08 July 2007
App of the Day: Causes
14/07/07 23:27 Filed in: Reviews
The Pitch:
Causes is ideal for
people who have had the urge to
join, or donate to, a worthy cause
and decided not to because they
could not easily find one online.
Essentially, every cause ever
thought of — and some created just
for the application — is here ready
to be joined and to receive
donations. Users are not obligated
to actually do anything more than
click "join" — and instantly they
are part of a movement. If they are
feeling a bit more generous, it’s
easy to donate money, connect with
other members and recruit others to
the cause.
The Good:
The concept itself is pretty sweet: Raising money for worthy causes is never a bad thing. It is also a nice way to see who is putting their money where their mouth is so to speak . There is also an informative value in seeing the numbers behind some of these movements, and even more in the lack thereof in some cases. For instance, the legalize marijuana movement has raised only $68despite 33,000 members — suggesting it may be illegal for a while longer. Another curious and fun development is the pattern already familiar in Facebook Groups where people passionately opposed to the cause/group join and attempt to educate the ardent believers. This results in an elevated and stirring discourse between the two sides.
Not as Good:
Conceptually, it’s hard to find much to fault here. However, there are several complaints on discussion boards about organizations not receiving the money donated (this has the potential to become a big problem), and recruits/donations not being displayed in a user's profile (not as big of a problem). It is not clear how they are verifying 501(c)3 status of the organizations, and I doubt many of the "causes" have such a status. This is something to check on before taking the tax deduction. The only other nit pick is the number of racist groups. I would not suggest censoring groups that have members (hey everyone is entitled to their "cause," whatever it may be) but if a group like "Send Them Back to Africa" is going to be displayed it should at least have one member claiming responsibility for it. Hopefully the owners will consider deleting causes with no members.
Monetization Possibilities:
I think that is the point. Actually, in addition to raising money, it raises awareness for a cause as well. For example, I had no idea there was a movement to "Put Paris Hilton Back in the Slammer" until seeing it on Causes. (There are only two members at this point!)
In most cases the money being raised is relatively small — exceptions include Save Darfur, Invisible Children, and Support Breast Cancer Research. These are obviously causes that exist outside of Facebook, but perhaps the platform has enabled an easy way to donate money. Any application that aspires to monetize should take a good look at how seamlessly it has been done here. The donate button directs users to a secure Web site where a credit card is processed, and the user is redirected to Facebook. The donated money shows up in the "my causes" area. It could not be any easier to donate.
Is it Contagious:
Causes is another application with a top-20 user base (joining previously profiled Where I've Been). The viral strategy of Causes borrows a page from the old George Bush Rangers/Pioneers playbook (and now copied by all aspiring presidential candidates). It consists of the following (over-complexization included):
1. I support X cause.
2. I publicly join X cause.
3. I donate Y amount of money to X.
4. I get others to join X cause.
5. They donate Y amount of money.
6. I get public credit for
a.) the money I donated
b.) the people I recruited to the cause
c.) the money I — and they — donated to said cause
7. I get a warm feeling for doing good (or bad, in some cases — there is not a requirement that the cause be a noble one).
So far the strategy seems to be working. Very few of my friends are members, which only seems to suggest that I have very apathetic friends. The ease of joining a cause seen on someone else's page or donating to a special cause is very easy, and Causes has done a great job of utilizing its box space for maximum effect. Raise enough money and become listed in the "Hall of Fame" for that cause. Personally, it seems as though converting someone from a competing cause should be worth more than getting the loyalty of someone previously unaffiliated. This might encourage even more heated discussions on the cause walls (Credit Appaholic for the chart).
Make a difference, on Facebook! Causes on Facebook lets you start and join the causes you care about. Donations to causes can benefit over a million registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits.
Causes is ideal for
people who have had the urge to
join, or donate to, a worthy cause
and decided not to because they
could not easily find one online.
