3 points by amichail 2 days ago | link Why is it so important that users explicitly invite their friends to use an application?
Isn't it enough that the application shows up on the user's news feed?
I think the main reason that recent applications are not getting as many users is simply because there are now quite a lot of applications and users are sick of trying everything that comes along -- particularly as most of them are not very good.
1 point by bilbo0s 2 days ago | link Because a prompt screen with that question is coming . . .
and the default will be NO.
At least let's hope it is a prompt, Facebook may simply choose to disable it.
There is a perfect storm right now of too many user complaints about application spam, competitors like Hi5 and numerous others circling, and a desire to go public without an ability to do it until the requisite time has past. A lot can happen in that time frame. I think we can expect Facebook to do whatever their user base asks them to do. Why? Because if those user metrics dip at all prior to the exit attempt they are screwed.
2 points by ntoshev 2 days ago | link Who you know is not that great predictor of what you like. Once the invites get annoying, Facebook should limit them, I think this is obvious. You shouldn't hope they will give you a mechanism to spam and irritate everyone.
1 point by vlad 2 days ago | link I think it makes sense that first comers will have special benefits, and those who don't release fast enough will probably face some kind of restrictions. It's the same way for everyone.
On the other hand, apparently some companies had facebook api BETA access for weeks or months in advance to prepare for this.
If all companies had to race to build a product right away, I don't see why it's unfair for facebook to change the way things work after a month into it. But since some already had apps that were ready, it does seem to be very unfair.
1 point by joshwa 2 days ago | link Facebook is way ahead of MySpace when it comes the extent of the integration they offer, but they still have a long ways to go when it comes to the transparency of policy changes and managing their relationship to the developer community.
1 point by Harj 2 days ago | link well if you can opt out of having applications appear in your news feed then developers lose out on both friend invites and news feed growth - both of which apps such as ilike/slide had access to.
i think that's the point of the article - you can still use fb as a viral platform, it's just as viral for new apps as it is for the more established start ups.
2 points by joshwa 2 days ago | link Actually the one thing you can't turn off in your news feed is to receive app notifications. The person who adds the app can turn of sending them, but I can't turn off the flood of app messages in my incoming news feed.
Also, even if you disable the ability for the app to publish items in the news feed, it still publishes the add/remove notification. You have to remove that one manually.
As a user, the cluttering of the news feed is my biggest frustration with the new platform--- I don't care if all my friends add this junk, but I should be able to opt out of the messages with the news feed sliders.
