Introduction: Stream Stories

Stream stories must accurately represent interesting actions users have performed or content they want to share. Users should never be surprised by the publication of a story on their behalf, or by its content or timing.

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Platform Policy IV.1

You must not incentivize users to use (or gate content behind the use of) Facebook social channels, or imply that an incentive is directly tied to the use of our channels.

Users should not grant permissions or communicate with their friends because they want to receive an unrelated benefit offered by the app. Many users receiving incentivized communications generally regard them as spam, which hurts their experience with your app.

Instead, you should ask users whether they want to publish a Feed story after they have taken a genuine action that may be associated with an award.

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Platform Policy IV.2

You must not pre-fill any of the fields associated with the following products, unless the user manually generated the content earlier in the workflow: Stream stories (user_message parameter for Facebook.streamPublish and FB.Connect.streamPublish, and message parameter for stream.publish), Photos (caption), Videos (description), Notes (title and content), Links (comment), and Jabber/XMPP.

These fields are intended for users to express themselves. Pre-filling these fields erodes the authenticity of the user voice.

Here are a few examples of other ways you must not pre-fill the user_message parameter:

• Providing users with a button that fills the user_message parameter with app-generated text
• Allowing users to select from app-generated text via checkboxes
• Pre-filling an editable field with app-generated text
• Providing dropdowns for users to select app-generated text

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Platform Policy IV.3

Users must always consent to any Stream story you post on their behalf. If you do not use the Feed form which gives users the option to preview and customize their post, you must not publish a Stream story unless a user has explicitly indicated an intention to share that content, e.g., by clicking a button or checking a box that clearly explains that their content will be shared.

Here are a few examples of button text that meet Platform Policy IV.3:

• Post
• Share
• Publish
• Add to Profile

Here are a few examples of button text that do not meet Platform Policy IV.3:

• Ignore
• OK
• Share & Continue
• Request

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Platform Policy IV.4

You must provide users with an easily identifiable "skip" option whenever you present users with an option to use a Facebook social channel.

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Best Practices