Facebook Launches Community Pages…with Bing Maps

Facebook just launched in their Community pages which “are a new type of Facebook Page dedicated to a topic or experience that is owned collectively by the community connected to it. Just like official Pages for businesses, organizations and public figures, Community Pages let you connect with others who share similar interests and experiences.” Very cool stuff, which is why we’re excited that Bing Maps is part of this new experience… If there’s a map for a Community Page, like for example Johannesburg, Gauteng (see below), you’ll find the Bing Maps Platform integrated right into the page making it easy to visualize where a community is on a map. The Bing Map is fully navigable with a simple click allowing users to pan and zoom to further explore the area around the pin from within Facebook.

Per the Facebook blog, “On each Community Page, you’ll be able to learn more about a topic or an experience—whether it’s cooking or learning a new language—and see what your friends and others in the Facebook community are saying about this topic. Community Pages are still in beta, but our long-term goal is to make them the best collection of shared knowledge on a topic. We’re starting by showing Wikipedia information, but we’re also looking for people who are passionate about any of these topics to sign up to contribute to the Page. We’ll let you know when we’re ready for your help.

It’s super exciting to see the Facebook / Bing relationship continue to grow!