7 ms·

Facebook's killer app is here. No, it's Not places.

74 points by luxative 16y ago

loup-vaillant 16y ago
Scary. That's centralization to a degree I hardly imagine. I hope this will fail.
- sz 16y ago
  I don't think this is really centralization. Just another avenue for advertising. For example, even if (less mainstream) bands generally use a Myspace URL as their web presence, Myspace doesn't necessarily control the music industry. I find the Facebook-controlled universal login much more unsettling, personally.
- angstrom 16y ago
  I wouldn't expect failure unless people are extolling the almost certain exponential growth of user base. Where are the numbers on stagnant users? I have 4 very close friends that I would rather update via email or IM simply because I don't really care for the opinions of some people on my friends list and keeping track of that is a waste of time.
- mortenjorck 16y ago
  What Apple has become to mobile software, Facebook is becoming to business web presence. For better or worse.
heinel 16y ago
Old news. Though if fan pages really took off with places like suggested then time is really running out for Google Me. Unless there's some super cool feature that really blows Facebook out of the water, but it is hard to imagine how anything could be.
dlsspy 16y ago
I've been noticing this trend as well. I commented to a friend recently, “Remember when there was more than one web page?”
- chunkyslink 16y ago
  Yea me too. As someone who doesn't have a Facebook account I notice it a lot. I have actually started removing sites from my favourites list that are peppered with Facebook widgets. I just don't visit them anymore. There is still plenty of choice out there but stuff is slowly morphing into Facebook.
  - alttab 16y ago
    I've seen plenty of commercials with: facebook.com/myproduct as their URL. Crazy shit.
johns 16y ago
This is just the latest revision of AOL Keywords. How did that work out for them?
- Supermighty 16y ago
  This is just the latest revision of MySpace pages too.
  - city41 16y ago
    Except a major difference is Facebook has proven they are very talented and capable of making really well designed, easy to use and relatively bug free apps. Myspace could not even come close to pulling that off.
- iamelgringo 16y ago
  20 years after they were a startup, they made $400M in profit on revenue of $3.2B last year. I'm not saying those are sexy numnbers, but they're not exactly shabby, either.
  - johns 16y ago
    They don't control the web though. So it's significant, but not as dire as the article implies it will be.
rfugger 16y ago
I personally don't see the appeal of Facebook pages. The only function I can see of "liking" any of these pages is to give Facebook more information so they can try to sell you more stuff.
- sz 16y ago
  The appeal to businesses is clear. The appeal to users could be social ("What brands do I associate myself with?") or promotion-related ("Become our 1,000,000th fan and get this free thing!", "Facebook-exclusive discount!"). Also I don't think Facebook lets you put in bio information (favorite movies, etc.) anymore without it linking to a page.
  - edanm 16y ago
    The contest-related stuff is a big reason, I suspect - I'm in a contest now with a team of people, where the team with the most "likes" clicked through them on to a company website is given an Ipad each (8 members). Believe me, we're doing a good job advertising the company for them :)
    - luxative 16y ago
      Interestingly, for all these competitions, the iPad seems the undisputed motivator these days!
      - edanm 16y ago
        Maybe because it's something a lot of people do want, but can't justify getting for themselves (I already have a laptop, I don't really need an Ipad). Or maybe just 'cause it's the shiniest new toy around :)
      - glhaynes 16y ago
        An apartment complex near me is having an iPad giveaway, replacing their Wii giveaway.
  - nanairo 16y ago
edanm 16y ago
Personally, I think Facebook's killer app is that it fixed email. For a huge population, email never worked very well, mostly since they had to find out someone else's email to talk to them. Facebook fixes this completely for any personal email use - all your real-life friends are friends on Facebook. I'm guessing a huge percentage of personal mail has moved from email to Facebook messages - does anyone have any data about this by any chance?
- nanairo 16y ago
  Sad but I've got the same impression. The scariest bit for me is that people with whom I was exchanging emails, are now sending me FB messages instead. That is to say they already have my email address, it's there probably memorised in their email app, and yet they use FB. That's one scary power FB got there. Suddenly email is not open anymore. (Though I don't blame FB for it: they did business, didn't force it down anyone's throat).
  - sprout 16y ago
    What scares me is the other week I sent a Facebook message that should have been an email, largely because a different friend in the same social circle had sent me a Facebook message on a similar subject. It's really hard to use Facebook without it taking total control of your social interaction.
    - StavrosK 16y ago
      Use Opera, some things on Facebook break and then you'll prefer email rather than launching another browser. Works for me!
      - edanm 16y ago
        First time I've seen someone recommend a browser because things don't work in it! :)
        16y ago
DougBTX 16y ago
Facebook, the most visited site in the US, has only just now found it's killer app?
- nanairo 16y ago
  Did you read the article? The whole point is that they had already found it (or so claims the author). It's the author that just now realised.
InACloud 16y ago
FACT CHECK: 500 million users is over 25% of the world's online population. Actually, the last time I checked http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html shows the world population at 6.8billion. So 500 million would only be 7% of the worlds population. Impressive, but nowhere near 25%.
- dagw 16y ago
  Not everybody in the world is online, and thus not part of the worlds online population.
- dhimes 16y ago
  Don't forget the word "online" in the original statement.
- luxative 16y ago
  Online population: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (approx 2 billion)
kasunh 16y ago
All true only if organizational default url becomes their fb fan page and that is not likely to happen
chrisbaglieri 16y ago
When combined with Places, Pages becomes a significantly more compelling platform. For business owners it becomes a more vibrant and useful set of data. For consumers, it becomes more real time and as a result more social. For developers, it becomes a more interesting data set to build upon. This excerpt from GigaOM (http://gigaom.com/2010/08/20/facebook-places-the-real-target-is-yelp/ http://gigaom.com/2010/08/20/facebook-places-the-real-target...) was telling: We’re hearing that Facebook is pouring resources into pitching the Places feature as a tool for local businesses in dozens of markets, by approaching individual store-owners and business people and selling them on the idea of setting up a Places page for their location. According to Facebook’s description of the new feature, anyone can create a page for a place, but businesses can claim their page — by responding to a phone call from a Facebook representative, or by uploading some kind of official documentation that proves they have the right to that location.
jonknee 16y ago
MySpace band pages were the rage a few years ago. Times change. The MySpace pages at least provided value for both sides--you could hear the music and the bands could let you know about shows. Most business pages I've seen on Facebook are one sided in that the fan gets nothing out of it other than letting all their friends know what corporation they are a "fan" of.
- city41 16y ago
  That's not really true. Bands can, and do, use Facebook pages as effectively as they used Myspace pages. You can include audio, tour dates, etc on Facebook pages quite easily. In fact it's my sole means of finding out when/where my favorite bands are touring now. Facebook pages are even better, because this can apply to anything, not just bands. I also get informed of the latest Abstruse Goose, updates to favorite iPhone apps, etc, all through Facebook. It's just up to the owner of the page to use it effectively.
- masterj 16y ago
  It really depends on the business. There are a couple of local businesses here that I follow: a liquor store, a crepe cart, a coffee shop, etc. They all regularly post with specials, events, new dishes/type of coffee/beer, etc. YMMV, but knowing that I can pick up grilled fig, honey and goat cheese crepes on the way to work tomorrow is pretty cool in my book. Though I imagine most pages are not quite so well utilized. These are all small, local businesses.

