Facebook took a step today to increase the cross-pollination between the more than 40,000 social apps built on top of its platform. Those apps are written in Facebook Markup Language (FBML, it is Facebook’s version of HTML). FBML has something called “tags” which call up Facebook content inside each app. Now app developers can add “custom tags” to expose their own content to other app developers, and thus spread it programmatically. Some examples include adding playlists from iLike to other apps, a badge from Causes, or a list of the most popular books from Visual Bookshelf.
The Facebook Blog has more details:
If you’ve built an application with a lot of rich content, and you want to extend its reach and share that content with other Platform applications, create some custom tags and share this content with the community. Custom tags are easy to use and are a great way for you to extend your application’s distribution.
There is no need for app developers to reinvent the wheel if other apps have already gathered great content and data that can be used in an existing app. For instance, if music isn’t central to an app, why not just add it from iLike? It might make iLike more popular, but it also lets other developers piggyback on all the work that iLike’s has already done. And by presenting iLike’s playlists in a new context, maybe mixed and matched with elements from other apps, in the end you have a whole new app.
Just a quick question: since the redesign, does anyone care about Facebook apps? I think I may have a music or video playing app on there, but most are spammy crap. Of course, the Whopper Sacrifice app is incredible.
Answer your own questions much?
He didn’t answer his own question, he gave an example relating to his question.
Perhaps *you* don’t care about Facebook apps anymore… You can liken Facebook apps to the web itself… most of it is “spammy crap”, but the good stuff rises to the top, is useful as hell, and is here to stay a while.
Facebook and its apps would be more useful if they weren’t closed to the rest of the web and to other social networks.
This would be awesome, if like you know, I didn’t have to dig through three fourths the apps to find a good one…
Good applications are most commonly not found by browsing but by recommendations from friends. There are also some fun and valuable applications out there today which are branded and therefore don’t have the annoying mix-match of advertisements which look like valid facebook functions embedded within it.
This is some good and well-needed innovation by Facebook. Seems in general like facebook apps are dying, but this should help boost the app market by having developers collaborating amongst eachother.
Peter Epstein
http://www.thew...ar.com/facebook
This sounds interesting, especially to leverage and use the content of well developed apps.
Here is a cool website to create personalized avatars with your own face for facebook, myspace etc. Check it out http://www.trutoon.com
They should stop dicking around with their Mickey-Mouse App feature and start figuring out a revenue model.
I have a question: does anyone still care about Facebook ?
I love how Facebook is obsessed with perfecting their App feature.
Bear in mind this feature brings in no revenue to them, nor is it central to their business.
I mean seriously, are 150 million people registered with Facebook because of the amazing 3rd party Apps they host?
Why don’t they start taking themselves seriously are build a revenue model? They’re acting like they have 40 billion dollars in the bank and are churning a hefty profit year in and year out and have all the time in the world to make these poop-bit alterations to perfect the site.
I think this is a step in the right direction, because who really has time to use, let alone keep track of all the apps out there? I can’t wait till the time comes when all you have is 4 or 5 main apps (Blog, Photo, Video, Chat, etc.) that have the ability to add more features by plugging in other apps. Sub-apps if you will.
Anyone want to create an app to keep track of all my apps? lol.
Heh, I think it’s a step in the wrong direction…for the Web as a whole. I think it makes sense for Facebook, but I’m a little scared that they’re reinventing (and making proprietary) the entire Web, one piece at a time.
FB Apps (with FBML, FBJS, etc.) were the start. Up next was FB Connect (instead of OpenID). Now, this tag-swapping stuff is eerily similar to the mashups you see everywhere else (like Twitter apps).
Concentrating all this development effort around Facebook really bothers me. They’ve shown time and again that they’re willing to change all the rules at a moment’s notice, breaking existing apps and leaving developers out in the cold.
Are you really comparing FB Connect to OpenID? From implementation to experience to identity control Facebook Connect trumps “OpenID” in every conceivable way. Facebook is a utility, a place where normal people build a normal network and conduct normal activity around their normal lives… OpenID is a geeky sausage fest with no clear direction, leadership, or mainstream utility. Nobody is able to go to “OpenID” and create a profile, a friend-list, etc… the whole “Open” movement is a joke behind the scenes… none of those people give a fuck about openness… it’s nothing but an ego-train and it will eventually derail, leaving anyone who relied on the “Open” infrastructure just as ass-out as some 2 bit developer who violated FB terms of use and paid the price. Were Facebook as “Open” as 112 geeks (yourself likely included) demanded it should be then 140 Million people would have their private lives spewed all over the web in a matter of seconds. 112 vs 140,000,000 … hmmm… all of a sudden it’s a no-brainer, eh?
I agree with most of what you said (except the part about custom tags being like Twitter apps), but that little, seemingly-innocuous aside you threw in about OpenID was quite worthy of a rant.
Micah
I agree with you.
The Elephant in the room
If you are an Open Source Developer or Content creator (If you are a member of either service you are a content creator) you should not use Facebook.
By using Facebook you are essentially raising the value of their company and their application Facebook is a closed source content silos that does not allow you to control the content that you create.
Facebook does not put the content creator/members at the top of their pyramids when thinking about revenue models. Facebook puts their Facebook first above the members and communities that have given them value and revenue.
If you are a developer you may be able to make some money by creating applications for Facebook ; but I do not believe that Facebook will ever allow your application to eat into their user base or their revenue. Because Facebook is a closed source companies that have the ability to literally cut you off by changing the code/api or by using their proprietary knowledge to build an application that you can not possibly compete with.
As a coder understand that when you build and extend Facebooks propitiatory platforms that you undermine the longevity of the Open Internet.
Content owners and Developers do not help closed source companies (Facebook) in their goal of creating another closed source content trap that will extract hundreds of Millions on dollars from their member and developer communities and give nothing back in return.
http://www.facepink.com – the free facebook sex social netwok
Can someone explain to me why this is better than just using an fb:ref tag?
The Elephant in the room
If you are an Open Source Developer or Content creator (If you are a member of either service you are a content creator) you should not use Facebook.
By using Facebook you are essentially raising the value of their company and their application Facebook is a closed source content silos that does not allow you to control the content that you create.
Facebook does not put the content creator/members at the top of their pyramids when thinking about revenue models. Facebook puts their Facebook first above the members and communities that have given them value and revenue.
If you are a developer you may be able to make some money by creating applications for Facebook ; but I do not believe that Facebook will ever allow your application to eat into their user base or their revenue. Because Facebook is a closed source companies that have the ability to literally cut you off by changing the code/api or by using their proprietary knowledge to build an application that you can not possibly compete with.
As a coder understand that when you build and extend Facebooks propitiatory platforms that you undermine the longevity of the Open Internet.
Content owners and Developers do not help closed source companies (Facebook) in their goal of creating another closed source content trap that will extract hundreds of Millions on dollars from their member and developer communities and give nothing back in return.
With this kind of “mindset” facebook is going to grow faster and make the app developers’ job easier.
this is cool…