Apps for Facebook – It’s a Matter of Love and Lust
We’ve been busy lately jumping on the Facebook bandwagon.
There’s no need to re-hash the big news about Facebook opening their doors to application developers; it’s been well covered. Suffice it to say that marketers will be rushing to create applications for Facebook.
The reasons are obvious-
- 25,000,000 users and growing
- 100,000 new users per day
- Projected to reach 50m users by the end of the year
Fastest growing demographic is the 25 and over age group.
(more stats)
That’s currently an audience the size of Canada.
Another way to look at it – picture all the people in the top 5 US cities put together, now imagine them all being between 18-34.
It’s no wonder our clients are already tasking us with developing strategies for Facebook deployment.
The roll out will be interesting to watch. I think it will be a microcosm for branded applications. Through Facebook, we will see how branded utility will evolve and we can take those lessons and apply them to the rest of the world. Facebook profiles, like MySpace pages before them, are extensions of a user’s persona. When a user chooses to place an application on their profile, it’s a move as personal as wearing a specific brand of clothing.
I think Facebook applications will fall into three categories:
The Old Guard
Facebook applications are being touted by some as new venues for advertising. They are calling them “ad-supported applications”; basically apps with placeholders for things like banner ads. I think marketers that view this as another vehicle for advertising are living in the past. We’ve all learned to ignore banners.
The Lust Machines
These are applications focused on novelty. Many are contests or gimmicks. Current applications include Graffiti, Horoscopes or Fortune Cookie. Each of these add a little fun to your profile. They are also hugely popular and are missed opportunities for brands.For example, Graffiti is an application that lets friends draw on your profile. Graffiti has over 1.8 million users. That’s over 1,800,000 people who see this application every day – plus all the friends who visit their profile. Grafitti was made by three Facebook users for the fun of it.
Why wasn’t it made by Post-It Notes or Sharpie?
One visionary brand that understands Facebook is Red Bull. Their Red Bull Roshambull app already has over 200,000 users.
The challenge of lust machines is that they are fads. A user profile has limited space, changing applications is easy and users can be fickle. Ultimately, they may not last long on a profile.
The Love Machines
These are applications firmly focused on providing utility. Many are extensions of existing online brands. These applications focus on one service and execute flawlessly. They are built by people who understand the “social” part of social networking. These applications grow virally and instantly become something users fall in love with.Some great examples are apps like iLike, Movies and Slideshows.
iLike lets you add songs and music videos to your profile and keeps you up to date with concerts and music industry information. Also, you can compete against your friends in the Music Challenge. iLike has over 3 million users.
A missed opportunity for MTV or Warner or Sony BMG?
What will all of this look like a year from now? Will we find that people tend to settle on a couple of apps that are reflective of their persona and are useful? Or will people change applications the way they change their profile pictures? Is there room for applications as separate entities on Facebook, with their own profiles and friends?
Can brand attributes and messaging be portrayed through the functionality of an application instead of through traditional messaging?
The chances for rapid widespread adoption of an application on Facebook are excellent as long as developers focus on the social aspect of the Facebook experience. From there, it’s a matter of choosing between the intense flash of lust or the slow burn of love. Or, best of all, build something that turns from lust to love.
With the growth in popularity of widgets in OSX and Vista, and with platforms such as the iPhone supporting AJAX or Flash, the lessons we learn with Facebook will be very important.
Good post.
For me it comes down to apps that take advantage of the “Social Graph,” and apps that don’t. One could argue that Facebook’s true franchise is not it’s 25MM users, but it’s deep understanding of the network of relationships across and among that rather large universe of people.
Some apps take advantage of this, like Flixster. Others seem to ignore it, mostly the “lust” apps you describe above. Many are int he middle (Last.fm for instance, let’s you see your friend’s lists, but not do much with them.)
Again, I enjoyed your post, and think your work is great. Martin Kay speaks well of you guys, maybe we could talk sometime.
Hi Michael,
I think you’ve made an important point. I believe we have grown past the stage where sheer numbers are enough. Finding a subset of people that are keenly interested in a subject is where the true value can be found. Understanding how these people interact and providing hooks to tap into this interaction is the what Facebook can to the table.
Application developers need to be smart enough to know what to do with these hooks. Apps for networks such as Facebook need to be seen as multi-dimensional, growing systems that provide different experiences depending on how they are being accessed.
Thanks again for your comment. I signed up to be notified when Matchmine launches, it looks like a great project. Maybe we can get together then next time we’re in Boston.
I’d like that. Shoot me a note offline and let me know when you’ll be in town.
[...] So it’s my turn to throw in my 2 cents about Facebook applications. Gabor’s post found here, is a must read because I am just picking up from where he left off. [...]
This is one of those apps that’s actually useful! http://apps.facebook.com/thenewsroom
Hello Everyone,
I just learned that Microsoft offer to buy Yahoo for $44 Billion Dollars and Yahoo turn it down. Does anyone knows why Yahoo turn it down??
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14100+ facebook applications last time I looked. Who knows what it will be like in a couple years. I have even seen an app that let you create your own Facebook app. The potential is definatly there, some of the simplest apps become very popular, surprisingly so in some cases!