
Inside Facebook
Inside Facebook |
- Video Privacy Protection Act Delays US Launch of Netflix Facebook Integration
- Facebook for iPad: Our Feature Breakdown of the Leaked Official App
- Acceptly Uses Social Contacts to Help Students Get Into College
- Featured Facebook Campaigns: Craftsman, Unilever & Zynga, American Express and El Pollo Loco
- 60 Photos, Quizzes, Pages, Mobile, Bandsintown and More on This Week’s Top 20 Facebook Apps by MAU
Video Privacy Protection Act Delays US Launch of Netflix Facebook Integration Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:50 PM PDT
The VPPA apparently doesn’t apply to all-digital video streaming company Hulu, though, as it launched a Facebook Connect integration earlier this month that allows users to share their viewing history with friends. This may be because Hulu does not rent, sell, or deliver any physical media. The law specifically prohibits those who rent, sell, or deliver “prerecorded video cassette tapes or similar audio visual materials” from disclosing personally identifiable information such as rental history or genre preferences to anyone without written consent or a warrant. Netflix’s letter to its shareholders (.PDF) explains that “Under the VPPA, it is ambiguous when and how a user can give permission for his or her video viewing data to be shared.” The VPPA-clarifying bill HR2471 might allow users to give consent digitally, such as through Facebook extended permissions. Currently, Netflix’s website has no integration with Facebook or any other social media platforms — not even Like or tweet buttons. This may be be significantly hampering viral growth for the service. Facebook has still helped drive growth for Netflix, though, as subscriptions to the service are frequently found as an option on the offer walls of social games, allowing gamers to earn Facebook Credits, proprietary virtual currency, and virtual goods for signing up. The launch of the integration in Latin America and Canada, potentially followed by a US launch pending the success of the VPPA-clarifying bill HR2471, could drastically boost virality, Facebook users could receive recommendations or even previews of content their friends are watching, leading them to sign up for a subscription in order to view that content immediately. This would support Netflix’s long-term strategy of pushing its customers towards streaming and away from shipped DVDs. Facebook would likely help promote the integration, as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sits on Facebook’s board. We imagine the Netflix Facebook integration will be similar to Hulu’s. It might allow users to see a feed of what their friends are watching, leave comments on videos that friends can see and which are also syndicated to Facebook, and share either news of their viewing habits or actual video clips of what they’re watching directly to Facebook. It could also have Netflix-specific features such as allowing users to share their DVD shipping queue with friends, or even make a collaborative queue. Even if HR2471 passes, Netflix will have to be very careful about how it handles privacy. If it can offer clear, simple to use but granular privacy controls behind social features that improve content discovery, it may be able to turn some of its 25 million subscribers into Facebook evangelists. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Facebook for iPad: Our Feature Breakdown of the Leaked Official App Posted: 25 Jul 2011 02:02 PM PDT Last night, TechCrunch reported that the unreleased Facebook for iPad app was hidden within the code of the latest Facebook for iPhone update, and could be accessed from jailbroken iPads. Now it appears that Facebook has blocked connections from the iPad app, but not before plenty of screenshots of its interface could be taken. Here we’ll breakdown the feature set of the current state of the Facebook for iPad app, which a Techcrunch source says could be released soon in a similar form, though there’s a chance it could be delayed and altered. A month ago, The New York Times revealed that Facebook had in fact been developing an official iPad app. In its absence, several unofficial iPad apps had gained traction, though they’re now looking to differentiate themselves with games, Twitter integrations, and more. Traditionally, those opening the Facebook for iPhone app on an iPad only see the iPhone app loaded in the center of the screen. Over the last 12 hours, though, some users have been able to get the tablet-optimized Facebook for iPad app to load when opening the Facebook for iPhone app. They accomplished this by using a jailbroken iPad and changing a UIDeviceFamily setting in the iPhone app. Now, though, those trying to login through the iPad app are receiving a “Failed Login: Unable to connect to Facebook. Please try again later” error, which may indicate that Facebook has blocked connections in an effort to prevent access before the official launch. TechCrunch’s MG Siegler tells me that he successfully connected last night but is now seeing features that require a connection ceasing to function, such as notifications. The app is reportedly built on HTML5 so it can import information from m.facebook.com. This is turn allows Facebook’s mobile team to push updates to a single set of code that interpreted by multiple