Friday, May 2, 2008
Status: Looking for Work on Facebook (NY Times)
Yesterday it was the AdWeek article about using Facebook for independent adoptions. Today it's The New York Times weighing in with an article about using Facebook and other social networking sites for business networking.
It's a totally unrepresentative sample, but in the last month I've gotten a number of emails from people interested in a variety of Facebook projects that are like those mentioned in The Times and in AdWeek. Someone wanted to use the main example in the book as a model for communicating with international students at a university; there was another email from someone interested in doing a contractor recommendation app.
I realize that one of the gaps in Facebook is a way of describing these project. "Not games" is descriptive in a negative way. One suggestion is "substance-based apps" but that sounds a bit too scientific to me (and also lends itself to sarcastic remarks). Any suggestions are more than welcome.
It's a totally unrepresentative sample, but in the last month I've gotten a number of emails from people interested in a variety of Facebook projects that are like those mentioned in The Times and in AdWeek. Someone wanted to use the main example in the book as a model for communicating with international students at a university; there was another email from someone interested in doing a contractor recommendation app.
I realize that one of the gaps in Facebook is a way of describing these project. "Not games" is descriptive in a negative way. One suggestion is "substance-based apps" but that sounds a bit too scientific to me (and also lends itself to sarcastic remarks). Any suggestions are more than welcome.
Labels: facebook
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Adoption and Facebook: from the Adweek Blog
A few weeks ago, I received an email that started this way: "Wanted to tell you about our experiences with adoption and Facebook. I was reading your book and got to the chapter about advertising on facebook. I decided that this could be an excellent medium to reach a specific community of users with an add for adoption, so I gave it try."
Now there's a follow-up in the form of an article on the AdWeek Blog.
Now there's a follow-up in the form of an article on the AdWeek Blog.
Labels: facebook
Thursday, April 17, 2008
New Facebook Example Files
There's a new set of example files for the book's main example (Chapter 15). These files use the April 9, 2008 version of the Facebook client, and they also use PHP 5 (not PHP 4)--although we didn't find any operational differences, so this is just a housecleaning for going forward.
There is one Facebook API change that requires a line of code to be changed ($facebook->api_client->feed_publishTemplatizedAction called from myCAEs.php), and it's documented.
The major change is a slight restructuring in lib.php of get_from_database_and_render. It's been split into two (the pagination code is now in its own function), and instead of a plethora of parameters, there's now an associative array. The step-by-step process of building the app in the book makes it easier to follow, but, as mentioned at the end of the book, once you've been through the process, you can use a more sophisticated structure, which is what this is. (It also makes the code somewhat more reusable).
When you download the files, please take a moment to join the Downloads List. We don't send out much by way of mail, but it's important that we be able to contact you with updates. Particularly now that we're waiting for some revisions from Facebook on Profile pages, we want to be able to let you know as soon as we have revised files.
Note that the sample app at http://apps.facebook.com/jfexample is now running against these revised files. Also, the intention is to place new versions like this next to the old version so you can choose which one to use.
Visit the book's Facebook Page for more info.
There is one Facebook API change that requires a line of code to be changed ($facebook->api_client->feed_publishTemplatizedAction called from myCAEs.php), and it's documented.
The major change is a slight restructuring in lib.php of get_from_database_and_render. It's been split into two (the pagination code is now in its own function), and instead of a plethora of parameters, there's now an associative array. The step-by-step process of building the app in the book makes it easier to follow, but, as mentioned at the end of the book, once you've been through the process, you can use a more sophisticated structure, which is what this is. (It also makes the code somewhat more reusable).
When you download the files, please take a moment to join the Downloads List. We don't send out much by way of mail, but it's important that we be able to contact you with updates. Particularly now that we're waiting for some revisions from Facebook on Profile pages, we want to be able to let you know as soon as we have revised files.
Note that the sample app at http://apps.facebook.com/jfexample is now running against these revised files. Also, the intention is to place new versions like this next to the old version so you can choose which one to use.
Visit the book's Facebook Page for more info.
Labels: facebook
Saturday, March 8, 2008
WP Article: Making Your Life an Open Facebook
Wonderful article by Lori Aratani of the Washington Post about what happens when kids get friend requests...from their parents.
If you think about it, there's another little bump in the road coming up ahead. Some of the first Facebook users who were in college in 2004 surely are starting families. How will they feel when their offspring start using Facebook? There's a minimum age limit of 13, so they have a few years to think about it. Will it be a rite of passage with Mom and Dad teaching the little tyke how to log on to Facebook? Or will it come as a surprise when the friend request from the tyke arrives in the parental inbox with no prior warning?
If you think about it, there's another little bump in the road coming up ahead. Some of the first Facebook users who were in college in 2004 surely are starting families. How will they feel when their offspring start using Facebook? There's a minimum age limit of 13, so they have a few years to think about it. Will it be a rite of passage with Mom and Dad teaching the little tyke how to log on to Facebook? Or will it come as a surprise when the friend request from the tyke arrives in the parental inbox with no prior warning?
Labels: facebook
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Facebook Refines Interactions
After Facebook opened the Platform to third-party developers in September 2006, developers, Facebook, and users started to learn how these new opportunities would play out. Two sets of applications emerged fairly quickly (and, in fact, these two categories existed even before the Platform was opened).