Essentially, every cause ever
thought of — and some created just
for the application — is here ready
to be joined and to receive
donations. Users are not obligated
to actually do anything more than
click "join" — and instantly they
are part of a movement. If they are
feeling a bit more generous, it’s
easy to donate money, connect with
other members and recruit others to
the cause.
The Good:
The concept itself is pretty sweet: Raising money for worthy causes is never a bad thing. It is also a nice way to see who is putting their money where their mouth is so to speak . There is also an informative value in seeing the numbers behind some of these movements, and even more in the lack thereof in some cases. For instance, the legalize marijuana movement has raised only $68despite 33,000 members — suggesting it may be illegal for a while longer. Another curious and fun development is the pattern already familiar in Facebook Groups where people passionately opposed to the cause/group join and attempt to educate the ardent believers. This results in an elevated and stirring discourse between the two sides.
Not as Good:
Conceptually, it’s hard to find much to fault here. However, there are several complaints on discussion boards about organizations not receiving the money donated (this has the potential to become a big problem), and recruits/donations not being displayed in a user's profile (not as big of a problem). It is not clear how they are verifying 501(c)3 status of the organizations, and I doubt many of the "causes" have such a status. This is something to check on before taking the tax deduction. The only other nit pick is the number of racist groups. I would not suggest censoring groups that have members (hey everyone is entitled to their "cause," whatever it may be) but if a group like "Send Them Back to Africa" is going to be displayed it should at least have one member claiming responsibility for it. Hopefully the owners will consider deleting causes with no members.
Monetization Possibilities:
I think that is the point. Actually, in addition to raising money, it raises awareness for a cause as well. For example, I had no idea there was a movement to "Put Paris Hilton Back in the Slammer" until seeing it on Causes. (There are only two members at this point!)
In most cases the money being raised is relatively small — exceptions include Save Darfur, Invisible Children, and Support Breast Cancer Research. These are obviously causes that exist outside of Facebook, but perhaps the platform has enabled an easy way to donate money. Any application that aspires to monetize should take a good look at how seamlessly it has been done here. The donate button directs users to a secure Web site where a credit card is processed, and the user is redirected to Facebook. The donated money shows up in the "my causes" area. It could not be any easier to donate.
Is it Contagious:
Causes is another application with a top-20 user base (joining previously profiled Where I've Been). The viral strategy of Causes borrows a page from the old George Bush Rangers/Pioneers playbook (and now copied by all aspiring presidential candidates). It consists of the following (over-complexization included):
1. I support X cause.
2. I publicly join X cause.
3. I donate Y amount of money to X.
4. I get others to join X cause.
5. They donate Y amount of money.
6. I get public credit for
a.) the money I donated
b.) the people I recruited to the cause
c.) the money I — and they — donated to said cause
7. I get a warm feeling for doing good (or bad, in some cases — there is not a requirement that the cause be a noble one).
So far the strategy seems to be working. Very few of my friends are members, which only seems to suggest that I have very apathetic friends. The ease of joining a cause seen on someone else's page or donating to a special cause is very easy, and Causes has done a great job of utilizing its box space for maximum effect. Raise enough money and become listed in the "Hall of Fame" for that cause. Personally, it seems as though converting someone from a competing cause should be worth more than getting the loyalty of someone previously unaffiliated. This might encourage even more heated discussions on the cause walls (Credit Appaholic for the chart).
Facebook Service: Appaholic
13/07/07 17:51 Filed in: Reviews
The Pitch:
Appaholicdoes not make it
any secret that it wants to be
the Alexa
of the
Facebook application community. And
while it won't win any artistic
awards, it certainly delivers what it
says. Jesse Farmer developed this
site, which enables visitors to
compare user bases among Facebook
applications. He keeps the 20
applications with the most users on
its front page and allows for a quick
comparison of up to three applications
by the number of users, percentage
change and number of users per hour.
Farmer has also recently added a
feature called the "Viral Dashboard."
