Facebook has acquired SportStream for better user engagement on its service. The social networking giant wants to get into real-time conversations like Twitter has done over the years.
Facebook is the world's largest social network with more than 1 billion users across different countries. The social networking giant has been constantly striving to keep the world more connected. In a latest attempt, Facebook announced Tuesday that it has acquired SportStream, a startup that collects data from online tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram photos, news and more to deliver data in a personalized social feed for sports fans.
Facebook's latest approach in pushing users to initiate real-time chatter challenges Twitter, which has served as a home for users to discuss any major events in real-time through its tweets on related hashtags.
"Through this acquisition, we expect to meaningfully improve the ability for all of our partners to access and utilize the insights from Facebook's tools and APIs," Justin Osofsky, VP of Media Partnerships & Global Operations, Facebook, said in a press release. "SportStream's demonstrated track record of surfacing interesting and engaging content, along with their deep understanding of our products, means that we will be able to build a better experience for the people who use Facebook, and for our partners who depend on us for real-time insights."
SportStream simplifies jumbled data from social networks and processes it into a simple format. Like explained by TechCrunch, if a user writes "RG3 touchdown," most sports fans will understand it means that 'Robert Griffin the third scored a touchdown for the Washington Redskins NFL football team." Facebook cannot simplify that but SportStream makes it easier to understand.
San-Francisco-based SportStream was launched in June last year and has grown massively to offer its services to dedicated sports followers. With Facebook's acquisition, SportStream will be able to use the social network's enormous user-base of more than 1 billion to engage in real-time chatter on various sports topics.