different mobile apps, reducing development time. At this time, there’s no integration for third-party apps and games over HTML5, which Facebook is currently working on. Overall, the Facebook for iPad app addresses many of the limitations of the Facebook for iPhone interface, improving on navigation, Chat, Photos, and more as we describe below. Facebook for iPad Feature SetSidebar NavigationThe most important difference between the iPad and iPhone apps is that the iPad app allows for navigation through an expandable sidebar menu. At any time, users can click the list icon t reveal the nav menu, from which they can access Facebook’s in-house apps including the news feed, Messages, Events, Places, friends, and Photos, as well as their different Groups. This will allow for speedier movement between apps than on the iPhone app, which requires users to return to a home screen. A drop-down pop over stemming from one’s own profile in the menu reveals quick links to logout, or access one’s Facebook Account Settings, Privacy Settings, or the Help Center. Same as on the iPhone app, the Account and Privacy Settings links launch mobile-optimized web pages that where settings can be configured. A search box in the sidebar navigation menu allow users to pull up friends, other users, and Pages. Rather than visiting dedicated screens to view notifications, respond to friend requests, or read and compose Messages as one does on the iPhone, these features are accessed as pop-overs from the top navigation bar. This allows users to quickly check for these types of activity without losing what they’re currently viewing. Persistent ChatChat also uses a sidebar navigation design to permit persistent use while browsing the app. When uses flip the iPad horizontally, their buddy list appears as a right sidebar. Tapping a friend’s name starts a conversation with them, and users switch between the sidebar displaying an active conversation and the buddy list. Unlike the Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook app’s multi-pane Chat interface, the lack of a full-screen mode adds a bit of friction to carrying on multiple conversations simultaneously. Facebook could offer full-screen access from the sidebar navigation menu in the future, though. Still, this interface is a huge improvement over the iPhone app’s Chat interface, which requires users to navigate back to the Chat feature each time they want to send an instant message. It should allow for more passive use cases by allowing one to maintain conversations as they watch TV or read the news feed. News Feed, Places, Events, and PhotosWhile viewing the news feed, users can upload photos, or publish status updates through a pop-over that includes a lock icon for setting privacy restrictions on the post. As with the iPhone app, users can filter their news feed by story type. Users can check-in through the Places feature, as well as view a map showing the locations of nearby friends.
The Facebook for iPad app doesn’t appear to include the special features seen in the leaked mobile photos app, such as filter lenses, multi-shot uploading, or location tagging. However, when viewing a photo from an album, a photostrip at the bottom of the screen allows users to skip around between photos in the album, similar to the iPad’s native photos app and Google+’s photos interface. Those who haven’t already hacked their way to accessing the Facebook for iPad app and established a connection may have to wait for the official launch of the app. If that release looks like what we’ve seen today, expect the app to quickly gain traction and pull users away from the unofficial Facebook iPad apps. Facebook might choose to move up its launch date in response to the leak, but it also might wait until it can include HTML5 support for games and apps. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Acceptly Uses Social Contacts to Help Students Get Into College Posted: 25 Jul 2011 12:57 PM PDT Acceptly is a Facebook Connect application that leverages a user's social network to help motivate and encourage them in the process of applying to colleges and universities. The app currently works only for high school students set on beginning their undergraduate careers, but the company's community director, Kathryn Favaro, says eventually it could also be made available for graduate school applicants. The free app gathers a user's information via Connect, creates a profile, and then allows the user to begin racking up points by completing tasks that will aid them in their college application process, such as writing up their extracurricular activities or making a list of colleges they would like to apply to. The app also directs students consistently back to Acceptly's website for more information on, say, how to volunteer or why extracurricular activities are important. When these tasks are completed, users receive points and badges, and there are several opportunities to publish these acts to their Facebook feed, thus alerting friends to their activities and inviting engagement around the college application process. It's precisely the publishing of this information that Favaro says is the crux of Acceptly's work. "We've done a lot of research in game mechanics, and so the fun, social and motivation [aspect of Acceptly] is very much what we're playing