Today there is big news from Kongregate, the social gaming website. On Monday Kongregate will be launching the Facebook Challenge Platform. Kongregate is an indie gaming site with over 4,000 original user-uploaded Flash and Shockwave games. Kongregate has decided to launch a platform which enables users to challenge their friends to compete for Kongregate points in one-on-one, asynchronous challenges.

Players using the platform can compare their high scores with immediate friends, others in their network, or across the entire Facebook network. Individuals can also play alone if they’d like. I often times get sucked into playing Dolphin Olympics 2 for a couple hours. While I currently do not leverage all of the features of Kongregate.com, which includes personal accounts with points and achievements, the system synchronizes accounts on Facebook to accounts on the website for those that use it.

For developers there are new APIs that make it easy to port games to the Kongregate Challenge platform with little effort. While not all of the games will be launching initially, the platform will launch with Dolphin Olympics 2, Filler, Particles, Ragdoll, Avalance, MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2 and others. This new platform is a direct competition to Zynga and SGN both of which already have plenty of active users. It will be interesting to see if Kongregate experiences the same explosive growth that many of the Zynga and SGN games did during launch.

Below are some screenshots of the games running on the Kongregate Facebook Challenge Platform from within Facebook.

Dolphin Olympics 2

Guitar Maniac

Jumpcat Challenge

There is an interesting dynamic taking place in the social web space: developers are being pushed to their limits thanks to the countless platforms that have launched. Only a few large players have been able to adapt. Companies like Slide, RockYou and iLike have enough development power to extend across multiple social platforms and while even their limits are being tested, they continue to emerge victorious with the launch of each new platform.

It isn’t as “smooth sailing” for the majority though. Smaller development companies are opting out of beta programs with Facebook Connect, MySpace Data Availability and Google Friend Connect because they are already stretched thin.

Read more on the Social Times

Last year I raved about the potential of a possible Blackboard application. If you don’t already know, Blackboard is the educational tool that is ubiquitous across college institutions within the United States. The company sells a platform which helps educational institutions build robust systems for teaching. Teachers and students share documents and can have course discussions within course-specific forums. Professors can also post grades for assignments and courses. I previously suggested that integration with Facebook would be ideal because it’s where students are spending a ton of their time.

October marked the launch of Coursefeed, which provided integration with Blackboard and a direct interface within Facebook. The application has since added over 13,000 users. 6 months later, Blackboard has launched their own application which is nowhere near as robust as the Coursefeed application. The purpose of the application is to notify students of changes within Blackboard via Facebook.

Have a new assignment posted to one of your courses? Now you can read about it within Facebook. You’ll receive a notification with a link to the corresponding page within Blackboard. You can also navigate through all the top level information pertaining to each course. This includes links to the profiles of other course mates. The application appears to be well built aside from a Java error that I received when entering false information into the fields.

The application also highlights Blackboard’s desire to keep the majority of the content within their platform. This is most likely for security purposes. Resistance to integration with Facebook is commonplace among other enterprise level applications due to the lack of security and exposure of data to Facebook. If you are a Blackboard user and want to get notifications of Blackboard info in Facebook, check out the Blackboard Sync application.

Facebook will announce momentarily via their developer blog support of Facebook chat via Jabber and XMPP. These are two of the primary standards for instant messaging protocol on the web. The new format will enable developers to integrate chat within their applications both internally and externally to Facebook. This update will also enable developers to update a user’s status via the new protocol.

While a number of instant messaging desktop clients have already figured out a way to access Facebook’s chat system, this will enable anybody to access Facebook chat more efficiently. By providing Jabber/XMPP access to developers, Facebook also hopes to further extend the reach of Facebook as a mainstream instant messaging platform.

This is a great move by Facebook. It helps to emphasize Facebook’s dedication to using open standards to provide access to developers. It will be interesting to see what types of creative applications we see integrate this new chat platform.

So a bored individual sent me an email yesterday notifying me of a small glitch in Facebook that lets you see who you are stalking. I hadn’t tested it out until this morning but it may just be accurate. My profile showed up 5 individuals who I apparently stalk regularly. One of them is Caroline McCarthy, three other of them girls and one guy who’s a friend of mine. While I don’t know what the equation for determining who you are stalking is, it is definitely interesting.

