Dive Brief:

• Facebook said Thursday that it is testing out a buy button on its online and mobile news feeds. The social network is working with a few retailers to test the feature. While those businesses aren’t paying for the beta buy button, Facebook is not ruling out charges for the service in the future.

• Meanwhile, Twitter has also tested a buy button on mobile, and announced Thursday it has acquired app platform CardSpring, which enables loyalty programs and deals to be smoothly added to credit card-based transactions.

• Both Facebook and Twitter have made past forays into offering more direct opportunities for e-commerce that haven't fully materialized.

Dive Insight:

While many experts have said conversion rates aren’t the best measure of the value of social media, concrete commerce options like these, if they finally stick, could change that.