The dashboard puts every application
in the Facebook directory into a
sortable table, along with a link to
the application's primary page. I see
that "What's your stripper
name?" finally got knocked
out of the top spot after several days
of amazing growth by none other
than Harry Potter Magic
Spells. I doubt I am alone
in spending more time than a human
should browsing the pages every day to
see who is getting contagious and who
is not,. Then again, I do write a blog
about contagious applications.
The Good:
Obviously the information is the sweet part of the site. Farmer is pretty modest about what he has done, but his service has quickly become essential for the FB application community. The information itself is available to anyone, but Farmer is the only one who has organized it and put it into an extremely easy-to-use format. While it might be fun to compare the top 20 applications, the real use is in comparing similar applications and monitoring the daily movers and shakers. Before Appaholic, users were limited to Facebook's "most popular," "newest" and "most users" categories. That service is marginally useful. Now there are real numbers to see and analyze — and for many development teams — to obsess over.
Not as Good:
The charts are straight out of the Microsoft design school. While that is a little annoying, it’s really a reminder that good information and functionality really are more important than prettiness. Given a choice between beautiful charts with limited information and boring charts with indispensable information, it’s a no-brainer. Perhaps Farmer will one day team up with a designer and we will be able to have our cake and eat it too.
Monetization Possibilities:
Appaholic is your gateway to the wild world of Facebook applications. See how your app is growing or compare it to its competitors. What times of day is your application doing well? What were the effects of your marketing campaign? What sort of uptake can you expect if you create a Facebook application? Appaholic will help you answer all these questions.
Appaholicdoes not make it
any secret that it wants to be
the Alexa
of the
Facebook application community. And
while it won't win any artistic
awards, it certainly delivers what it
says. Jesse Farmer developed this
site, which enables visitors to
compare user bases among Facebook
applications. He keeps the 20
applications with the most users on
its front page and allows for a quick
comparison of up to three applications
by the number of users, percentage
change and number of users per hour.
Farmer has also recently added a
feature called the "Viral Dashboard."
The dashboard puts every application
in the Facebook directory into a
sortable table, along with a link to
the application's primary page. I see
that "What's your stripper
name?" finally got knocked
out of the top spot after several days
of amazing growth by none other
than Harry Potter Magic
Spells. I doubt I am alone
in spending more time than a human
should browsing the pages every day to
see who is getting contagious and who
is not,. Then again, I do write a blog
about contagious applications.
The Good:
Obviously the information is the sweet part of the site. Farmer is pretty modest about what he has done, but his service has quickly become essential for the FB application community. The information itself is available to anyone, but Farmer is the only one who has organized it and put it into an extremely easy-to-use format. While it might be fun to compare the top 20 applications, the real use is in comparing similar applications and monitoring the daily movers and shakers. Before Appaholic, users were limited to Facebook's "most popular," "newest" and "most users" categories. That service is marginally useful. Now there are real numbers to see and analyze — and for many development teams — to obsess over.
Not as Good:
The charts are straight out of the Microsoft design school. While that is a little annoying, it’s really a reminder that good information and functionality really are more important than prettiness. Given a choice between beautiful charts with limited information and boring charts with indispensable information, it’s a no-brainer. Perhaps Farmer will one day team up with a designer and we will be able to have our cake and eat it too.
Monetization Possibilities:
- Update
- Farmer has posted directions at Inside Facebook detailing how to manipulate Appaholic's data within Excel to forecast growth. Warning: It is highly addictive.
