FACEBOOK "APPLICATIONS": what can we learn from them?

FACEBOOK is apparently one of the, if not the, fastest growing of the new generation of online phenomena called “social networks”.


It is part of the much hyped “Web 2.0” which is the catchy phrase saying that people are using the web to connect and interact more. This includes the explosion in people sharing things like videos, photos and their thoughts in the form of content on blogs.



The main social networks that seem to be catching people’s imagination, based on the rate at which people have been signing on, include Myspace (which seems almost old world now!), Bebo, Facebook and the more business focused network called Linkedin.

As a bit of an online network “slut” I have to admit to having accounts and profiles on Myspace, Linkedin and facebook.My favorite of the moment has to be Facebook as it seems to provide the most interesting flow of contacts with old friends that I have lost touch with – and the most news about what friends are doing day-to-day.

Facebook (started by a young chap at Harvard or something to keep in touch with his classmates) also has an interesting model. It does not seem obsessed with selling out at some mega-bucks valuation to get rich, but seems to be looking for a new business model that reflects the original intent to connect real friends.

Part of that is that, in order to keep growing fast and adding new and interesting features, they have an open source approach and are letting people develop and offer “applications” for users to add to their profiles. They are also allowing the developers to potentially make income from these as well.

For those less familiar with Facebook, you can applications that let you track books you are reading or want, horoscopes, where you traveled to and so on - and as you update any of these all your friends get notified.I have (as many other users) have been going crazy adding applications. All of which seem a good idea at the time, but then just as fast as I add them I start to delete them.This is partly, as they don't actually add much to my profile, nor to why I am online and on Facebook either. But just as often because they just don't work properly.

So what can we learn from the Facebook explosion in “applications” on offer to users:

The first is that, like any product or service, being first is not as important as the product actually doing the job (or in Facebook’s case) working. The one problem with facebook letting anyone develop and add applications is that the developers seem to be more focused on getting them out than getting them to work – this is exacerbated when lots of user are then trying to use them at the same time. So many of the applications that I have added do not work and so have to delete them.

The second is that, like any product or service, is they have to add value. Another issue with many of the applications being offered is that most are just plain silly and don't actually add anything of any note. I suspect that we will soon see a few really interesting applications emerge, and if facebook are clever will be the ones they focus on.

So what can we learn that could apply to both facebook, but anyone who is thinking of what their online play and presence should focus on?

Here is my view:

There are 4 big areas that have succeeded on the net, and I am sure it will be applications that do these the best that will finally be the ones that add value to facebook or anyone else online

(1) Interaction: Facebook itself does this already, which is why it has taken off. So anything that makes it easier and better to find and connect people will be the big winner. This is a biggie. People mostly go online to interact (with email still being the most popular tool but with spam increasingly annoying and less efficient). Instant messaging and message boards/ forums are still the big interaction applications and social networks are the next generation. Consumers are online and ready to interact, chat and engage. I have seen everyone I know who joins any social network trying madly to find people. Applications that find a way of doing this better will be winners.

(2) Transactions. This does not just mean shopping, although online retailing is often the area that gets the most publicity. It refers to anything that can find ways to make it safer and easier to transact be it their finances with major institutions or peer-to-peer activities like goods or information. I think by incorporating applications like eBay, PayPal etc it will mean people stay in facebook to "do their business", and the learning for anyone else is that finding a way to enable transactions money, goods and information will be successful.

(3) Research & Education. The major use of the Internet is to find out stuff and learn more. In fact, the starting point for most people on the internet is “search” to find anything from weather, flights, news or just about anything. This is actually about research and education. So applications that provide search, or ways of learning things (be they sharing or getting help) must do well in the end.

(4) Entertainment. We have seen the youtube, iTunes, and event the last.fm phenomena. The applications that build in video and music on facebook today are clumsy, and require you leaving the site in reality, and I think they really need to work out how to make facebook more powerful as a place to get the entertainment you and your friends like. The Internet is increasingly accessed to extend entertainment experiences; even traditional media like TV is using the Internet to serve up extended entertainment and linkage to their content. As consumers get more and more used to a content focused approach (which is on demand entertainment) versus the “linear approach” (i.e. where there is a fixed schedule like on TV) the more that applications online have greater and greater opportunities.

So it seems there is a lot we can learn from the current facebook let anyone develop and throw stuff at users. There are 4 big areas consumer use the internet for, the ones that succeed both on facebook and for anyone online are likely to be the ones that focus and crack ideas in these areas.

What do you think? Leave a comment below!