The Wall Street Journal has been known to resist industry trends, but the paper hopes to help start one with a new Facebook partnership. The Journal is embracing a Loomia sharing service, dubbed SeenThis?, which will allow readers to see what articles are most popular among their network of Facebook friends. Careful to protect against another backlash based on privacy concerns, Loomia has pledged to make this an opt-in service and will not store any personal data

Of course, with The Journal’s continued backing of a subscription model, any success that this new tool has could be limited. However, CNET and NBC Universal will help keep the ball rolling by also adopting SeenThis?