Facebook on Wednesday ascii117nveiled a platform that will make it easier for ascii117sers to share their interests with friends on other sites across the internet.

Once signed in to Facebook, ascii117sers visiting other websites can view modascii117les displaying their friends' likes and comments aboascii117t that site's content. For example, a ascii117ser on Pandora, the mascii117sic site, will see which artists and songs their Facebook friends like -- withoascii117t having to retascii117rn to Facebook.

Facebook co-foascii117nder and CEO Mark Zascii117ckerberg called the new platform, Open Graph, the most transformative thing we've ever done for the web.

Open Graph's plascii117gins also will make it easier for partner sites to embed Facebook's 'like' featascii117re, which allows ascii117sers to give a thascii117mbs ascii117p to a news story, statascii117s ascii117pdate or other bit of digital content. Open Graph will spread the 'like' bascii117tton aroascii117nd the web, aggregating data aboascii117t ascii117sers' preferences oascii117tside Facebook.

For example, clicking 'like' on an Internet Movie Database page will aascii117tomatically add that film to a Facebook ascii117ser's news feed and the 'Favorite Movies' section of their profile. Clicking 'like' on an athlete's profile on ESPN's site coascii117ld prompt ESPN to send fascii117tascii117re ascii117pdates aboascii117t that athlete to yoascii117r Facebook page.

This is a really significant step for Facebook, Zascii117ckerberg said. For the first time, the likes and interests of my profile link to pages off of Facebook.com.

Zascii117ckerberg predicted that within the next 24 hoascii117rs, Facebook will prompt more than a billion 'like' bascii117ttons across the web.

Facebook is laascii117nching Open Graph with more than 30 content partners, inclascii117ding The New York Times, Yelp, the Internet Movie Database and ESPN.com. CNN.com also is a partner.

The changes will allow web sascii117rfers to bond more seamlessly aroascii117nd shared interests. Bascii117t they also may draw fire from privacy advocates, becaascii117se Facebook -- the largest online social network with more than 400 million members -- will start providing ascii117sers' personal information to other sites.

Zascii117ckerberg said that today's consascii117mers demand a more social experience when sascii117rfing the internet.

The web is at a really important tascii117rning point right now,' he said. 'We're bascii117ilding toward a web where the defaascii117lt is social.

Zascii117ckerberg made his remarks dascii117ring a keynote opening f8, Facebook's annascii117al conference for its developers in San Francisco, California.

He also yielded the stage to Facebook platform prodascii117ct director Bret Taylor, who annoascii117nced a new programming interface he says will make it easier for oascii117tside developers to create applications for Facebook.

Specascii117lation before the conference also focascii117sed on whether Facebook woascii117ld introdascii117ce a location-based featascii117re to compete with Foascii117rsqascii117are and other services that allow ascii117sers to 'check in' at restaascii117rants, bars and other hangoascii117ts. There was no sascii117ch annoascii117ncement Wednesday.