Facebook Apps Facing Delays and Uncertainties

NewsCloud writes "After reading about the Facebook platform launch, I spent the next week learning the API and building my application. Facebook's platform has been pretty successful despite complaints of poor documentation, instability and outcries over its application approval process. I've been waiting two weeks for my application to be approved for their directory and had my account disabled (temporarily) after I invited a large number of colleagues. While I'm impressed with the potential of the platform, the experience has made me more concerned about the lack of transparency in privately held social networks and the risks we take as developers when we invest time in a company's platform. Facebook's home page advertises itself as "a social utility that connects you with the people around you." My concern with Facebook is that there's no one regulating the utility."

Re:back in the day....

[Anonymous Coward]

Contrary to my space junk, facebook applications do not load automatically. It's always necessary to have an action from the user.

It's nothing like my space, that when you visit a profile you automatically start seeing an annoying slideshow or things like that.

In facebook you've gotta click something, always.
And about the colours, layout, etc, Facebook has done a nice work on keeping concistency, and developpers are following this lead.
The most you gonna get automatically with facebook's apps is some new images and boxes in the profile you're visiting.

That's not at all like myspace.

Re:Missing the point entirely

[Anonymous Coward]

One can hardly brag about X Me as an example of an application successfully using the platform. X Me's method is nothing short of spam. Every time you do anything with X Me, it prompts you to invite every single friend it can fit on a page and does not offer a "no" or "cancel" button. The only way to not invite friends is to click on menu navigation, which, even for me, wasn't very intuitive - it very much seems like you "have to" click on the invite button. And HEY! All of your friends are conveniently already checked for you.

Re:Missing the point entirely

[cyphgenic]

I've seen what these applications have been doing. They add a little more joy to the users that use them. That's not a bad thing.

Also, if you want static facebook pages, you are welcome to create those pages using their API: http://developers.facebook.com/documentation.php [facebook.com]

Their API allows you to re-create in total the facebook of 3 months ago. :-D

Now, what these applications have been doing, the sheer number of them, is degrading facebook's performance. But that's true of a lot of sites that growing exponentially like facebook is.

Also, I've been pretty frustrated with bug fixes. They've been pretty slow and coming but that's part of the aggressive schedule they set for themselves. A developer in Facebook, Ari Steinberg, wished he had another month at launch.

Disclaimer: I've been making facebook applications on their platform since May.