This morning’s headline social media news is Facebook’s announcement of the roll-out of a new ad platform: Sponsored Stories. In short, user actions at specific locations – digital or real – such as landing on a Facebook Page or checking-in to a venue, may be converted into an ad published beside that user’s News Feed, if the action has been sponsored by a paying advertiser.

When a digital property achieves a very large, or very niche, user base the opportunity arises for subtle, useful and highly targeted advertising. Facebook’s existing targeted ad system is a good example of this. Sponsored Stories sounds like it’s been approached in the right manner, softly dropped into the streams of relevant online action announcements. It’s a far better approach than the disastrous sledgehammer of Beacon.

But it also looks like a rather prehistoric way of monetising a potentially potent service. So my friend checks-in to Starbucks via Foursquare and, since Starbucks is a paying story sponsor, an ad appears on my friend’s Facebook, or on his friends’ Facebooks, saying “hey look, we’re Starbucks and your friend loves us!” It’s not very exciting, is it? It doesn’t smack of fairness or organic growth; it doesn’t sound very useful. Nevertheless, Facebook is right to seek ways for advertisers to pay small sums for individual recommendations on Facebook, and I can’t think of a better way to do it right now…