While still in beta-testing as of January 2012, the Recommendations Bar is one of Facebook’s newest social plugins, and the first to integrate the social reading and frictionless sharing capabilities of Open Graph. Put simply, the Recommendations Bar allows ANY website to implement the same social reading and social recommendation features found “social reader” style applications like the Washington Post Social Reader or USA Today. While the plugin, even when installed, is not yet publicly viewable, we expect it to be a particularly effective tool for any news site looking to increase referral traffic and reader engagement.

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