Amazon and Facebook are rolling out a new beta feature where you can connect to Facebook through Amazon for improved recommendations for yourself and for gifts for your friends based on what’s been liked on Facebook.
To get in on the beta test, head over to Amazon.com. At the top of the page it says something like “Hello, so and so. We have recommendations for you.” Click on the recommendations link. On the right side of the recommendations page, you should see a box to connect to Facebook.
Recommendations based on Facebook at this time appear to be limited to books, music, movies, and TV shows. I can see which of these products are currently popular among my friends and I can see what media is recommended for me based on my own Facebook likes.
I’m also presented with all of my Facebook friends’ upcoming birthdays and can see gift suggestions for them.
My sister’s birthday is this week so I started by checking out the recommendations for her (even though I’ve actually already given her this year’s gift). My sister has apparently not liked any books, movies, or music on Facebook (or she has her privacy settings such that I can not see her likes) so it can’t provide me with any personalized recommendations for her. It does connect me to her Amazon wish list which I didn’t previously know about and it gives me some very good ideas for Christmas presents.
Then I decided to check out my best friend who’s birthday isn’t for several months but I know her well enough that I think I can use her to gauge the quality of the recommendations I’m being given. She apparently does not have an Amazon wish list, but she has liked a ton of stuff on Facebook so there are lots of book, movie, and music recommendations for her. We often lend each other books and I’m currently lending her several books by some of the authors being recommended for her so the recommendations seem pretty reasonable to me. If I didn’t already have something in mind for her, I could definitely find inspiration here.
The Amazon/Facebook integration is only in beta right now so I expect to see lots of improvements yet. And liking things on Facebook is becoming more significant than ever so if you like Carrie Actually make sure to do so on Facebook too, I see potential for that like to subtly influence your personalized Amazon recommendations in the not too distant future.
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I like the idea of getting book recommendations through Amazon. Just hope it’s not constantly posted to my wall
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At this point it’s set up so that Amazon won’t send any information back to Facebook. It’s a one way connection.