App of the Day: Where I've Been
11/07/07 17:51 Filed in: Reviews
The Pitch:
Where I've Been is in the crowded travel category of Facebook Applications, but developer Craig Ulliott has managed to climb to the top of the heap with an outstanding user interface. The premise of the application is not revolutionary: Remember once upon a time the guy who had a 10-foot map of the world on his wall with pins in it for everywhere he has traveled? This is the Facebook-ization of that concept. Users start with a grey map of the world, then click on the places they’ve visited, lived in or want to visit. The map is color coded with their choices. It sounds silly, and simple, but it’s actually pretty fun to watch the map come to life. The map appears on users’ profile pages, where others can see where they've been. (Edit: One has to actually click on the map that appears in profiles to see where users have been)
The Good:
The user interface is clearly what separates Ulliott's application from the many others out there (TravBuddy, Locations, etc.). Not only is the map visually appealing once color is added the "click, click, click" manner of changing the map is very intuitive — and plenty fast. Since I last saw the application, the UI is much improved and it includes a cool zoom feature. There are now even more countries and plans for adding states to additional places (namely. Brazil and Russia).
Not as Good:
The map has been buggy at times. I have had my maps erased and forced to start over on more than one occasion. It’s like writing a long e-mail and having the computer freeze right at the end. The second time around, one ends up sending a three-sentence e-mail instead of retyping the previous version. It seems more stable now. I think Ulliott was having hosting issues before that might have caused the problems. Looks like he has resolved that.
Monetization Possibilities:
There is no advertising right now — or even, from what I can tell, sponsorship. Ulliott posted on the developer board a few weeks ago, pleading for help or suggestions on hosting. It seems he was facing $400 /month in hosting bills and like many FB Platform developers was just doing this for fun. He put up a donation box that is gone now, so perhaps he has worked something out. His application has grown 1,000 percent since then. It would appear that an application like this would be a natural partnership for a Web travel service like Expedia, Orbitz or STA Travel — or especially for an upstart travel company or maybe a niche marketer for a particular need (regional travel, airlines, hotels, etc.).
Is it Contagious:
Apparently so! The application is at just under 1.5 million users — making it one of the 20 most popular applications on the Facebook Platform. And, as noted earlier, the most popular application in the travel category. It’s also spreading very quickly, as evidenced by the Appaholic graph.
It is interesting
that the application is growing this
fast since it does not really
involve much in the way of
interaction among users. It’s just
an expression of the owner ... a
profile decoration, if you will.
Clearly it’s popular because it is
so well done, and because it taps in
to that need people have to tell
others about themselves. Where they
have been, and perhaps where they
are going next is a popular topic,
especially among frequent travelers.
(Credit Appaholic
for the
graph)
Update: Today the guys over at Inside Facebook have posted a summary of several of the Facebook travel applications, including Where I've Been. They came to the same conclusion we did, Where I've Been is the clubhouse leader among the current travel apps. Updated 7/14/07
A detailed, interactive world map, show everyone where you’ve been, where you have lived and where you want to go...
Where I've Been is in the crowded travel category of Facebook Applications, but developer Craig Ulliott has managed to climb to the top of the heap with an outstanding user interface. The premise of the application is not revolutionary: Remember once upon a time the guy who had a 10-foot map of the world on his wall with pins in it for everywhere he has traveled? This is the Facebook-ization of that concept. Users start with a grey map of the world, then click on the places they’ve visited, lived in or want to visit. The map is color coded with their choices. It sounds silly, and simple, but it’s actually pretty fun to watch the map come to life. The map appears on users’ profile pages, where others can see where they've been. (Edit: One has to actually click on the map that appears in profiles to see where users have been)
The Good:
The user interface is clearly what separates Ulliott's application from the many others out there (TravBuddy, Locations, etc.). Not only is the map visually appealing once color is added the "click, click, click" manner of changing the map is very intuitive — and plenty fast. Since I last saw the application, the UI is much improved and it includes a cool zoom feature. There are now even more countries and plans for adding states to additional places (namely. Brazil and Russia).
Not as Good:
The map has been buggy at times. I have had my maps erased and forced to start over on more than one occasion. It’s like writing a long e-mail and having the computer freeze right at the end. The second time around, one ends up sending a three-sentence e-mail instead of retyping the previous version. It seems more stable now. I think Ulliott was having hosting issues before that might have caused the problems. Looks like he has resolved that.
