Facebook brings Mention Tagging to Open Graph

Facebook has launched a new tool for its Open Graph that allows users to tag other users inside Facebook-connected apps. The new feature, dubbed as the Mention Tagging, is likely to help the social networking company increase the engagement and exposure of its apps.

The new Mention Tagging app should not be confused with Action Tagging feature, which is for mentioning action with your friends. It's notable the Mention Tagging app has been in the graph for quite some time. The new feature will enable users to mention their Facebook friends right inline in their messages.

Mention tagging vs Action tagging

Facebook explains the new feature with an example of Foursquare. The Mention Tagging will now enable you mention your friends in the text of the messages, instead of saying you are doing something and choosing people you are with.

To activate mention tagging, developers need to provide users with a tokenizer or some other way to know that they can reference their friends. “Any message that contains a mention needs to be composed by the user and explicitly meant to be shared on Facebook. For mention tagging to work in your app, you will need to resubmit your actions and request approval for both "user messages" and "tags." To expedite your request, please specify how you plan to implement the feature and provide detailed reproduction steps,” said Facebook on its developers blog.