Online Media Cultist

Almost everyone who has ever touched a computer has heard of MySpace. My suspicion is that Facebook, by all accounts now the second most popular social networking site on the planet, is somewhat lesser known.

But this may not be the case in a few years’ time. A Wall Street Journal piece profiles Facebook’s ambitious plans to grow into a portal of sorts by allowing companies to build their own “special pages” within Facebook’s platform.

The impetus behind this goal is to give Facebook users more reason to stick around the site while letting outside companies do the work of installing new in-site services. Tony Hung of Deep Jive Interests calls this opening of “special services” pages “reverse-API.” Tony also asks if this move is “ballsiness or genius” and concludes that it’s a little bit of both.

It’s certainly a new direction in terms of the current state of the social networking-sphere. Right now the trend is with widgets, third-party applications that users can install into their profile pages. My guess is that the companies that build special services pages for Facebook will have to compete in the same crowded widget market that so many other players are competing in right now.

In other words, people use social networks – at least at present – to meet others, communicate, check out bands, and “trick out” their profile to their liking. The user experience runs through the profile pages. Therefore, the special pages people had better be pretty special, or Facebook users will not be compelled to leave their flirting and music listening to check them out.

Steve O’Hear writes: “If Facebook can find the right balance and truly embrace outside services in a way that profits all parties, then this could add significant value for its users through the addition of new and innovative services — and further position the social network as a very different proposition to MySpace.”

And Between the Lines notes that Facebook is adding 100,000 users each day, which is crazy-sick growth.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 21st, 2007 at 11:03 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: facebook, social networking, widgets