For a while now, Facebook’s “Like” – or “Recommend” as seen on some sites – button has been popping up on more and more web sites. The purpose of the Like button is to allow you to easily share content that you like, publicly, with your friends on Facebook.

If you are logged into Facebook – whether or not you currently have the site open in a browser, thanks to cookies – when you click the Like button, on a blog post, article or web site page you visit, an item will appear in the News Feed of your Facebook profile, letting your friends know that you’ve recommended the site, along with a link to the item.

In contrast, the new “Send” button allows you to share a page or article with one or more Facebook friends privately. As a result, items shared with the Send button won’t show up in your public News Feed and will only be shared with the recipients you select.

These changes make it easier for teams of Facebook users to share resources and collaborate privately. We believe this will encourage more liberal sharing among Facebook users, because one need not always worry about their entire Friends list seeing every item shared.

Will you be more likely to use the Share button versus the Like button? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with our readers!