A couple more interesting developments since Facebook opened its platform to 3rd party developers:
- On top of the 100,000 new users joining each day, there are 1,000 new developers getting invovled each day (community now tops 38,000) - mostly guys in their spare bedrooms and garages I suppose.
- Larger companies are starting to buy the applications created by these developers
Great artle here from Read/Write Webabout this phenomenon.
Here’s a little excerpt:
The top 25 applications alone collectively reach over 55 million users (though, obviously with a good deal of overlap). Because these apps have yet to make any money, and whether that will be possible remains an unanswered question, these acquisitions are about the users or the developers.
Conclusion
So will Facebook acquisitions continue? I think that’s probably highly likely. With more than 38,000 developers already using the Facebook Developer app (which helps you create applications for the platform), buying popular apps is a good way for companies looking to get into the Facebook ecosystem to screen developers. And with the Facebook platform continuing to grow in popularity among its rapidly expanding user base, it seems inevitable that companies will try to buy their way to the top, especially given the relatively cheap price of purchasing Facebook apps (Favorite Peeps, for example, was had for only just over US 4 cents per user).
Also check out this blurb on Paid Content
The magitude and velocity of Facebook and MySpace makes me feel like the 98 pound weakling. Our MyColts application will never reach that scale on its own. On the other hand, neither of these mega social nets can offer everything (to the avid Colts fan) that MyColts can offer. This flurry of activity is causing me to re-think, yet again, the ways we can tighten our focus on the online Colts fan experience. We have to be the best at that if we hope to attract any sort of community.
Meanwhile, if NFL rules didn’t prohibit us from developing on Facebook / MySpace, I’d say we would have to be there. Why wouldn’t we? It’s crazy that we’re prohibited from having a presence on any site but our own. I’m hoping this rule will get changed - soon - before they start kicking sand in our faces.
Are there rules against MySpace or Facebook users developing their own links into MyColts? Even the NFL can’t have that kind of jurisdiction.
People can link to our page, but we can’t put our trademarks (logos) on those sites.
LinkedIn recently released a Facebook app. I think that’s a very good move… rather than try to compete with another Social Network, the real question is how can you integrate with them? What kind of Facebook App can The Colts build that would enable them to display their MyColts favorites/blog posts/groups in Facebook?
I would love to see a MyColts.net Facebook App that leverages the best of both worlds.
Doug - why not slap together a concept for me this weekend??