The first set of apps consisted of entertainment, games, quizzes, and the like. They can be satisfying in and of themselves, but they are even more interesting when a variety of people are using them--particularly one's friends. The second set consisted of apps that had intrinsic content either on Facebook or in external databases such as Flixster, GoodReads, and the like. (And, of course, here are cross-over apps: is US Politics a game or something more serious....the question goes beyond Facebook and is not a topic we'll discuss here.)
In the first set, driving adds of the app are important, because many Facebook features are available only to users who have added the app. More important, many of these apps provide a benefit to users but earn money for their developers through ads, and ads depend on traffic.
The viral features of Facebook or any social networking site work in many ways. A number of developers and users have pointed out that techniques such as forced-invitations to friends to add the apps in order to use them or sudden interruptions requiring adds can be distracting (polite word). Facebook has responded (at the link above) by forbidding some techniques:
1. If a user tries to use an app and gets a dead-end page requiring sending invitations to friends in order to continue, that is no longer allowed. This applies at the beginning as well as during the use of the app when a dead-end may prevent a user from continuing a process that has already been started.
2. If a user declines to invite friends, the app must never (as in "til the end of time") prompt again.
This should make a much better user experience, but the howls from some developers are loud.
In addition, Facebook has been refining the News Feed. Beginning with publishTemplatizedAction, the News Feed and Mini Feed have moved to more structured storied. Instead of the app just sending text to the News Feed, now we're constructing stories with some syntax as in {actor} did something to {target}. This enables Facebook to aggregate disparate stories (X and Y and Z did that to A). (This is described in my book.)
Finally, the notifications/invitations/requests that people can send via Facebook are no longer subject to hard-and-fast daily limits. The limits are computed dynamically and are shown to developers on their app's statistics page. The limits reflect user reactions to these notifications.
What's really interesting about Facebook is that all of these changes have been predictable. The API changes in the last few months are what have allowed the policy changes to take place, and it seems to be going well.
For Facebook guidelines to morph into rules is scarcely a burden for developers. However, developers who look for ways around the guidelines (or even the rules), have helped Facebook codify those guidelines and enforce the rules. Users win because the experience is better and more predictable; developers who play by the rules win because they can focus on providing more value to users.
The first set of apps consisted of entertainment, games, quizzes, and the like. They can be satisfying in and of themselves, but they are even more interesting when a variety of people are using them--particularly one's friends. The second set consisted of apps that had intrinsic content either on Facebook or in external databases such as Flixster, GoodReads, and the like. (And, of course, here are cross-over apps: is US Politics a game or something more serious....the question goes beyond Facebook and is not a topic we'll discuss here.)
In the first set, driving adds of the app are important, because many Facebook features are available only to users who have added the app. More important, many of these apps provide a benefit to users but earn money for their developers through ads, and ads depend on traffic.
The viral features of Facebook or any social networking site work in many ways. A number of developers and users have pointed out that techniques such as forced-invitations to friends to add the apps in order to use them or sudden interruptions requiring adds can be distracting (polite word). Facebook has responded (at the link above) by forbidding some techniques:
1. If a user tries to use an app and gets a dead-end page requiring sending invitations to friends in order to continue, that is no longer allowed. This applies at the beginning as well as during the use of the app when a dead-end may prevent a user from continuing a process that has already been started.
2. If a user declines to invite friends, the app must never (as in "til the end of time") prompt again.
This should make a much better user experience, but the howls from some developers are loud.
In addition, Facebook has been refining the News Feed. Beginning with publishTemplatizedAction, the News Feed and Mini Feed have moved to more structured storied. Instead of the app just sending text to the News Feed, now we're constructing stories with some syntax as in {actor} did something to {target}. This enables Facebook to aggregate disparate stories (X and Y and Z did that to A). (This is described in my book.)
Finally, the notifications/invitations/requests that people can send via Facebook are no longer subject to hard-and-fast daily limits. The limits are computed dynamically and are shown to developers on their app's statistics page. The limits reflect user reactions to these notifications.
What's really interesting about Facebook is that all of these changes have been predictable. The API changes in the last few months are what have allowed the policy changes to take place, and it seems to be going well.
For Facebook guidelines to morph into rules is scarcely a burden for developers. However, developers who look for ways around the guidelines (or even the rules), have helped Facebook codify those guidelines and enforce the rules. Users win because the experience is better and more predictable; developers who play by the rules win because they can focus on providing more value to users.
Labels: facebook
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Viewing American Class Divisions through Facebook and MySpace
Danah Boyd wrote this paper last summer about the apparent differences in the American teens who use the two leading social networking sites. It got a lot of press and stirred a lot of controversy. This is the link to the original paper which also contains links to the response to critiques.
The original paper is worth reading because, although it is actually limited to American teens, the apparent class distinctions between the two sites are worth thinking about. For all we know, in other countries and other age ranges the usage patterns may differ or even be reversed. Still, the overall notion that a social networking site might wind up with its own distinct demographics is scarcely a radical idea.
The question I have is that as the sites continue to grow, will these distinctions deepen or become less distinct.
The original paper is worth reading because, although it is actually limited to American teens, the apparent class distinctions between the two sites are worth thinking about. For all we know, in other countries and other age ranges the usage patterns may differ or even be reversed. Still, the overall notion that a social networking site might wind up with its own distinct demographics is scarcely a radical idea.
The question I have is that as the sites continue to grow, will these distinctions deepen or become less distinct.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Books have shipped
Books have now shipped. Order from the link at the left and visit the book's Facebook Page.
The downloadable files are uploading now and should be available by the end of today.
The downloadable files are uploading now and should be available by the end of today.
Labels: facebook
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