Word on the street was that Guy Kawasaki wasn’t interested in getting involved with Facebook applications a few weeks ago. With the launch of the Truemors application it looks like he has changed his mind. Truemors is the highly criticized social network launched a few months ago by Guy Kawasaki. The site allows users to submit rumors and then vote on rumors that they think are entertaining or credible. The site was considered a flop by many in the blogosphere but all the negative publicity helped to drive a lot of traffic to the site which continues to this day. The Truemors application is pretty basic. You can view the rumors that have been posted on the Truemors site as well as post your own. Additionally, you can view what rumors your friends have posted, what are the most recent rumors, and what the most popular rumors are. While I’m not an avid user of Truemors, it appears as if they have a pretty substantial user base. Just like all other companies, they are hoping that their Facebook application will help drive even more users. The application already has over 200 users which is fairly significant given that they launched today. While I probably won’t end up an avid user of the application, you can go grab the Truemors app and try it out for yourself.

At first glance I figured this application would be insanely viral. While I still think it may experience viral growth, it was not as effective at interpreting my dream as I would have wished. The application picks out specific keywords from within your dream description and then gives you an interpretation of those words. From my dream description it picked out the words “flying” and “light”. The application also failed to include the second part of my dream. Maybe I’m being to critical and should not expect an application to be capable of interpreting my dreams. What do you think? I think this application has the stickiness factor which is required of successful applications but doesn’t have all the features that I’d look for. One of the best components of this application is that it also works as a dream diary. For those of you that keep dream diaries or have a desire to keep a dream diary, this application could prove to be pretty handy. For some reason though I can’t see myself waking up from a dream, stumbling over to my computer, logging on to Facebook and typing in my dream at 4 am. If you are a big fan of tracking and interpreting dreams, go grab the Dream Reader application.

I just stumbled upon the next insanely viral application. Just about everyone knows someone that has those fun magnetic words that you put on your kitchen and make funny sentences with. I know that I end up playing with them for at least a few minutes each time I see them. Currently there are only a couple problems with the application. My primary issue is that once it is displayed on your profile users must click through to the application page to make any changes. Conversely, that is probably the biggest viral component of this application. It is pretty awesome that your friends can come and switch up what is being displayed on your profile. Another cool feature that they could add is the ability to have an obscenity on/off switch. There are various types of magnetic words sold in stores and I think users should also be able to chose what types of words they want to have displayed. Finally, there is no way to add your own words. That would be a great feature but I can only imagine the server load of trying to handle everyone’s word requests. This application will surely have millions of users within a matter of days. Since I started writing this post, the application has grown from 8,000 to 11,000 users. Pretty darn amazing! If you want your friends to spend a little more time on your profile page, go grab the Magnetic Words application.

Razoo, the platform for social good, has released the first Facebook application that awards cash to participants. The application is called SpeedGranting and it is a fun way to help make a change in the world by directing seed money to worthy projects. If you added the insanely popular Causes application, then this one is for you. Rather than asking people to donate money, Razoo is giving it away to participating projects. Twice monthly, Razoo is giving away anywhere from $500 to $2000 to each project. This is pretty significant considering the nominal amount that has been generated for each cause within the causes application.

The application is extremely easy to use. Facebook members can submit a proposal for a project they feel is deserving—it can be an initiative sponsored by a large non-profit or by a few friends trying to make the world a better place. It’s then up to them to recruit other member to vote for their proposal. It’s as simple as that. The viral component of this application is that for each proposal that is submitted, the user must get at least one friend to validate the proposal before it can be voted on. Razoo plans on adding additional features that have more of a community focus so that users can become more engaged on the application. If you have a cause that you are passionate about or just want to lend a helping hand then go grab the SpeedGranting application.

Disclosure: I currently work as an employee of Razoo. If you have any feedback then please feel free to comment here and we will try to rapidly incorporate your suggestions into the application.

Shreeniwas Iyer and Srimoyee Chakraborty have come up with a new twist on superlatives. Rather than seeing which one of your friends best represent a given superlative, you can compare them to various celebrities. You can vote on who’s the most attractive, most artistic, a better dancer, most brave and a number of other character traits. Each of these votes are tallied up and then ranked against other Facebook members to determine who best represents each of those character traits world wide. Currently the leaderboard can only shows the top 25 Facebook wide or within your friends. It would be cool if they enabled it so that you could break it down by network or school. Aside from that this is a pretty catchy idea. The Apples to Oranges application has been experiencing significant growth which ranks among the most viral applications that have a user base of one to ten thousand users. While I can say from experience that it is difficult to stay atop the most viral applications for more than a couple days, I think thits application has a pretty good shot at long-term growth. The superlatives application has grown to over 35,000 users and is growing close to 40 percent a day so this one will definitely have a good shot. If you want to assign superlatives to your friends or celebrities, you should go grab the Apples ‘n’ Oranges application.

If you’ve seen one gift application then you have seen them all, right? Maybe not. Ford Prefect, Keith Schacht and Ben Pollack have just launched a new gift application that puts a new twist on Facebook gifting. Rather than presenting a static gift to the receiver, the gift recipient will receive a gift that will grow into a beautiful flower. Right now there are 12 types of flowers to choose from, but I have a feeling that if this application gains traction they will start adding new gifts. This application kind of reminds me of those pills that you could put in water and watch them slowly turn into a sponge-like replica of an animal. Do you remember those things? They were great! A few users on the application wall made some suggestions that I agree with. It would be cool to see these gifts grow into something funny like a donkey or a dancing monkey. Aside from that this is a pretty cool twist on the gift applications. I am not a big gift giver on Facebook but maybe that’s because I’m too busy sending messages and writing on walls. If you like giving gifts then I highly recommend checking out the Grow-a-Gift application.

