2011

Facebook unveils new type of app 'which could be very interesting in terms of traffic', according to the Guardian.

The Guardian and Independent have become the first UK newspapers to launch a new style Facebook app, unveiled at the social media giant's annual F8 conference in London last night (22 September).

Both are a "new class of apps", according to Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and "have the ability not only to change the way we think about news but have the ability to change the way the whole news industry works". 

The Guardian and Independent are two of 33 European media brands to have partnered with Facebook to launch the apps. The European list also includes audio platform SoundCloud and international news outlets such as News Corp-owned iPad newspaper the Daily and the Washington Post.

Both the Guardian and the Independent apps are quite different, with the Guardian's, which can be viewed here, located as an app within Facebook and the Independent app sitting on the newspaper's site.