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I'm curious to know if multiple images actually show up in the feed. I know they're supported but in not one single case of testing have I seen multiple images show up on the feed. So what the point in having multiple images in the open graph object? Where do secondary, tertiary images go?

An image URL which should represent your object within the graph. The image must be at least 50px by 50px and have a maximum aspect ratio of 3:1. We support PNG, JPEG and GIF formats. You may include multiple og:image tags to associate multiple images with your page.

Doing a test with object debugger clearly shows that they're in there correctly (sans the image type property):

https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/og/object?q=http%3A%2F%2Fpluggin.it%2Fs%2FTI4o%2F

(http://pluggin.it/s/TI4o/ - note the OG tags only show up for Facebook user agent)

You may specify multiple images using this markup. The first image matching minimum requirements is the default selection. A Facebook user authoring a status update might select a different thumbnail based on your explicitly-defined images. A hotel might include multiple photos of the property as Open Graph protocol images, allowing the person sharing the story to share a view of the pool or a view of the restaurant.

Basically I know how to get images into the graph, but I can't seem to find where / how they are displayed in new feed. Are apps like Instagram putting images into photo galleries rather than using open graph? Is that how they display multiple images?

Jesse James Richard
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  • This question might be helpful: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1138460/how-does-facebook-sharer-select-images – Mark Vital Oct 25 '12 at 06:42

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There’s always only one image in these feed posts.

“A Facebook user authoring a status update might select a different thumbnail based on your explicitly-defined images.”

When you give multiple images in your OG tags, the user making the post has the choice between them while making his post. He choses, he posts – and that image chosen stays the one image for that post.

CBroe
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  • Awesome answer! Thank you! So then "User Generated Photos in Open Graph" effectively work just like stream publish post in graph api? There is effectively no difference, except Open Graph Objects can have Action Links while graph api posts cannot. – Jesse James Richard Jun 21 '12 at 15:32
  • No, “user generated photos” posted with OG actions are supposed to be taken by the user with an actual camera & uploaded while posting the action – they are _not_ supposed to be a simple choice between some photos you provide upfront. – CBroe Jun 21 '12 at 15:34
  • Oooh. I think I got it. Thanks! So as an example on a classifieds site, when a user creates a new listing they would have user generated photos associated with the action "Create" whereas when anyone "Shares" that listing there would be no user generated photos. Does that about sum up the concept? Sorry, there's a lot about recipes and pizzas in the documentation, I'm trying to apply it to my concept here. – Jesse James Richard Jun 21 '12 at 15:45
  • Well, I’d say photos are more meant to show the user taking the action or him interacting with the object that’s acted upon. For the _cooking_ example that could be a photo of the user cooking or their finished dish, and for the _pizza_ example of photo of the restaurant and the pizza on their table … – CBroe Jun 21 '12 at 17:25
  • [cont.] … these are “real world” objects the user is interacting with (even a movie would be). But applying that to someone posting a classified? I don’t know, that’s not a real world object to me, even less one users really _interact_ with … If that’s your real use case, I’d suspect you’re just trying to raise awareness of the classifieds on your platform, so it’d be more an attempt at cost-free marketing on your part than anything else. – CBroe Jun 21 '12 at 17:26
  • Interesting take. Well thank you very much for your in-depth explanation and help. It's clear up two days of confusion. – Jesse James Richard Jun 21 '12 at 17:46