With last week’s release of the new movie and with the new book set to release in a few days, there is a ton of buzz surrounding Harry Potter. Much of this buzz has carried over into the world of Facebook. There are already 5 Harry Potter applications with a total adoption of close to 100,000 users and growing fast. In the Harry Potter spirit I decided to do a brief overview of the various applications that are currently being offered.

• The first application up for review is the Harry Potter Voldemorts horcruxes application. This application is pretty simple. It is just a poll that asks “What objects do you think are Voldemort’s horcruxes?” The current options are Gryffindor’s sword, Harry’s scar, Hermione, the Sorting Hat and Slytherin’s locket. I have to be honest, I have no idea what any of this means even though I’ve seen all the Harry Potter movies. If you want to take a stab at guessing Voldemorts horcruxes go grab the application.
• The next application is developed by Watercooler Inc. Watercooler has been pumping out a bunch of applications for fans of various TV shows and movies (basically anything worthy of watercooler conversation). The application features pictures, news, links and quotes pertaining to Harry Potter. If you want to have a pretty thorough overview of everything pertaining to the upcoming movie, go grab the Watercooler Harry Potter application.
• The Harry Potter application (unique name right?) is another simple app. All there is to it is a way to submit quotes and participate in discussion. That’s all there is. I tried out this application and had a horrible experience. Every time I went to the application it showed the “invite your friends” page and if you click “Skip” it goes to your profile. While they have a lot of work to be done on this application, close to 33,000 people have added this application. Pretty darn impressive given that the application sucks. Oh well! If you like following the wisdom of crowds, go grab the Harry Potter application.
• The fourth application is straight forward. Add this application and you get a huge poster on your profile that says you are a Harry Potter fan. If you are a huge fan and want the badge to prove it, go grab the Harry Potter fan application.
• I’ve decided to save the best for last. This viral application created by Mekin Maheshwari and Jyothirmayee JT is an easy way to cast spells on your friends. Just like David Gentzel’s Happy Hour application, this application requires that you invite 5 of your friends prior to using the application. Once you have invited your friends you are given a list of Harry Potter spells that you can cast on your friends. I’m assuming that they are notified once you cast the spell and need to add the application in order to view what spell you cast. This application has almost 50,000 users in a matter of days. I’m sure it will grow quickly given the viral component. If you want to cast spells on your friends, go check out the Harry Potter Magic Spells application.

So those are the Harry Potter applications currently on Facebook. While a few of them weren’t that robust, a couple are pretty viral. As usual, there are a few apps that just aren’t that great but that’s now a fact of life on Facebook. If you are a big Harry Potter fan then I recommend checking out the applications.

Want to get something off your chest without anyone knowing who you are? The Post Secrets application has successfully mimicked the insanely popular blog, PostSecret. This is one idea that is easily transferable into a Facebook application. I think this application will become really popular. As of now there are only 171 people using the application but this will surely grow. Last night I browsed through a number of people’s secrets and some were quite entertaining. A few of them were directly ripped off of the PostSecret site, but many others were not. One of the best features is the feedback component. When someone leaves a secret, people can anonymously post feedback. Pretty cool! The only feature that I think should be added to this is the ability to post images. The PostSecret blog is known for the creativity of the people submitting postcards. They spend a fair amount of time doing the design. With this application there is only text. Aside from that, I think this is a great application and think it will turn out to be one of the more popular apps in the long-run. Who knows though, my predictions aren’t always the most accurate. If you want to post your own secrets to Facebook or want to read other people’s secrets, go grab the Post Secrets application.

Ever dream about one day having a huge aquarium filled with exotic fish? Dream no more! You can now have your own virtual aquarium to show off on your Facebook page. Greg Thomson has created an extremely viral application that combines your personal aquarium with a popularity contest. You are given a daily allowance to spend on fish for your friends. This is practically the same as the My Garden application that I previously reviewed. Not really a surprise though given that it was developed by the same developer. Both of Greg Thomson’s applications are currently among the most viral applications on Facebook. I guess a good lesson learned here is if you have figured out an effective way for creating a viral application, change the face and do it again. If you prefer fish to flowers go grab the My Aquarium application.

In the spirit of the summer I decided to pick a random application related to the beach. Also, I’m going to the beach this weekend so I thought I’d pick something beach related. Unfortunately there was only one application that showed up when I searched the term “beach” in the application directory. Zack Coburn, who has developed a number of other applications in the directory, has also made this simple app. All the application does is allow you to pass the ball from user to user. It also tracks who has touched the ball. Currently the application doesn’t seem to be working. This brings up an important issue that I have been witnessing on a reoccurring basis. Apparently there are no requirements for getting your application approved in the application directory aside from you having 3 pages: a canvas page, application addition page, and application removal page. I would think that Facebook would want stricter requirements but apparently they don’t! If you want to pass around the beach ball, go grab the Beach Ball application. Don’t add it yet though because the application doesn’t seem to be working properly. Hopefully Zack can iron out all the bugs quickly.

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