Facebook f8: music and film ticker shows your taste

Ever watched the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy while at work? Well careful who your Facebook friends are, as the social networking giant is expected to unveil a ticker that'll show what people are watching and listening to.

Partnerships with major media companies are expected to be announced at Facebook's f8 conference on Thursday, the Guardian reckons, so we could well see movies or TV shows as a service alongside its rumoured music streaming (courtesy of Spotify and others).

The ticker will share your activity once you opt in to the service, showing friends what you're listening to, watching and reading. It'll be separate to the news feed, though very popular items will show up in the latter as well. 

The much talked about music service is said to let you listen to tracks and share them with friends, regardless of which subscription they're signed up to. A player is also expected, so your listening won't be interrupted, regardless how many pages you jump across on the site. 

Video sites and newspapers are also likely to announce specific Facebook products.

Changes to the Like button are also expected, with developers being able to make their own with verbs like Want, Desire or Need. These, for example, are definitely a Need.

With over 750 million members worldwide, and already boasting a healthy selection of games, these media announcements could make Facebook the biggest threat to Apple's iTunes. Facebook is already one of the UK's most visited sites, with its 'dwell time' dwarfing most (people spend more time on its pages than other sites).

Would you welcome a music and film ticker to Facebook? Or is it all getting a bit too like MySpace? Tell us on our Facebook page or in the comments below. And let us know what you're watching and listening to while you're at it.