Comments on: Facebook: Friend or Foe to App Developers?

By: freeware

freeware — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:17:54 +0000

it gives lots of extra exposure so, yah i think so, except what good is it if you can't host your app on facebook?

By: Tom Sprows

Tom Sprows — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:56:13 +0000

I am a developer by trade but a widget developer by night/weekends. I agree with the above statement that FB is able to keep all of the power in regard to their app platforms. They can decide what features to turn off or on depending on their mood. Third party developers have to adapt if they develop for closed platforms. Even last year when MySpace disabled clicks in flash widgets ... that killed a whole bunch of applications (mine included).

I like to focus on widgets that are generic as possible. This means the front end is in flash and I try to accommodate as many social platforms as possible. Platforms like widgetbox are a good idea because they help the developer in this regard.

OK .. here comes blatant advertising of some of my projects:
www.JunkIWant.com (Amazon wishlist widget)
www.Rippped.com (FB app where you can make fun of your friends and then vote for the winner)
www.MyVGift.com (My latest: Virtual gift widget)

By: Russell Cook

Russell Cook — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:34:12 +0000

This question has been looming for a while but with Facebook burning $50M+ per month and the capital markets the way they are, they need to figure out how to monetize quickly. While I don't think birthday reminders are going to get them there, every little bit helps. If I was Facebook and I was look across industries I think it would be pretty hard to avoid jumping into a number of areas that bring in big money and could be seen as value add to users. One area that immediately comes to mind is Travel.

I believe that all these app platforms can be a good way for some businesses to better interact with their customers and build larger, more active user bases but I think trying to build a business solely on the back of Facebook or MySpace is not something anyone should aspire to do. Birthday reminds is just the most recent example but I would expect to see 4 or 5 others in the next several month as Facebook scrambles to start reducing their burn rate.