Last week, seven lucky brands were given the chance to test out Facebook’s new “want” button. It’s Facebook’s first attempt to take on Pinterest, which has recently grown to more than 4 million unique visitors a day. Dubbed a virtual wish list, the button lets you tag what you “want” and it shows up in your newsfeed (via Reuters).

The “Want” button is the first of the new collection services Facebook is rolling out, and it’s very exciting.

When I heard about the feature and tested it for myself, I was immediately hooked. Kudos to FB for timing the launch as we enter the holiday shopping season. Honestly, the new feature just makes me giddy – both professionally and personally.

Here’s why:

Personally – Call it lazy, but I find it tiresome to maintain, as a good friend puts it, “a bajillion” social media sites. Sure, I keep up on all the new sites and love checking out new ones as they’re launched. In many cases, I’ve even set up accounts, fully intending to use certain sites ad nauseum. But let’s be real. I simply can’t maintain all of them. I have a life! I can’t, nor do I want to, sit in front of a computer all day. Want and the collection features will streamline my “online personal life” to a single site. My Pinterest site, which is just collecting virtual dust, MAY just be a thing of the past.

Professionally – The possibilities stemming from these features are endless. Brands can test things on Facebook or see what’s popular and create programs around them. They can give away product, offer first looks, engaging influencers, hopefully sell things in the future…the list goes on. I hope the seven brands testing the button get a little more creative as they familiarize themselves with the features because I think it really does have the potential to amp up engagement on their pages.

tell me what you want what you really, really want

The only thing about the new features that confuses me is the option to promote the post. As an average Jane, why in the world would I want to pay $7 to promote my Pottery Barn wants? I’d rather put that cash toward a nice picture frame or centerpiece. C’mon, Facebook. You can find revenue somewhere else.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Peepshow readers: would you ditch your Pinterest page or other social sites for the new FB features?
Why or why not?