I've been using Facebook for about 7 weeks and the love affair isn't dimming. It's still as addictive as ever but is now taking on a more businessy feel. I've previously mentioned Zoho on Facebook and yes, I am using it. It's a bit limiting but we'll see how it improves over time.
Post a Message
Jeremiah Owyang ponders whether the 'Post a Message' (PaM) application could be a replacement for email. I think so for certain types of communication. Most of the communications I have with people in my network are conducted using one of Twitter, Skype or PaM. FB provides me with a means to know when people are online. That makes it easy for me to communicate with them. It's made doubly easy because I have installed Growl (only for Mac) which provides event notifications for things like FB updates.
For example this evening, a person in the US with whom I am currently contracting updated their profile. I happened to know they'd been on holiday and was able to let them know I'd received the contract and would have it posted back tomorrow. An answer came flying back in less than a minute.
Jeremiah references Jason Hammond who gives 5 reasons why PaM is a killer application:
1. Permanence
2. Spam Blocking
3. Space Savings
4. It's E-mail (plus)
5. It's Also The Phone Book
Google Reader Shared Items
Then this evening, Robert Scoble talked enthusiastically about Google Reader + Facebook Application = Digg Killer. I'm less sure about that. Digg has virtually no impact on my site but I sense that's because Digg seems overly populated by geeks and those who follow US politics. But...the FB Google Reader Shared Items application is truly awesome.
It allows me to see my shared Google items, which Robert calls his linkblog, plus those of other Facebookers in my network plus the most popular from the last 12, 24 or 48 hours or week. Robert reports that:
More than 220 of my almost 3,000 friends already have added Mario's Facebook application to their profile. Imagine the data if everyone started doing a shared feed from Google Reader and added Mario's app to their profile!
Robert's post has generated a LOT of interest in this little app from Mexico because according to Appoholic, it has gone into a vertical climb. Why is this useful? As Robert notes, I'm already finding new sources I didn't know about before and adding them to my own Google Reader account. It is also encouraging me to share more items.
In recent times, I've used the Share on Facebook bookmarklet because it allows me to post a comment on shared items which Google Reader doesn't. If Google Reader would do that then this FB app becomes a potential del.icio.us killer and I can get rid of del.icio.us (which I'm not really using these days) and the share Facebook bookmarklet. That would tidy up my life a little.
Sampa Site
Finally there is SampaSite. This is (another) blog platform only this can be embedded into FB and used like any other blog but from inside FB. I like the concept but somehow I don't think Sampa will catch on except for very limited purposes. Sampa is just way too small to make an impact in a world that is dominated by Wordpress, SixApart and the awful Blogger. I'm wondering why none of these companies hasn't thought of doing something similar. You can argue that the FB Flog app fulfills more or less the same purpose because that allows you to automatically post your blog entries into your FB profile. Nevertheless, I wish Sampa well in their efforts though I'll likely kill the app before long.
The future?
I've no idea. There's no doubt in my mind that we need to see more by way of business style applications built for FB for it to get onto the business person's radar. In that, I feel the Ning integration holds particular promise. I can for example see a natural fit between the network capabilities Ning offers and FB for things like instructional video. Similarly, I can see application for financial systems populating aggregated data. Where's Mike McDerment when you need him?
For me though the best thing that could happen to FB is a re-ordering in the way content is displayed in my Profile. It's great to see what's happening in my network but when I look at my profile page, it's a mess. the timeline approach to updates is way too limiting. I'd prefer a Netvibes approach which I think is way more sensible, better looking and gives me far more control. Even so, unlike Vinnie, who is still scratching his head on FB, I'm sticking with it and pushing its usage for all it is worth.
Technorati Tags: facebook, scoble, zoho
Innovation
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