebook is experimenting with features -- and I'm also
glad that when the features turn out to be user-hostile, they have the power
to remove them.

I have always found the authenticated referrals, in particular, extremely
sketchy. It seems my persistence in clicking "Mark As Spam" on these types of
stories has paid off. :)

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Gertig
I think it is overall a good move by Facebook, but this change will negatively
impact those apps that are using actually useful actions in a responsible way
like "Want", "Review" etc. It's sad to see those apps being lumped in with the
offenders.

[EDIT] - It looks like apps that use actions like "Want" etc. are actually
going to be ok :) <https://developers.facebook.com/docs/opengraph/guidelines/>

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mccolin
The guidelines specifically note that actions such as "want" which correlate
to an actual activity are acceptable, provided the user is taking an action to
trigger the story. The new policy is against passive custom actions triggered
by reading content, etc.

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Gertig
This line may hold what you are referring to: "custom actions that
automatically publish back to Facebook as a person consumes content"

What isn't clear to me is what it means to "automatically publish" to
Facebook.

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chrischen
Furthermore, how can Facebook even tell or is this a TOS sort of thing?

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bluetidepro
Does this block apps like Spotify from displaying songs you are listening too?
I'm curious as to how strict they will be about this.

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sp332
That seems to be specifically allowed. _Apps that help people automatically
share stories about content as they consume it, such as the music you are
listening to, can be good experiences when apps create clear expectations for
the user of what is being shared and when._

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bluetidepro
Oh, okay! I must have missed that part. Thanks! :)

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bkanber
Hold the phone. This policy change is only so apps can't auto-publish to your
friends' timelines. It doesn't say anything about auto-publishing to _your_
timeline, which I imagine is still allowed.

An incremental improvement at best.. but still an improvement.

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glesperance
It is my understanding that apps can no longer publish automatically at all ;

"In order to provide users with experiences that meet their expectations, we
will no longer approve custom actions that publish stories as people consume
content. These apps must use the appropriate built-in actions or create a
different sharing experience."

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jasonlotito
> It is my understanding that apps can no longer publish automatically at all

You are misreading what they are specifically saying. First, we are talking
about custom actions. Built in actions that FB provides are still allowed to
be auto-published.

Secondly, the restriction is merely on consuming content. You can debate what
that means, but performing specific actions can still be auto-shared. However,
simply consuming content, using custom actions, will not be permitted.

So, listening to music can still be reported as you listen to music (this is a
built in action), but viewing a picture won't fly.

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danoc
That's true. Here is the list of built-in actions:

[https://developers.facebook.com/docs/opengraph/objects/built...](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/opengraph/objects/builtin/)

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Karunamon
It's nice to see Facebook has no qualms about shutting down some of these
near-abusive practices.

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matznerd
While it is nice to see Facebook has no qualms about shutting down features,
it is also problematic for people who build their businesses on a platform
that is constantly shifting it's policies and features.

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derwiki
Those who live by the platform die by the platform. You get a lot of
distribution using the platform, but you have to switch channels occasionally
and monitor how well the channel is doing independently. In the meantime, keep
growing that email list..

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ibeza
This is definitely good for Facebook. I wonder what will happen to autoposting
apps like IFTTT

