Does anyone know of any examples where a website has used Open Graph to customize content for for a visitor?
I just cannot get a clear picture of what this technology can do.
For example, if I can tell whether a visitor is male/female and approximately what age bracket they are in I can customize some of the content in subtle ways to increase conversion.
I don’t need to know a lot about their friends and personality etc, just a but of information.
Can Facebook Open Graph help with this?
Facebook Open Graph has been out for a year. Has nobody explored the potential customization aspect of this technology.
Provided the user has put those details into their profile, yes, but you have to get permission to access the information.
Because much of the data is unstructured (i.e. you can type in scuba or scuba diving as you see fit) it gets a little fuzzy as you leave main demographics and you have to factor in that people “have fun” with their responses and may put in false indicators but as a general rule main demographics will be decent.
My suggestion is always to be upfront about the request before you ask people for permission. Facebook’s system does not allow for a “why” so you need to pre-sell to them what their demographics will do for ecommerce… A more personalized experience. Products that match your interests. Then pop the request open.
You can find a complete list of accessible fields @ Login | Facebook
Thanks Ted,
It’s too bad ‘date of birth’ requires permission. With gender and dob I could have created a pretty useful visitor profile.
There is a ton of information here and hopefully Facebook will continue to develop their API’s.
I suspect [and hope] that Facebook always asks the user for permission. With that said in time they will hopefully clean up the interface to let you explain more about the why in addition to their warning about what is being shared.