Have Facebook Apps Peaked?
Posted by Nick O'Neill on January 28th, 2008 11:57 AMA lot of discussion has been going on in the Facebook developer forum about the possibility of Facebook applications hitting their peak. Much of this was in response to a blog post written up by Alec Saunders. Alec argues that thanks to the spammy tactics used by many application developers, users have become resistent to forced invites and application requests. One Facebook group, “No, I will NOT invite 20 friends just to add your application,” has attracted over 63,000 users.
Many applications, including Flixster, have been using extremely aggressive tactics to obtain users by spamming user newsfeeds. This has ruined it for many applications that have chosen not to resort to such measures. To argue that Facebook applications have peaked though would be foolish. If developers design useful and creative aplications users will engage with them and there is the potential for building a long-term user base.
Facebook does have a spam issue on their hands though and they are working to resolve the issue rapidly. In the past few months Facebook has made significant changes to the newsfeed, requests, notifications and all other aspects that support spamming on the platform. Over the next few months I would predict a reduction in the number of spammy applications on the site.
At the same time, developers will continue to release a large number of poorly designed applications. This is nothing new though. The web is filled with tons of junk and we are simply witnessing the same thing take place within the confines of Facebook.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Foolish? The numbers are real and nobody questions the “potential” of the platform.
It has simply gotten very difficult to succeed and fanboys continue to hype Facebook as if it is the Web of ‘95.
January 28th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Yes, users are getting disillusioned with apps because of the spam. But Facebook knows about this and will be fixing this soon. Once that happens, the quality apps will rise to the top.
January 28th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Facebook apps peaked months ago. I’d say that less than five percent
of the apps that come out now are with anyone’s time.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I’m in that group protesting the forced friend-spamming. I was speaking to a college class last semester at GWU, and one student told me she’s getting turned off by the clutter of Facebook apps. Facebook’s not going to be deserted tomorrow, but it does make you wonder what’s going to be the next–perhaps simpler–network to come in underneath it.
January 29th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Be real. First of all, what do you mean with “peaked”? Do you mean growth peak, or total-number-of-applications peak, or perhaps interest peak?
Either way, take a look at Gartner’s hype curve (http://www.gartner.com/pages/story.php.id.8795.s.8.jsp). One can argue that we are in phase 2, “Peak of Inflated Expectations” going into to “Trough of Disillusionment.” It is in the best interest of Facebook to rapidly help us through this phase by setting up additional rules to if not eliminate but at least alleviate spam (remember that one person’s spam is another person’s treasure).
Going forward, you will see better and more useful application in Facebook. Forget about sending a beer to someone (which is so 2007), instead take a look at some of the newer apps.
Mike
January 29th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
The spam issue is a real one for FB - they can keep altering the API & rules for developers, but offenders will keep trying to game the system in true cat & mouse style.
Developers who play hardball know the game will be over soon & are trying to score as many installs as possible before then so they can cross-market their newer apps later when things have been tightened up. No-one wants to pay another network for an install!
The flip side to this is a growing desire for a brand of apps are known as “non-spammy” and that is what we at THiNGi are building. Launching Valentine’s Day!
February 4th, 2008 at 3:13 am
[…] to the Facebook Developers Wiki on Saturday. The guidelines are not surprising, considering the recent backlash surrounding forced invites in many of the applications currently on Facebook. The guidelines are as […]