There has been a lack of content at Is it Contagious for a couple of days while my business partner at Marlin Internet Holdings and I launched our first Facebook application. It's called Sweet! Gifts. The process of creating the application has been fun. We worked with different artists and programmers to get most everything in place. At the end of the day the application is primarily a learning tool for us. Don't get me wrong, we are like every other application team in hoping it becomes sickly viral. If it does-great! If it does not-no big deal. Regardless of the application's success, it's going to help this site write about the application development community. It keeps me in the loop with what is going on, and it makes me much more familiar with the inter-workings of the applications themselves than I was before. In particular it will help for an upcoming feature on the different monetization options out there for applications since it will allow us to try different ones out. We will have the luxury of experimenting with little too lose since we look at our application as a learning curve tool. Frankly, I can not imagine any other way of getting a legitimate feel, not just for the mechanical operation of the platform, but for what works and does not work.

We will not use this site to push Sweet! Gifts on readers, but a little bit about it should help for future references to it or explain the basis of certain opinions.

Why a Gift Application:
We did not try and re-invent the wheel with our first application. We knew that gift applications worked because Facebook had already created one. We originally were developing a paid version just like Facebook's, but with better gifts. Then we found out that several applications were already doing free gifts. Hard to compete on that price. We still felt like it was worth going forward, but without any type of payment. This probably was a blessing in disguise. The development process was much simpler without trying to integrate micro-payments. Plus, we figured there was still room for cleverness, and some additional unique ideas within the "free virtual gift application" niche.

The Results:
Obviously it is much too early to say anything definitive. We released the application at approximately 2 PM central time, and a little over twenty-four hours later we are at 476 users. The good news is that is far more users than we expected, but the bad news is few of our friends are adding the application. In fact, we have no idea who these people are who are adding the application. I have not had a chance to look into the analytics too closely, but the early sense is that the application is growing steadily with few problems. That is not to say everyone actually likes it. A couple of people took the time to write on the "reviews" section that the application "SUCK!!!!!!!" and another said the pictures were "crap." Luckily for developers there is no way to do anything about such things. Oh well.

Update: I have updated the graph from Appaholic to reflect the one week results of the Sweet! Gifts application. It hit 1,600 users. Is that great? Depends on expectations. The growth was fast for the first five days, but has cooled since late Sunday. It is clear that with a virtual gift application, a steady stream of gifts is required. July 24th.

Tags: facebook application, disclosure

Note:
Quick Looks is a new feature spotlighting applications or services that are too new for a full review, but have a strong underlying premise. The idea is to take a "quick look" at the simple basis of the application and the people behind it. It is less about what the application is now, and more about what it could become down the road. Mosoma is the first application in Quick Looks. It is a social networking auction application, but it is too new to truly evaluate how well it works. The Facebook version currently only has a few items up for auction. If and when the site has more users, Is it Contagious will return for a full review.

The Pitch:

Mosoma's auction platform allows Facebook users to auction to the entire Facebook community. You will be able to execute each step necessary in the auction entirely on the Facebook. Mosoma is cheaper than E-bay for items worth more than $10.

Social networking+auctions+mobile technology=Mosoma. Actually the name stands for ""Mobile Social Marketplace" (Mo=Mobile, So=Social, Ma=Marketplace). The hook is pretty simple "why trade with strangers on E-bay when you can trade with people you know on Facebook?" The setup is actually closer to Facebook's own Classifieds application than to E-bay, and that is a good thing. Adding an item is straight forward, and afterwards it's possible to include more pictures, blog entries, easily answer questions, and there is a rating system to (hopefully) keep people honest. It looks like once an auction is won the parties can work out the payment method. Mosoma started as a stand alone site for campus specific auctions, and the current payment model suggests that is probably still the target market. Buy a tv from someone in a nearby dorm room, and walk down the hall to pay him and get the tv (see 606Tech's look at the old site).

They have covered most of the standard features one would expect with a legitimate online auction site: watch lists, bid history, user ratings, friend's items, ect. The original site included Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) capabilities to monitor and communicate through cell phones. It is unclear whether they have been able to integrate those options into the platform. Presumably there will also be ways to highlight items up for auction, though there is not much need to now with very few items for sale (it appears to be a buyer's market for old biology and chemistry books).

Creators:
The guys behind Mosoma are the father-son team of Jeff and Devin Hendricks. Devin, 22, is clearly a talented software developer who has already worked on a variety of cutting edge technology projects, while Jeff, the father, has a background in management/business analysis on software projects for large financial entities (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and World Bank). They decided to combine their software development and business management experiences. Mosoma is the result.

Outlook:
The success or failure of any auction business, internet based or traditional, depends more than any other factor on the quality of the items up for auction. Yet, it may be a chicken or the egg problem. The application needs sellers to put quality items up for sale, but it needs buyers for those items to entice sellers in the first place. My guess is that the "Field of Dreams" rule applies: if you list it they will come. If quality products show up on the site, the Facebook community is going to find them and buy them. At this early stage there are only a handful of items up for auction, meaning Mosoma is going to have to figure out a way to attract more sellers. The $1 flat fee listing is tough to beat, but is probably too low to sustain the site without other revenue streams (probably extra fees to "highlight" an item are forthcoming). A potentially huge market exists within the Facebook site itself: auctions for Facebook applications. That is an unclear market for now, to say the least, but the possibility of a fluid market is a real possibility given the skyrocketing number of applications (almost 1,800 are now listed in the main directory).

At the very least give the team at Mosoma credit for attempting to compete with two of the biggest players on the internet in E-bay and Facebook's Classifieds. Third party developers have already come up with several applications that plug E-bay into Facebook, and with an easy API it is likely more will follow. Mosoma offers more features than Classifieds, and the Free Gifts application has proven that it's possible to prosper in the same space as one of Facebook's own applications. I hope Mosoma finds success. The technology and design they have been able to integrate into the Facebook platform is as impressive as anything on Facebook. While simple applications that generate Grey's Anatomy Quotes or Detect Lesbians rise in popularity, Mosoma proves that useful applications can be developed. Whether that turns out to be what the Facebook community wants remains to be seen.

Tags: quick looks, facebook application, business, classifieds, auction

The Pitch:

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).

Tags: education, political, facebook application, app of the day, review

The Pitch:

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

Tags: review, facebook application, app of the day, travel

The Pitch:

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)

Tags: app of the day, just for fun, review, facebook application