Inside Facebook
Inside Facebook |
- Last Chance for Early Registration for Inside Social Apps InFocus 2011 – January 25th in San Francisco
- Facebook Memories Shows Users a Year by Year Summary of their Activity
- Facebook’s New User Registration Tool for Websites: Implementation Details and Impact
- Facebook Accidentally Pushes New Page Layout, Page Accounts, and Removes Landing Tabs
- CVS Express Photo App Offers 1-Hour Printing and Pickup for Facebook Photos
- Buddy Media University Will Reduce Support Costs by Training Page Management Clients
| Posted: 16 Dec 2010 06:00 PM PST
Inside Social Apps InFocus 2011, our second conference on the future of monetization on social platforms, is happening January 25th in San Francisco. We're excited to see all of the developers and entrepreneurs that are planning to attend! The agenda for Inside Social Apps is now live online. We're also excited to announce 3 new speakers today: Kristian Segarstrale, Founder & CEO of Playfish (now part of EA), Paul Bettner, the new GM of Zynga with Friends (formerly Founder & CEO of the just-acquired Newtoy), and Asokan Thiyagarajan, Director of Mobile Platforms at Samsung. They will be joining our full list of speakers below. Finally, if you’re considering attending Inside Social Apps InFocus 2011, this is your last chance to take advantage of early registration pricing. A limited set of early registration tickets are currently available at the Early Admission price of $299. This price will be good through Friday December 17th only, so we encourage you to register now. Who’s Speaking? At Inside Social Apps InFocus 2011, executives and experts from Facebook, Google, leading social networks, mobile platforms, social game and app developers, media companies, virtual goods and payment services, and investors will be discussing the future of social platforms and virtual goods monetization in social games and apps. We're honored to present the following confirmed speakers at Inside Social Apps InFocus 2011:
Inside Social Apps InFocus 2011 – January 25th in San Francisco Social applications first emerged in 2007, and are today maturing into a global media ecosystem. With the launch of the Facebook Platform, followed by platforms from MySpace and other social networks, developers worldwide could leverage the social graph to create new kinds of social experiences never before possible. Now, three and a half years later, what started out as sheep throwing and vampire biting has quickly become a profitable billion-dollar industry, punctuated by numerous major acquisitions by the world’s leading media companies and developers. But now, new challenges are emerging, affecting big players and new entrants alike. Inside Social Apps will investigate the latest trends and challenges for social applications, and look at what’s to come for developers throughout the space – including the growth of virtual goods and social applications on mobile devices. What are the biggest uncertainties and opportunities facing the future of social games and applications in 2011, and who is leading the way? Inside Social Apps InFocus 2011 takes place January 25th, 2011 at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco, and brings together the world's leading entrepreneurs to weigh in on the future of social app and game monetization. Inside Social Apps will be a one-day summit led by Inside Network’s Eric Eldon and Justin Smith, and will take in-depth investigative approach to the day’s discussions. At Inside Social Apps, Inside Network will work alongside founders and executives of the top social networking, social gaming, mobile social gaming, payments, and virtual goods infrastructure companies to analyze the most important issues affecting the industry. Inside Social Apps is geared towards developers on Facebook, iPhone, Android, and emerging online social platforms. Inside Social Apps will be a content-rich day of critical discussion, followed by an evening and nighttime of casual networking. Register Now
A limited set of "Early Admission" tickets is available through Friday at a special price of $299. This price will change after Friday, and space will be very limited, so we encourage you to register early. From all of us at Inside Network, we hope to see you on January 25th in San Francisco at Inside Social Apps!
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| Facebook Memories Shows Users a Year by Year Summary of their Activity Posted: 16 Dec 2010 05:59 PM PST Facebook users got an early look at a new feature this morning called Memories which lets users browse Facebook activity for each year since they joined. One of the accidentally revealed prototypes, Memories utilizes a navigation bar to lets user jump between years and view counts of each year’s status updates, added friends, Likes, and Events. Details on the product are scarce since it was only up for a few minutes, but we also know a link to a user’s check-ins was temporarily available.
