Last week, Facebook has been busy rolling out their new feature for all publishers. Yeah, right after rolling out the same feature on Instagram. It's not a secret that Instagram users were excited about embedding photos and videos. I've been witnessing embedded Instagram images on some blogs and websites I stopped by recently. Now, it's on to the Facebook and made available for everyone. Were you excited to know it's on Facebook too?
Promote!
Publishers find this is a great addition to their marketing strategy. They can use this feature very well to promote their Facebook profile or page outside the Facebook, on their own blogs or websites. Can you think of other uses? :)
Previously, we have discussed about embedding social updates via SocialDitto. If you can recall, it supports Facebook, Twitter and Google+ too. But now, you don't need to rely on any third party tools anymore. Not for Facebook. Well, unless you find Facebook's approach is impressive.
Facebook Embed Posts
You can embed any post you find on Facebook very easily. Oh NO! Not any post, but any public post. It doesn't matter if it's shared on a page or profile though.
Below you can find an example of embedded post. It is a post shared on Mayura4Ever page. As it's originated from a Facebook page, it allows users to Like the page by clicking on "Like Page" button. If you already liked the page, the label changes to "Unlike".
Do you like the way it renders? Or is it just weird? Personally, I just love it.
If you managed to embed a post from a Facebook profile, the button will be labeled as "Timeline" and it will direct to the respective Facebook profile. Anyway, users can view the profile by clicking on user's name.
However, if that user has Followers feature enabled, viewers will find it labeled as "Follow". So, anyone can easily follow or unfollow that person on Facebook via embedded post. Below, you can find it's in action.
However, if that user has Followers feature enabled, viewers will find it labeled as "Follow". So, anyone can easily follow or unfollow that person on Facebook via embedded post. Below, you can find it's in action.
In addition, users can directly interact with the update by liking and sharing. As you can see, it shows the like and comment count too. But, if someone needs to leave a comment, it will direct user to the original post or status update. Same goes if you like to view existing comments and people who liked too.
Did you notice what happen if the post description is too long? Ugh... You need to reserve an entire page? Not at all! In the second example, you can see it's truncated and appended "See more" link. User friendly! Don't you agree?
Further, Facebook offers the capability to grab embed code from an embedded post. You can simply click on the drop down button on any embedded post, and select "Embed Post" option to view corresponding embed code. Mmm... Embedding made easy!
Did you notice what happen if the post description is too long? Ugh... You need to reserve an entire page? Not at all! In the second example, you can see it's truncated and appended "See more" link. User friendly! Don't you agree?
Further, Facebook offers the capability to grab embed code from an embedded post. You can simply click on the drop down button on any embedded post, and select "Embed Post" option to view corresponding embed code. Mmm... Embedding made easy!
There's More...
Now, you just witnessed what Facebook embedded posts are capable of. But there's few more worth mentioning.
Video Playback - Like you embed and play a YouTube video on websites, Facebook embedded posts are capable of playing videos within the post too. Like you do on Facebook. You don't need to direct viewers to Facebook at all. It's helpful when you think about lowering your bounce rate too.
Mobile Support - No worries for mobile friendly audience. Embedded posts render smoothly on mobile devices and perfectly fit to the screen. I had a chance to view few of embedded posts through my smartphone and I really liked how mobile friendly they were.
Keep in Mind
Embedding posts doesn't mean its content being uploaded to your server. It's just hosted where they are but renders on your blog or website. In case if the poster changed the privacy (non-public) or deletes the original post, the embedded post won't be rendered on your site anymore. Instead, it will render a user friendly message.
Sometimes, you may find that a public Facebook update has no Embed Post option at all. For example, if you tagged in a public post and allowed to display it on your Facebook timeline, you won't find that option in the option menu. Instead, locate the exact post in original poster's timeline. There, you can find the option available.
Eventhough you find the embedded post feature integrated into Facebook, they have released the same functionality as a social plugin too - Embedded Posts. You can simply insert an URL of a public Facebook post, and generate the embedded post code there.
I hope you are familiar with the fact that public posts can be accessible by anyone. So, even if you are gonna use this feature or not, make sure you are not gonna publish sensitive content publicly. If you do, now you are endorsing other users to embed your content everywhere online.
Are you ready to embed yours? Let's begin!
Steps:
1. Log in to your Facebook account.
2. Now locate the Facebook post or update your wanna embed.
3. Click the down arrow / drop down icon on the top right of the post to access the option menu.
4. Now select Embed Post option.
5. Grab the embed HTML code and paste it where you wanna render.
Note: If you are a Blogger user and wanna render it in a Blogger post or page, read How to Embed External Content on Your Blogger Posts or Pages.
Enjoy :-)