It appears to have some sort of moving average because I’ve been stalking a few people recently who did not show up in my results. If you want to check out who you’ve been stalking, head over to the search box and click the down arrow two times. If that doesn’t work press up twice and it will eventually display. Facebook apparently knows about people stalking other users and this is a great way to see who you’ve been stalking.

So who have you been stalking lately?

Update
Apparently I wasn’t clear enough on how to do it. Here it is:
Step 1: Go to Facebook
Step 2: Click inside the Facebook search box
Step 3: Click down down on your keyboard. If that doesn’t work press up up.
The people you are stalking will now appear.

Update 2
Facebook is going to remove the “stalking tool”. Here is their response:
“Facebook tries to surface the people we think are most important to users to make it easier and faster for them to navigate the site and find what they are looking for. The search drop down is not a list of those that have searched for the user. It is also not a list of people whose profile the user has viewed the most or who have viewed the user’s profile the most. To avoid any confusion, this will no longer appear.”

Update 3
I’ve been able to get it to work by using the spacebar in the search box. Anybody else having similar results?

Last night was the official Facebook Prom for all the employees. Valleywag has the scoop with some not so clear photographs of the beginning of the event. Facebook rented out the 4th floor of the Metreon. So why did they hold a prom and not a formal? Apparently the company would like employees to feel like they are still in high school to keep them youthful and creative. Whatever the rationale behind the event, it went off apparently without a hitch.

Julia Allison was also invited but ended up deciding not to roll to the event. Perhaps it brought back memories of those awkward years that many people don’t want to remember. One of the potential reasons of hosting the event was the sponsorship by Sony Pictures who is promoting their upcoming movie “Prom Night” on Facebook. One of the other partnerships was with Sears.

No, Facebook employees are not scrambling to find mobile houses, they are instead looking to have free prom dresses thanks to the new prom dress sharing application that Sears created. 2008 is the year of high school graduation for Facebook and now they’re all going to college so it’s time for the team to grow up. That means management changes, employees leaving the company and internal tension. At least the company can have one last fun night before Facebook Connect jumps into full swing.

Those looking for Facebook to transform their monetization strategy overnight and exit with their highly anticipated IPO anytime soon better not hold their breath. Jessi Hempel highlights the challenges currently facing Facebook. There are some serious problems. The most significant is the “blasé attitude that media buyers have toward the company” according to Hempel. Hempel emphasizes that Facebook ads can sell for as little as 15 cents per thousand impressions (CPM). That’s because the rapidly growing user base has its attention elsewhere while navigating the site.

Monetization isn’t Facebook’s only challenge. Zuckerberg is facing more pressure as he separates himself from his college roommates and buddies who were once his closest allies in favor of a more experienced management team. While it shows maturity on Zuckerberg’s part it no doubt causes tension among colleagues, friends and the management. Perhaps reflection is one of the goals of Zuckerberg’s current trip to India and Israel. I wouldn’t be surprised to see continued changes when he returns from his short sabbatical.

There are some big challenges ahead especially considering that not even Myspace, Facebook’s largest competitor, has not yet figured out an effective way for generating substantial revenue. The company isn’t completely troubled though. Facebook continues to see record breaking growth internationally and is preparing to launch the Facebook Connect service which will help transform the social web. In other words the company is facing classic growing pains. It has reached a critical milestone and needs to push through to become the company that everyone believes it will be.

It is an exciting time for Facebook. It will be interesting to see how the company transforms over the coming year.

Last weekend I was at SocialDevCamp in Baltimore and came across one individual who continuously read AllFacebook but did not read the Social Times. If he had read it, he didn’t realize that he was reading it. If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you probably have noticed that the volume of posts has decreased somewhat. In reality, I’m posting the same but over at the Social Times. So if you haven’t added the Social Times to one of your regular sites, here are ten reasons you should start reading it:

