For their eyes only... Facebook Mentions

Facebook has released a new iOS app for celebrities and public figures, namely actors, athletes, musicians and other “influencers”, making it easier for them to interact with their fan base.

The new app, called Facebook Mentions, is available to only those who are deemed “public figures” and have verified pages. Verified users without a dedicated page won't be able to access the app.

Available only in the U.S, the app lets users see what fans are saying about them in a dedicated feed, and offer a mobile capability of starting Q&A sessions. The top of their notifications pages will be populated with shout-outs from other celebrities and people in the media.

For now, brands and media aren't able to use Facebook Mentions, but the company says this will be rolled out to users with verified profiles in the future, as well as bringing the app to other countries.

Obviously there is a huge comparison here with the popularity other social media sites, mostly Twitter, has with celebrities and their interactions with their fans. Facebook had to jump in somewhere.

But how do they pull in the celebrity? Facebook says it wants celebrities and other famous types to be able to manage social media communication with their fans easier.

Sure, that’s great. But they’re managing to attract celebrities by making Mentions “elite”, and not for everybody.

Apparently there are quite a few celebrities out there already using Mentions, and Facebook claims now that the content activity on those famous users' accounts has doubled since before the release of Mentions. But at this point I don’t see it being too big a deal because it hasn’t caused too much of a stir, yet.