Facebook has unveiled SportStream, a new firm which analyses mentions of sporting events on social networks, as its  latest acquisition.

According to the Californian tech giant, its new purchase allows users to collect and display what it calls “real-time” data.

The deal is expected to help Facebook’s partners when finding sporting posts to use in content on their own sites.

Many experts see the move as Facebook’s latest attempt to rival Twitter in the ‘real-time’ content supplying stakes.

In an official blog post, the company’s head of media partnerships, Justin Osofsky, explained:

“Through this acquisition, we expect to meaningfully improve the ability for all of our partners to access and utilise the insights from Facebook’s tools.

“We will be able to build a better experience for the people who use Facebook, and for our partners who depend on us for real-time insights.”

Neither firm has given any financial details of the agreement.

Facebook has made a number of moves over the last few months in the hope of making it much easier for partners and users to find posts which are linked to specific topics.

Around three months ago, it gave selected news providers permission to integrate conversations from the site into their own coverage. Partners have also been given the power to show the frequency with which certain topics and words are mentioned.

Facebook has said that it hopes the changes it is introducing will enable its users to connect with one another through shared interests.

The moves being made by the social networks, as well as sites like Google and Bing, highlight the fierce competition for web domination. What’s interesting is the way in which these companies are influenced by each other. The changes at Facebook are undoubtedly inspired by Twitter’s growing success as a source of instant news.

Graeme Parton

Graeme has experience creating content for online sources and for the radio, and at university he studied Multimedia Journalism.