A social networking system displays raw stories about a user's friends' actions in a news ticker as those actions occur. The social networking system is monitored for actions associated with users connected with the target user. The social networking system may be continually monitored such that actions are identified in real-time as they are performed. The news ticker is updated such that stories including the identified actions and the associated connected users are displayed within a news ticker interface. The news ticker interface may be a dedicated portion of the social networking system interface, for example in a column next to a newsfeed. The news ticker interface may be updated in real time as actions associated with connected users are performed. The target user may select a displayed story in the news ticker, and additional information related to the selected story may be displayed, for instance in a separate interface.