Facebook Inc (FB) Unveils FB Newswire; Acquires ProtoGeo Oy

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) unveiled FB Newswire, a new service designed for journalists to be able to find, share and embed newsworthy content.

According Andy Mitchell, director of News and Global Media Partnerships at Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), FB Newswire is powered by Storyful, the leading social content discovery and verification for newsrooms, and it aggregates newsworthy contents publicly shared by individuals and organizations worldwide such as original videos, photos and status updates posted by those on the frontlines of major events.

Facebook partnered with Storyful

“In Storyful, we’re excited to have found a partner with a track record of understanding both the potential of the social web as a key resource for media as well as the tools that newsrooms need to utilize it,” said Mitchell.

He added that the management of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is confident in the expertise of Storyful, and its best-in-class editorial team to make it easier for journalist to use compelling social content from the social network giant in gathering and reporting news.”

Journalists can access FB Newswire on the social network giant’s website, Facebook.com/FBNewswire and on Twitter at @FBNewswire. According to Mitchell FB Newswire will be updated in real-time with content related to top news stories.

Furthermore, Mitchell said, “News is finding a bigger audience on Facebook than ever before, and journalists and media organizations have become an integral part of Facebook…We’re excited to deepen our relationship with media organizations and journalists in the days to come.”

Facebook improves Newsfeed

Earlier this month, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) announced improvements to its Newsfeed to reduce stories considered by many people as “spammy.”

The social network giant targeted three broad categories such as frequently circulated content, like-baiting, a post that explicitly ask users to like, comment or share a certain posts andspammy links, stories with inaccurate language or formatting to try and trick people to click a links that leads to a website of ads or a combination of frequently circulated contents and ads.

Facebook acquires ProtoGeo Oy

Separately, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) announced that it acquired ProtoGeo Oy, the startup that developed Moves, the popular fitness tracker app.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the social network giant said, “As part of Facebook’s multi-app strategy, we’re excited to announce that the popular Moves app will be joining Facebook’s suite of applications.”

On the other hand, Protogeo said, “Those of you that use the Moves app – the Moves experience will continue to operate as a standalone app, and there are no plans to change that or commingle data with Facebook.”

The startup also said it will be joining the Facebook team to build and improve products and services with a shared mission of supporting simple tools for more than a billion people.