Monetization Possibilities:
There is no advertising right now — or even, from what I can tell, sponsorship. Ulliott posted on the developer board a few weeks ago, pleading for help or suggestions on hosting. It seems he was facing $400 /month in hosting bills and like many FB Platform developers was just doing this for fun. He put up a donation box that is gone now, so perhaps he has worked something out. His application has grown 1,000 percent since then. It would appear that an application like this would be a natural partnership for a Web travel service like Expedia, Orbitz or STA Travel — or especially for an upstart travel company or maybe a niche marketer for a particular need (regional travel, airlines, hotels, etc.).
Is it Contagious:
Apparently so! The application is at just under 1.5 million users — making it one of the 20 most popular applications on the Facebook Platform. And, as noted earlier, the most popular application in the travel category. It’s also spreading very quickly, as evidenced by the Appaholic graph.
It is interesting
that the application is growing this
fast since it does not really
involve much in the way of
interaction among users. It’s just
an expression of the owner ... a
profile decoration, if you will.
Clearly it’s popular because it is
so well done, and because it taps in
to that need people have to tell
others about themselves. Where they
have been, and perhaps where they
are going next is a popular topic,
especially among frequent travelers.
(Credit Appaholic
for the
graph)
Update: Today the guys over at Inside Facebook have posted a summary of several of the Facebook travel applications, including Where I've Been. They came to the same conclusion we did, Where I've Been is the clubhouse leader among the current travel apps. Updated 7/14/07
App of the Day: My Aquarium
09/07/07 15:58 Filed in: Reviews
The Pitch:
Developer Greg
Thomson has created an application
that is part Pets and part virtual
gift sending wrapped up in a …
fishbowl. My Aquarium
starts
users out with an empty "aquarium" and
some coins. Use the coins to "buy"
aquatic life to fill it with. The
social hook is that:
A.) Users can send and receive sea creatures from friends.
B.) Users can display their populated aquariums.
The Good:
Definitely the selection of sea life that’s available to users. Thomson included everything from a standard goldfish to a miniature shark (the later of which costs 500 coins). Other cool critters include swordfishes, octopuses, and sea horses. The objects are well done, and it’s easy to move everything around. Users start out with 250 coins, which is enough to fill the aquarium — as long as they don't opt for a shark or an octopus. After that initial coin allotment, users get 100 coins a day — or whatever creatures friends send to them..
Not as Good:
The initial interface is a bit confusing. The application is clearly set up to be as viral as possible by getting users to invite friends to check it out, and as a result its not clear how to initially get anything inside the aquarium. To do so, just click on the "Send MYNAME A Fish." Not unclear to anyone who refers to himself or herself in the third person, but for the rest of us, it can be confusing. The message board and reviews at the application site have several people experiencing the same confusion.
Monetization Possibilities:
It seems like a national-chain pet store would be a natural choice to affiliate in some way in order to build brand awareness. The site could probably sell most of these sea creations, adding a reminder to users that they can also get a real goldfish for $5 might be an effective marketing strategy for a pet store.. My Aquarium reached 40,000 users very quickly, which suggests there are plenty of virtual fish lovers out there.
Is it Contagious:
This is a fun little application. It added 25,000 users today to grab 187 percent virality. It is not going to become the most popular application on Facebook, but for those who like creative little fish and know other people who do as well, then this might be fun every once in a while.
I am not an
aquarium owner, (my most recent fish
ownership experience ended when a
curious cat knocked the unfortunate
gilled creature out of its bowl
while I slept), but I am not
familiar with the idea of people
giving each other fish for their
aquariums. It will be interesting to
see if Thomson is able to keep a
steady supply of life forms. What
would be fantastic is to something
like this where the fish move
around on the screen and users can
feed them. It appears the big
competitor on Facebook is the
Pets
Application, but these are still
pretty different. I do not see this
being a case of having to choose one
over the other. (Credit
Appaholic
for the
graph)
Start your own virtual aquarium! Send fish, sharks and even octopus to your friends for free. Let them send items to you as well. Put your virtual aquarium on your profile page for everyone to see.