As many Facebook users have now been members for a long time and have built up lots of content and connections, innovative ways to browse this content are both satisfying to users and a good way to increase time-on-site. Facebook recently launched Friendship Pages which display all the mutual content and connections between two friends. While some users thought such a comprehensive and easily accessible view of their relationship with a friend was invasive, all the content was already available, and many others found the product to be enjoyable and a reminder of how Facebook has fostered their friendships. Users opinions on Memories may be similarly split. The link to Memories appears beneath a user’s profile picture alongside links to their tagged photos. Clicking it reveals the navigation bar and that user’s content for one of the years they’ve been a member. Below the bar, users see a grouping of all their photos from the selected year. They can also browse their posted comments, status messages, add friends, and Likes. Memories could shown how a user has grown, or provide a snapshot of the way they wrote and the things they cared about during a certain period of their life. It looks as if users can browse the Memories of any of their friends, though it’s possible that a user can only see their own Memories. One other new navigation link pushed was for Places, which would show a dedicated feed of all of that user’s checkins. This list is only available through third-party apps like PlacePop right now, as the Places link was also rolled back along with Memories. A user’s Facebook content is so compelling, there’s potential to consume it in a variety of formats. Facebook will soon organize content chronologically as well as by the friends who co-own it, while Flipboard shows it big and pretty, PostPost focuses on the non-personal, and Wowd offers custom feeds and story search. Perhaps organization by traditional newspaper section categories such as sports, humor, or technology will be next. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Facebook’s New User Registration Tool for Websites: Implementation Details and Impact Posted: 16 Dec 2010 03:16 PM PST Facebook has officially launched its new “registration tool” for third-party websites. This powerful plugin allows websites to insert a single line of code to create a registration form which pre-populates fields with a user’s Facebook data. We expect widespread adoption of the tool because it will reduce drop off during registration and provide sites with data including a verified email address which has been historically difficult to get users to provide.
Publishers can use the same registration form for users with or without Facebook accounts. A user’s name, email address, birthdate, gender, and current city are automatically filled in if they’re logged in to Facebook, and publishers can ask for additional information not included in the Facebook profile. Since users see and alter the data they’re submitting, unlike with Connect, there is enhanced transparency and trust. Facebook has provided extensive documentation on how the registration tool iframe can be implemented, and an introduction complete with examples.
Connect was first released at the 2008 f8 conference to allow users to login to third-party websites with their Facebook account. The Connect brand was officially retired and the Facebook Login social plugin was released at the 2010 f8. While these prevented users from having to create a separate proprietary account on third-party websites, it still left them looking at a daunting blank login or registration screen. Publishers also had to provide distinct login flows for Facebook and non-Facebook users, with the choice between the two creating a extra step which increased friction and reduced signups. New Registration Flow and ImplementationThe registration tool’s improved flow, which Facebook has documented and diagrammed, solves both of these issues. The Facebook-themed “Register” button publishers display on their sites leads to a single form which doesn’t pre-populate forms if a user doesn’t have a Facebook account. It creates momentum towards registration for logged in users by filling in many or all of the necessary fields, allowing them to quickly begin their Facebook-enhanced experience. The code for a standard iframe of a registration tool is:
And the code for the “Register/Login” button is:
If users aren’t logged in to Facebook when they visit a third-party site, the “Register” button will automatically read “Login”, prompt a user to enter their Facebook credentials, and then send them to the site’s pre-populated registration page. Users see a facepile of their friends who’ve also registered with the site at the bottom of the iframe, encouraging them to sign up.
Publishers are given the flexibility to append additional site-specific custom fields, such as “Favorite Movie” to the registration tool using a JSON string. These fields can use a variety of input methods including typeaheads which tap into an array of Open Graph protocol types, such as for cities. A security captcha can also be easily included. XFBML tags are support through the JavaScript SDK, and information is passed using secure signed requests. By combining reduced friction sign up, support for non-Facebook users, and a social recommendation to join, publishers who implement the new registration tool are likely to see significantly improved sign up rates. FriendFeed, one of the beta partners for the tool where it can be seen in action, has already seen a 300% increase in Facebook sign ups. The registration tool will lead publishers to eliminate their proprietary sign up system, further increasing reliance on Facebook across the web. This in turn could prime third-party sites for integrations with direct monetization implications for Facebook which we speculated could be coming, including off-canvas Facebook Credits and an Open Graph ads plugin. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Facebook Accidentally Pushes New Page Layout, Page Accounts, and Removes Landing Tabs Posted: 16 Dec 2010 02:34 PM PST Today, many Facebook users saw several changes to Pages, most visibly a new layout which moved to the left side the navigation tabs for switching between the wall, info, and other in-house and third-party apps. Other changes included the removal of the option to set a default landing tab, and the added ability for admins to switch between designated accounts for the Pages they control. However, this was an inadvertent push of prototypes, and the site was briefly taken offline to rolled back the changes. New layout:
Old layout:
The rearranged Pages interface functions similarly to the recently redesigned user profiles, Places, and merged Places Pages. All tabs, including third-party tabs, appear in a list of text links below the Page’s picture. The change makes these tabs less prominent, and could reduce the frequency with which users explore tab apps. This could anger Page admins who use Like-gated promotions housed on these tabs to drive growth. The option to set a default landing tab in the Page admin interface was not present in the prototype. Therefore, users would always see the wall, and have to click the new sidebar navigation links to visit other tabs. Many Pages admins set the default landing tabs to show a link to their website, their latest promotional tab app, or the core functionality of their Page. The removal of this option could hurt the Page management industry which charges brands to design these tabs and apps, and slow Page growth due to the loss of potential affinity custom tabs generate. Facebook could have made the change in order to make the user experience more consistent. Admins may be placated by the newfound ability to switch between their primary personal account and Page-specific accounts. This change allows admins to more easily manage multiple Pages, know exactly which account they’re posting as, and post as their personal profile to a Page they control. Previously, admins would sometimes create fake personal accounts and make them admins of different Pages to handle these cases. Facilitating multi-Page management without forcing admins to violate Facebook’s terms of service is important as it becomes more common for professional Page admins to work with multiple brands.
