The Washington Post announced the launch of its Network News feature, which places users’ Facebook friends’ favorite articles at the top of the homepage and article pages, taking advantage of the social-networking site’s Like button.

Users can sign in with their Facebook logins and share articles, editorials, photo galleries, or other content they enjoyed, or see recommendations from their friend networks. In the next phase, the Network News box will include the user’s history of Like-clicked articles.

The Washington Post vice president and general manager of digital operations Goli Sheikholeslami said:

In many media organizations, editors select the news deemed most important, but we recognize that our readers also value what their friends think. Network News lets us prominently feature what readers and their friends like, allowing us to create a site that is even more relevant to our audience.

And Facebook Developer Network director Ethan Beard added:

More than 400 million people already associate Facebook with their authentic identity and real friends. There’s no better way to help them get started on a popular site like The Washington Post.

For comprehensive coverage of f8, Facebook’s developers’ conference at the San Francisco Design Center in San Francisco Wednesday, please see sister blog All Facebook.