Developer Greg
Thomson has created an application
that is part Pets and part virtual
gift sending wrapped up in a …
fishbowl. My Aquarium
starts
users out with an empty "aquarium" and
some coins. Use the coins to "buy"
aquatic life to fill it with. The
social hook is that:
A.) Users can send and receive sea creatures from friends.
B.) Users can display their populated aquariums.
The Good:
Definitely the selection of sea life that’s available to users. Thomson included everything from a standard goldfish to a miniature shark (the later of which costs 500 coins). Other cool critters include swordfishes, octopuses, and sea horses. The objects are well done, and it’s easy to move everything around. Users start out with 250 coins, which is enough to fill the aquarium — as long as they don't opt for a shark or an octopus. After that initial coin allotment, users get 100 coins a day — or whatever creatures friends send to them..
Not as Good:
The initial interface is a bit confusing. The application is clearly set up to be as viral as possible by getting users to invite friends to check it out, and as a result its not clear how to initially get anything inside the aquarium. To do so, just click on the "Send MYNAME A Fish." Not unclear to anyone who refers to himself or herself in the third person, but for the rest of us, it can be confusing. The message board and reviews at the application site have several people experiencing the same confusion.
Monetization Possibilities:
It seems like a national-chain pet store would be a natural choice to affiliate in some way in order to build brand awareness. The site could probably sell most of these sea creations, adding a reminder to users that they can also get a real goldfish for $5 might be an effective marketing strategy for a pet store.. My Aquarium reached 40,000 users very quickly, which suggests there are plenty of virtual fish lovers out there.
Is it Contagious:
This is a fun little application. It added 25,000 users today to grab 187 percent virality. It is not going to become the most popular application on Facebook, but for those who like creative little fish and know other people who do as well, then this might be fun every once in a while.
I am not an
aquarium owner, (my most recent fish
ownership experience ended when a
curious cat knocked the unfortunate
gilled creature out of its bowl
while I slept), but I am not
familiar with the idea of people
giving each other fish for their
aquariums. It will be interesting to
see if Thomson is able to keep a
steady supply of life forms. What
would be fantastic is to something
like this where the fish move
around on the screen and users can
feed them. It appears the big
competitor on Facebook is the
Pets
Application, but these are still
pretty different. I do not see this
being a case of having to choose one
over the other. (Credit
Appaholic
for the
graph)
A Quick Introduction
08/07/07 02:25 Filed in: Quick
Thoughts
At some point I will provide a more
detailed introduction about myself and
the team behind this blog, as well as
providing a fuller explanation how we
view the Facebook platform, and social
networking in general. However, we are
all busy with a number of products so
this short introduction will have do for
now.
1.Obviously we are excited about the opportunities the Facebook Platform presents for developers, entrepreneurs, and internet users. We realize that many are skeptical about the utility of social networking generally, and the ability for third parties to create a viable economic model that piggy backs onto the platform. We respectfully disagree.
2. The blog is currently being run via Rapid Weaver. That may or may not change in the future, but for now it provides the best combination of powerful features and ease of use.
3. The site design is a bit of a work in progress. New features are in the process of being added, but the primary focus during this quiet launch is adding content. Within the focus on the content is adding application reviews. Once a critical mass of reviews is reached, additional editorial content will be added.
1.Obviously we are excited about the opportunities the Facebook Platform presents for developers, entrepreneurs, and internet users. We realize that many are skeptical about the utility of social networking generally, and the ability for third parties to create a viable economic model that piggy backs onto the platform. We respectfully disagree.
2. The blog is currently being run via Rapid Weaver. That may or may not change in the future, but for now it provides the best combination of powerful features and ease of use.
3. The site design is a bit of a work in progress. New features are in the process of being added, but the primary focus during this quiet launch is adding content. Within the focus on the content is adding application reviews. Once a critical mass of reviews is reached, additional editorial content will be added.