on," she tells us. Additionally, Favaro says part of the company's monetization model is to allow students to exchange their points for scholarships or discounts on textbooks. Ultimately Acceptly is striving to become not just a tool students may use to organize their application process, and motivate themselves to do it, but also to become a community of would-be college students that can provide support internally. As that process continues, the company is also working to individualize and customize each users' profile down to geography and specific needs, such as recommending a specific tutor to help a student with critical reading for the SAT. Acceptly has an interesting integration because it seems to leverage the social aspect of a high schooler’s experience as it pertains to college, rather than trying to become the experience as other apps have done. We've written previously about Inigral's attempt to build a closed version of Facebook and CampusBuddy's application’s most recent partnership with Cramster. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Featured Facebook Campaigns: Craftsman, Unilever & Zynga, American Express and El Pollo Loco Posted: 25 Jul 2011 10:02 AM PDT Charity, branded gaming, purchase selection and free food were part of the ways brands engaged customers on Facebook this week. We've excerpted two of the campaigns below. You can see the full week's coverage in the Facebook Marketing Bible, which also includes detailed breakdowns of dozens of other featured campaigns by top-performing brands and businesses on Facebook. Craftsman's Public Park Rehab ProjectGoal: Engagement, Product Purchase, Network Exposure, Charity Core Mechanic: A photo contest that allows users to encourage their network to vote for their photo. Method: Essentially this photo contest asks users to submit a photo of a park in their area that could use some revamping. Whichever park wins will receive a $10,000 makeover, the user who uploaded the photo will receive a set of Craftsman tools, and there will be runner-up prizes of tools as well. Once a user completes the contest entry, they may publish a story to the stream. Impact: The Craftsman Page has 496,900 Likes so far, but the contest is not Like-gated, thus the company is losing out on potential growth to their Page with this contest. Though users must return to the Page to vote for the entries, the only real viral component of this contest is the publishing of a feed story upon entry, which is optional. Unilever's Lux Featured on FarmVille ChineseGoal: Network Exposure, Product Purchase, Brand Loyalty Core Mechanic: Unilever's Lux brand launched a FarmVille Chinese tie-in. Game: Within FarmVille Chinese, users will have the chance to wherein to beautify their farms with Lux limited edition beauty products. Users then are rewarded with virtual currency they can use to redeem for beauty crops inspired by the company's products, such as a cooling mint tree, apricot or cherries. Method: Within the game users who interact with Lux's icon, actress Shu Qi, are rewarded for doing so. This gives users the incentive to interact with the company's product within the game, thus making the product placement an integral part of the gaming experience. Impact: According to AppData, FarmVille Chinese has about 850,000 MAU; thus, product placement within this app is guaranteed to reach a wide audience. How are top brands in the industry designing their Facebook marketing campaigns? See the Facebook Marketing Bible for detailed breakdowns of dozens of Featured Campaigns by top-performing brands and businesses on Facebook. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
60 Photos, Quizzes, Pages, Mobile, Bandsintown and More on This Week’s Top 20 Facebook Apps by MAU Posted: 25 Jul 2011 08:30 AM PDT
The titles on our list gained the most MAU of any apps, growing from between 337,100 and 3.6 million MAU, based on AppData, our data tracking service covering traffic growth for apps on Facebook. Top Gainers This Week
60photos, if you recall, is an app that induces virality by using photos and asking users to rate them either "nice" or "pass." Every "nice" rating is posted to the Wall of whoever's photo it is; the app grew by 3.6 million MAU this week. MyCalendar, which allows users to create their own customized birthday calendars, grew by 1.8 MAU. Quiz app 21 questions grew by 1.5 million MAU, and a similar app, Friend Buzz, grew by 1.2 million MAU. Both apps allow users to answer questions about their friends, posting answers to their Walls. Socialbox, a chat app download, grew by 472,900 MAU and Between You and Me is also a quiz app that publishes answers to questions to the Walls of a user's friends with 344,600 MAU this week. Page tab apps this week included Static HTML: iframe tabs with 2.4 million MAU, Static Iframe Tab with 541,900 MAU and Hosted iFrame with 433,500 MAU. Then there were mobile apps, Facebook for Every Phone with more than 2 million MAU and Samsung Mobile with 380,500 MAU. Finally, Yahoo's app grew by 817,700 MAU and Bandsintown by 384,100 MAU. All data in this post comes from our traffic tracking service, AppData. Stay tuned for our look at the top weekly gainers by daily active users on Wednesday, and the top emerging apps on Friday. |
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