Facebook Like hits 50k sites in just one week

Facebook - it started with a poke
Facebook - it started with a poke

Whether you think it's a handy tool or insidious blight on the internet, nobody can deny that the Facebook Like button has been a hit – with a whopping 50,000 sites integrating the latest tool since launch.

Facebook's Like button along with Activity Feed and Recommendations were launched on 75 sites, but have quickly become familiar sights on the internet – not bad for something that arrived at the f8 conference on 21 April.

The tools have been hit by criticism, with questions about privacy and what information people choose to share, but Facebook is celebrating a big hit already.

Social plug-ins

"At f8, we also launched new tools called social plug-ins — including the Like button, Activity Feed, and Recommendations — on more than 75 websites," Sandra Liu Huang said on the Facebook Developer blog.

"Already, just one week since launch, more than 50,000 sites across the web have implemented the new plug-ins.

"We are thrilled by the strong adoption so far as developers realise how easy social plug-ins are to use and how powerful they are in engaging users in a frictionless experience without requiring them to share any personal information."

With Facebook Video overtaking some of the major players in the video market since launch, Farmville on Facebook having more users than Twitter and now a Like button that's spreading across the web – the social network certainly isn't lacking in web influence.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.