It was reported today that Facebook is likely in late-stage negotiations with “social activity” service Hot Potato for an acquisition.
Hot Potato allows users to share what they’re doing using a dead simple Web interface, or through its iPhone app. User’s can instantly share what they’re listening to, watching or reading, and even check-in to venues to let friends know where they’re at. This “social activity” is prime for Facebook’s strategy, especially for mobile.
While it’s already been speculated that the acquisition could signal Facebook’s entry into the “check-in” craze, it’s likely a move to acquire the startup’s engineering team, which has built a pretty nice looking iPhone app. Still, Facebook wants to become a primarily mobile service, with location obviously playing a huge role going forward.
Facebook recently poached Erick Tseng from Google’s Android team, and we’ll likely see a lot of movement in the mobile space from the social giant in the very near future. We’ll definitely keep our eyes on this one…