74 points by luxative 16y ago

loup-vaillant 16y ago

Scary. That's centralization to a degree I hardly imagine. I hope this will fail.

sz 16y ago
I don't think this is really centralization. Just another avenue for advertising. For example, even if (less mainstream) bands generally use a Myspace URL as their web presence, Myspace doesn't necessarily control the music industry. I find the Facebook-controlled universal login much more unsettling, personally.
angstrom 16y ago
I wouldn't expect failure unless people are extolling the almost certain exponential growth of user base. Where are the numbers on stagnant users? I have 4 very close friends that I would rather update via email or IM simply because I don't really care for the opinions of some people on my friends list and keeping track of that is a waste of time.
mortenjorck 16y ago
What Apple has become to mobile software, Facebook is becoming to business web presence. For better or worse.

heinel 16y ago

Old news. Though if fan pages really took off with places like suggested then time is really running out for Google Me. Unless there's some super cool feature that really blows Facebook out of the water, but it is hard to imagine how anything could be.

dlsspy 16y ago

I've been noticing this trend as well. I commented to a friend recently, “Remember when there was more than one web page?”

chunkyslink 16y ago
Yea me too. As someone who doesn't have a Facebook account I notice it a lot. I have actually started removing sites from my favourites list that are peppered with Facebook widgets. I just don't visit them anymore. There is still plenty of choice out there but stuff is slowly morphing into Facebook.
- alttab 16y ago
  I've seen plenty of commercials with: facebook.com/myproduct as their URL. Crazy shit.

johns 16y ago

This is just the latest revision of AOL Keywords. How did that work out for them?

Supermighty 16y ago
This is just the latest revision of MySpace pages too.
- city41 16y ago
  Except a major difference is Facebook has proven they are very talented and capable of making really well designed, easy to use and relatively bug free apps. Myspace could not even come close to pulling that off.
iamelgringo 16y ago
20 years after they were a startup, they made $400M in profit on revenue of $3.2B last year. I'm not saying those are sexy numnbers, but they're not exactly shabby, either.
- johns 16y ago
  They don't control the web though. So it's significant, but not as dire as the article implies it will be.

rfugger 16y ago

I personally don't see the appeal of Facebook pages. The only function I can see of "liking" any of these pages is to give Facebook more information so they can try to sell you more stuff.

