Facebook to announce even more frictionless sharing

Developers have been working hard since September, Open Graph full integration coming very soon

Facebook users have noticed that the platform has been moving in the frictionless-sharing direction over the last few months. I have noticed what my friends are watching, listening to and reading more now than ever before. On Wednesday, it looks like this level of sharing will be boosted when the Open Graph rolls out completely. 

First announced at the f8 conference in September, Open Graph applications bring you the actions of your friends across apps in real time. Some of the big Facebook apps that are bring used to share real-time action include Washington Post, Spotify and Hulu.

Developers coding this frictionless-sharing for months and it looks like this week we will see just how much sharing your friends on Facebook can handle.

Facebook is holding an event on Wednesday evening in San Francisco for an unveiling that many, including All Things D, believe apps and Open Graph features will be unveiled in the full form they were intended to be. Facebook was not immediately available for comment.

This could very well be one of the last events that it holds before it enters the quiet period that is followed by the filing of an IPO -- which is anticipated for May.

The Timeline feature was rolled out worldwide just a few weeks ago and developers had been planning that the Open Graph Actions would start going live some time in January.

Last week, Facebook announced that the 'Listen With' feature went live so that friends weren't just notified what their buddies were listening to but could listen along with the click of a button for Spotify and Rdio listeners. This could expand to even more services as of this announcement.

Since Timeline and Open Graph were two of the most mammoth overhauls to the Facebook layout and sharing system, it appears that both could become compulsory as of the time of the conference (or very soon hereafter.)

Frictionless features could include gestures similar to "like" but with a wider array such as "cooked," "bought," and "ran" in the case of those who GPS track their bike or running routes.

Open Graph gives apps even more freedom to post what you are doing (once you have approved the app) and will no longer have to ask for permission to post content to Facebook over and over again. 

But updates through the new Open Graph appear in the ticker automatically -- not appear in the News Feed unless it’s an important event -- so it is more for friends to discover similar articles and music rather than consider it the same as sharing an event or photo albums.

I have heard a lot of criticism coming from friends and professionals that have noticed publications like The Washington Post and The Guardian that appear to make opting in to the Facebook app mandatory to access some content.

Since then, apps from Hulu, Spotify and The Washington Post have been based on the “read” and “watch” buttons. Now, Facebook plans to unveil a group of apps that use Gestures beyond those, according to the report.

Facebook has been mum on just what elements will be announced Wednesday and has been quite since sources have been popping up and foretelling an IPO in coming months.

The IPO is estimated to raise $10 billion on a $100 billion valuation. The current user base is estimated at more than 800 million — which should exceed one billion this year -- and revenue was reportedly close to $4 billion for 2011.

With an expected IPO just around the corner for possibly the biggest debut since Google in 2004, the Palo Alto company has been rolling out new revenue methods and features to keep investors excited and interested in the evolving future of the biggest social network in the world.

Such new features and partnerships included the Mercedes announcement at CES 2012 that Facebook geo-loction check-ins and finding friends nearby would be incorporated into new car models. More geo-location based features and big partnerships should be expected as we close in on the spring IPO. Investors love to hear that other big companies are getting cozy with the company they are betting on.