1. There is more to this world then Facebook – I know it’s shocking that I, a Facebook fanboy, would say that there’s more to this world then Facebook. The reality is that the web is becoming increasingly social. It will continue to transform and every 6 months we will see large announcements that continue to move this space forward.
2. Breaking news – While I may not be breaking news with the regularity of Mike Arrington who likes to hold his sources hostage, I do work my own sources and try to provide insight into what is taking place in the industry.
3. More editorial insight – I read somewhere around 1,000 articles every day specifically about the social web. I know less than 10 people that do this specifically on this topic and it’s their job to try and break news stories. Through my experience in agencies, startups and through continuous communication with industry leaders, I’ll keep you up to date on what’s going on and why it matters to your business.
4. Events – Not only do I and others write over at the Social Times, we also host events. We are in the midst of planning some large industry events in the coming months so you should visit the site or subscribe to the feed to keep up to date on the events taking place around the country.
5. Timely information – While I don’t break every story, I will be there to provide insight as soon as the story breaks. I will also provide follow-up commentary to let you know what’s going on.
6. No bullshit – You can read a ton of blogs that will tell you about theory and extrapolate on ideas that are way to deep for most people to understand. That’s why most of those ideas never materialize. I digest sometimes complex ideas and make it understandable for the average Joe. If I think people are wrong, I’ll let you know. While the truth isn’t always pretty, at least it’s the truth. That’s what I’ll give you.
7. Interactive – If you post a comment on any of my posts, I typically respond to questions in a matter of minutes. If you don’t get a response you can always email me and I’ll respond.
8. Conference coverage – There are industry events practically every week. Often times I’m out at them trying to cover it for the readers. If you didn’t get to make it to the conference, there is a good chance we did and have coverage of it on the site.
9. Podcasts – Not only am I blogging over at the Social Times but I’m also interviewing people in the industry to find out what’s really going on. The podcasts make it easy to stay up to date on the people that shape this industry.
10. It’s me! – If you’ve been reading me for a while, you probably know that I have integrity and I bust my ass. If I’m wrong, I’ll tell you I’m wrong. My job is to get you the information you care about in a timely manner and make sure it’s comprehensible. Occasionally it isn’t (since I sometimes write at 3 A.M.) but I can guarantee you that I’m always writing. I want to help out my readers. If you want to get news that caters to the readers, you need to check out the Social Times!

If you made it through the list and still haven’t subscribed, you better go subscribe to the Social Times now! I haven’t stopped writing, I’m just writing elsewhere. Go check out the Social Times and if you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Google has made its official announcement about Friend Connect, the service launching at tonight’s Google Campfire event. According to the press release, Google Friend Connect enables “any website owner can add a snippet of code to his or her site and get social features up and running immediately without programming — picking and choosing from built-in functionality like user registration, invitations, members gallery, message posting, and reviews, as well as third-party applications built by the OpenSocial developer community.”

Members of Friend Connect include Facebook, Google Talk, hi5, orkut, Plaxo, and more. Yes, you heard that right, Facebook is one of the launch partners with Friend Connect.

Read more at the Social Times.

Update
Just got off the Google conference call and apparently Facebook isn’t affiliated with this announcement. I’m not sure why they put it on the press release and it’s interesting that both companies are calling their program “Connect”.

Last week Facebook reportedly borrowed $100 million in venture debt to pay for new servers. The company has continued to have a high demand of servers as it has become the largest site for sharing photos and has also opened up the ability to share videos as well. According to Facebook’s VP of Technology, the company is currently using over 10,000 servers including over 1,800 MySQL database servers.

The money will be used by Facebook to purchase another 50,000 servers. While this sounds like a large number, Google is currently consuming over half a million servers each year whereas Microsoft is consuming 200,000 servers each year. Facebook’s new server acquisitions will enable the company to run safely for at least another year or two according to a BusinessWeek article from last week.

Henry Blodget thinks that the reason that Facebook raised money was because they couldn’t sell anymore stock at a $15 billion valuation. In my opinion this is simply speculation.  Using debt to acquire new servers makes a lot of sense. This is a typical practice for fast growing startups. As Blodget points out, “The owners of Facebook common stock, for example, now have at least $350 million of claims that have to be paid out of whatever Facebook is ultimately sold for before they get a dime.” That shouldn’t be a problem though if Facebook has a public offering at anywhere near the $15 billion valuation Microsoft placed on the company.

I think this news emphasizes a thriving company that needs capital just to keep up with their growth. This is a textbook definition of the type of companies that VCs love to invest in. Hopefully Facebook doesn’t need to buy another 50,000 servers anytimes soon!