Facebook Adds Applications

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For a while MySpace had the social networking scene completely dominated, but it seems Facebook wasn’t prepared to take it lying down. In the last few month Facebook has been rolling out a series of updates, the first of which was to open the site to all users instead of select colleges. While opening the site creates a wider user base current members protested the change afraid that it would ruin everything they loved about Facebook.

There was also a stir about the addition of a news feed which shows what changes users have made to their profiles, and comments left on other user’s walls. While there were concerns about privacy the feeds do allow you to “hide” items which means that they won’t be seen on your profile or by other users.

The most recent changes though have been the addition of a Facebook marketplace, a sort of Craigslist type board within Facebook itself, where users can buy/sell items, or look for work. Creating an easy way for people to make money using the site. In the last week Facebook has also activated and added dozens of applications which allow users to listen to clips from the favorite songs (iLike), let others know which movies they like to see (Flixter), share files (Box), etc.

While there’s already a variety of applications there’s still plenty of room for innovation, and saavy companies would do well to create applications now while users are still exploring the offerings, and before they’ve had time to become loyal to any in particular. Creating a Facebook application is a GREAT way to get traffic to your site, and introduce yourself to a young tech saavy market.

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