After the changes were pushed and the site was pulled offline, Facebook tweeted, "Facebook is available again after being down for a brief period. We apologize for the inconvenience… Also, some internal prototypes were exposed to people and resulted in us disabling the site briefly. It's now back to normal." This means any of these alterations in functionality could be modified or not rolled out. We would be surprised if Facebook removed the ability to set default landing tabs, as while they do make browsing Facebook less predictable, they increase engagement and inspire Pages to buy ads which point towards them. Still, the layout change which is in keeping with new sidebar navigation layouts for many parts of the site is likely on the horizon. [Thanks to Eti Surazon for the tip] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CVS Express Photo App Offers 1-Hour Printing and Pickup for Facebook Photos Posted: 16 Dec 2010 11:53 AM PST Today, CVS launched its CVS Express Photo App through a tab on its Page. It allows users to choose photos from their Facebook albums and have them printed and available for pickup at their local CVS in an hour. The app creates the fastest and easiest way to get professional prints of Facebook photos, and automatically prevents users from printing when a photo’s resolution is too low.
Facebook users upload more than 3 billion photos a month, many from powerful digital cameras. Only recently, though, did the site add the ability to upload high-resolution photos which are suitable for printing in larger sizes. Several apps and services, such as Gifted, offer to turn a user’s photos in posters, mugs, and mouse pads. Kodak has installed kiosks in Target and CVS stores which allow users to log in and print their Facebook photos. However, standing at a kiosk and waiting for printing to finish is a much less enjoyable experience than this new applications which lets users choose photo packages from the comfort of their homes.
Users can select from their photo albums or tagged photos, choose sizes that aren’t marked as too large, and use a store locator to find a local CVS to pick up the photos from. Each 4×6 inch print is $0.19, cheaper than $0.25 single prints available from the Kodak kiosks, though Kodak does offer discounts on large purchases which aren’t available here.
In a financially risky move, CVS does not require a user’s credit card information to place an order. Users are expected to pay upon pickup, but this could lead users to forget or abandon their photos, leaving CVS with the bill.
Now that most people have switched from film to increasingly high-resolution digital photos which Facebook accepts, Facebook photo printing apps could become an important revenue stream for businesses like CVS. The question will be whether users in fact become nostalgic for physical copies of their photos, or if they’ll be satisfied viewing them on sharp mobile devices and digital photo frames. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buddy Media University Will Reduce Support Costs by Training Page Management Clients Posted: 16 Dec 2010 11:51 AM PST Page management software-as-a-service provider Buddy Media has launched Buddy Media University to educate clients on how to use it’s tools. The physical workshops which address topics including publishing and analytics will start at the company’s headquarters in New York City. By offering a more extensive, hands on training system, Buddy Media can improve client retention and cut down on customer service costs.
Buddy Media has grown to become one of the largest and most profitable Page management companies. It most recently released an upgrade to its Buddy Media Platform that improved the interface for multi-person teams and the management of multiple Pages. The announcement follows competitor Involver’s release of its Social Markup Language for streamlining application development — another innovation that could reduce the costs of scaling. Buddy Media University is largely modeled off of Google’s AdSense certification program. Greg Roth, the head of the program, says clients come from across the Facebook competency spectrum, and Buddy Media wants to train them to reduce the amount of assistance they need and to turn them into evangelists for the software. Both these outcomes would help Buddy Media grow more efficiently. The sessions will feature Roth and several other trainers hovering above clients, helping them learn the details of old and new features. The curriculum for BMU is as follows, with each approximately five-hour session being a prerequisite for the next:
The first set of sessions will occur at Buddy Media headquarters in New York City, but BMU will then go on the road to bring training to other cities and regions, and offer private sessions for brand teams of the company’s larger clients, which include Target, Southwest Airlines, and Mattel.
Though the program will clearly benefit Buddy Media, it addresses a serious issue in the industry. Tech companies are racing to add new features to their tool suites, but these do little good if the clients licensing them only understand the basics. Roth explained, “we want them to be able to do everything so they can let go of our hand.” |
When users visit the CVS Page, they’ll see a Print Photos tab with a “Get Started button”. Once they’ve allowed the app to access their photos, they’ll see a overview of the necessary steps. A sidebar panel explains that the app will show a red exclamation mark next to sizes that wouldn’t produce quality prints because of the selected photo’s low resolution. This takes much of the guess work and worry out of sending away for prints, and the lack of this information is a major issue among photo printing apps.
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