Facebook Tipped to Bring More Buttons, App Store and More

Facebook has decided that we need more buttons, and that "Liking" just isn't enough. Sadly we won't be seeing the sought-after "Dislike" button just yet, but according to TechCrunch we'll soon get three new buttons: "Read", "Listened" and "Watched".

These buttons may just appear on YouTube videos and the like, but it could well lead to a major change in how we use our Facebook profiles. The New York Times has stated this week that Facebook is partnering with various multimedia services that will let users "easily share their favourite music, television shows, and movies, effectively making the basic profile page a primary entertainment hub."

Spotify and Rhapsody are tipped to be providing their music-streaming services, and it wouldn't take much to imagine Hulu and Netflix getting involved with the video side of things. Of course these services would charge for their content, but users could expect to see high quality - maybe even HD - content available on demand.

Facebook is, of course, a social network so communicating and making new friends will still be at the heart of this possible new venture. Maybe we'll see the ability to watch a film with our online friends and talk about it over Facebook Chat. Watching and liking television shows could work in the same way Virgin Media's TiVo box records content based on what you've previously watched and liked.

As with all media-streaming services it'll take time to spread beyond the US, but with a reported 750 million users Facebook surely has the buying power to get TV and film rights holders to sit up and listen.

Introducing a wide range of high quality multimedia content could make Facebook not just our social network of choice, but also the hub for all of our online media consumption Linking a Facebook profiles with, for example, a Spotify or Netflix subscription would make sharing links to content easy without trying too hard to blend the services into one.

If the "Like" button is to be segmented even more, then we could see a "Want" or "Bought" button appearing next to product pages and "Visited" on the profiles of places of interest.

Also tipped to be launched soon is a Facebook app store, which would presumably be a one-stop-shop for virtual farming enthusiasts and Mafia Wars dons alike. And how long before we see Angry Birds on Facebook? Productivity in offices globally would take a nosedive.

Nothing has been announced officially yet, but with high profile sources like TechCrunch and The New York Times claiming rumours to be true, the annual F8 developer conference on Thursday will bring some interesting answers.