sz 16y ago
The appeal to businesses is clear. The appeal to users could be social ("What brands do I associate myself with?") or promotion-related ("Become our 1,000,000th fan and get this free thing!", "Facebook-exclusive discount!"). Also I don't think Facebook lets you put in bio information (favorite movies, etc.) anymore without it linking to a page.
- edanm 16y ago
  The contest-related stuff is a big reason, I suspect - I'm in a contest now with a team of people, where the team with the most "likes" clicked through them on to a company website is given an Ipad each (8 members). Believe me, we're doing a good job advertising the company for them :)
  - luxative 16y ago
    Interestingly, for all these competitions, the iPad seems the undisputed motivator these days!
    - edanm 16y ago
      Maybe because it's something a lot of people do want, but can't justify getting for themselves (I already have a laptop, I don't really need an Ipad). Or maybe just 'cause it's the shiniest new toy around :)
    - glhaynes 16y ago
      An apartment complex near me is having an iPad giveaway, replacing their Wii giveaway.
- nanairo 16y ago

edanm 16y ago

Personally, I think Facebook's killer app is that it fixed email. For a huge population, email never worked very well, mostly since they had to find out someone else's email to talk to them. Facebook fixes this completely for any personal email use - all your real-life friends are friends on Facebook. I'm guessing a huge percentage of personal mail has moved from email to Facebook messages - does anyone have any data about this by any chance?

nanairo 16y ago
Sad but I've got the same impression. The scariest bit for me is that people with whom I was exchanging emails, are now sending me FB messages instead. That is to say they already have my email address, it's there probably memorised in their email app, and yet they use FB. That's one scary power FB got there. Suddenly email is not open anymore. (Though I don't blame FB for it: they did business, didn't force it down anyone's throat).
- sprout 16y ago
  What scares me is the other week I sent a Facebook message that should have been an email, largely because a different friend in the same social circle had sent me a Facebook message on a similar subject. It's really hard to use Facebook without it taking total control of your social interaction.
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    Use Opera, some things on Facebook break and then you'll prefer email rather than launching another browser. Works for me!
    - edanm 16y ago
      First time I've seen someone recommend a browser because things don't work in it! :)
      - 16y ago

DougBTX 16y ago

Facebook, the most visited site in the US, has only just now found it's killer app?

nanairo 16y ago
Did you read the article? The whole point is that they had already found it (or so claims the author). It's the author that just now realised.

InACloud 16y ago

FACT CHECK: 500 million users is over 25% of the world's online population. Actually, the last time I checked http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html shows the world population at 6.8billion. So 500 million would only be 7% of the worlds population. Impressive, but nowhere near 25%.

dagw 16y ago
Not everybody in the world is online, and thus not part of the worlds online population.
dhimes 16y ago
Don't forget the word "online" in the original statement.
luxative 16y ago
Online population: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (approx 2 billion)

kasunh 16y ago

All true only if organizational default url becomes their fb fan page and that is not likely to happen

chrisbaglieri 16y ago

When combined with Places, Pages becomes a significantly more compelling platform. For business owners it becomes a more vibrant and useful set of data. For consumers, it becomes more real time and as a result more social. For developers, it becomes a more interesting data set to build upon. This excerpt from GigaOM (http://gigaom.com/2010/08/20/facebook-places-the-real-target-is-yelp/ http://gigaom.com/2010/08/20/facebook-places-the-real-target...) was telling: We’re hearing that Facebook is pouring resources into pitching the Places feature as a tool for local businesses in dozens of markets, by approaching individual store-owners and business people and selling them on the idea of setting up a Places page for their location. According to Facebook’s description of the new feature, anyone can create a page for a place, but businesses can claim their page — by responding to a phone call from a Facebook representative, or by uploading some kind of official documentation that proves they have the right to that location.

jonknee 16y ago

MySpace band pages were the rage a few years ago. Times change. The MySpace pages at least provided value for both sides--you could hear the music and the bands could let you know about shows. Most business pages I've seen on Facebook are one sided in that the fan gets nothing out of it other than letting all their friends know what corporation they are a "fan" of.

city41 16y ago
That's not really true. Bands can, and do, use Facebook pages as effectively as they used Myspace pages. You can include audio, tour dates, etc on Facebook pages quite easily. In fact it's my sole means of finding out when/where my favorite bands are touring now. Facebook pages are even better, because this can apply to anything, not just bands. I also get informed of the latest Abstruse Goose, updates to favorite iPhone apps, etc, all through Facebook. It's just up to the owner of the page to use it effectively.
masterj 16y ago
It really depends on the business. There are a couple of local businesses here that I follow: a liquor store, a crepe cart, a coffee shop, etc. They all regularly post with specials, events, new dishes/type of coffee/beer, etc. YMMV, but knowing that I can pick up grilled fig, honey and goat cheese crepes on the way to work tomorrow is pretty cool in my book. Though I imagine most pages are not quite so well utilized. These are all small, local businesses.