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Inside Facebook

Will Twitter integrate Facebook Open Graph?

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 01:51 PM PDT

Six years since Twitter founders sent the first tweet, we wonder how the microblogging network might build on Facebook's Open Graph.

As Facebook encroaches on Twitter's territory with the subscribe feature and interest lists, Twitter should consider ways to use Facebook's own platform to protect itself. Early examples from Pinterest and Foursquare show how would-be competitors can benefit by embracing the social network’s tools. Likewise, a Twitter Open Graph app could improve user experience and drive traffic from Facebook back to the microblogging network.

Twitter already has an official Facebook integration that lets users post tweets to their profiles and friends' News Feeds. It does not share retweets or @replies. An Open Graph app could leverage Ticker, allowing retweets and replies to appear in the lightweight feed and other tweets to show in News Feed. This would be similar to how Spotify publishes individual song listens to Ticker but puts stories about users listening to artists, albums and playlists in News Feed.

Twitter could also create Open Graph actions for following new users, favoriting tweets or creating public lists. Pushing these stories to Ticker would add opportunities for users on Facebook to discover content and conversations on Twitter. Pinterest, for example, says it saw 60 percent more Facebook users visiting its site after only a month of integrating Open Graph.

Open Graph integration would also give tweets a designated place on Facebook Timeline. Twittus is an unofficial app that does this (see right). As Facebook says, Timeline apps are meant to share different aspects of a user's identity. For many users, Twitter is an important part of that identity.

Timeline provides other benefits, like summaries and navigation by date. Twitter, for example, could highlight how many tweets a person made or how many times they were retweeted in a given month. Facebook's activity log would also make it easy for users to find past tweets — something that is incredibly tedious on Twitter, just as finding old Facebook posts used to be. (See example from Twittus below.)

Pinterest, Foursquare, Instagram, Spotify and others show that social networks can be built on top of Facebook, or at least drive traffic from Timeline apps. In these cases, Facebook has sidestepped direct competition. For example, the company has downplayed its check-in product in favor of attaching location information to all posts and providing the Places API for others to integrate. It will also eliminate its check-in deals product, leaving opportunity for Yelp and Foursquare. Facebook seems to have put its rumored mobile photos app on hold, giving Instagram room to grow. And despite predictions to the contrary last year, the company did not create its own music service but instead partnered with several others.

In recent months Facebook has been aggressive in pursuing asymmetrical relationships and interest-based connections, which is Twitter's strength. Facebook is also courting celebrities, getting them set up with Timeline and using them to promote interest lists. The social network continues to give brands and organizations more features for customer service and promotion through pages. All of this hurts Twitter's competitive advantage. Open Graph integration could ensure that Facebook users remain aware of Twitter and give them reasons to return.

New this week on the Inside Network Job Board: SponsorPay, Nickelodeon, King.com and more

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:49 AM PDT

The Inside Network Job Board is dedicated to providing you with the best job opportunities across social and mobile application platforms.

Here are this week's highlights from the Inside Network Job Board, including positions at: Environmental Defense Fund, SponsorPay, Symphony Publishing Group, Nickelodeon, TinyCo, Legacy Interactive, Addmired, PopCap, King.com, High 5 Games, Checkpoint Studios, BrightRoll and Index Middle East Ltd. Co.

Index Middle East Ltd. Co.

Listings on the Inside Network Job Board are distributed to readers of Inside Social Games, Inside Facebook and Inside Mobile Apps through regular posts and widgets on the sites. Your open positions are being seen by the leading developers, product managers, marketers, designers and executives in the Facebook Platform and social gaming industry today.

Facebook faces another patent suit

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 09:51 AM PDT

Canadian telecommunications company Mitel Networks is suing Facebook over patents for "pro-active features for telephony" and an "automatic web page generator," according to a filing.

The challenge comes a week after Yahoo filed suit over 10 patents it claims the social network violated. These legal issues could set back the initial public offering Facebook planned to make later this spring.

The company acknowledged its intellectual property risks in its most recent regulatory filing. "As we face increasing competition and gain an increasingly high profile, including in connection with our initial public offering, we expect the number of patent and other intellectual property claims against us to grow."

In the latest suit, Mitel claims Facebook infringes on a patent for a method of automatic generation of a web page directory, as well as a patent covering systems for pro-actively suggesting communication features to users. Mitel says it sent Facebook letters in July 2011 and September 2011 identifying the patents and offering to discuss licensing arrangements, but Facebook did not respond.

Facebook declined to comment on the lawsuit and patents in question.

Draw Something, WashPo, Yahoo, Rotten Tomatoes, iPad, more on this week’s top 20 growing Facebook apps by DAU

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 08:43 AM PDT

Mobile game Draw Something continues to dominate our lists of top Facebook apps, this time by daily active users. There were several other games on the list. The Washington Post Social Reader and Yahoo's news integration continue to grow. Then there was an assortment of applications, including two iPad apps.

The titles below grew between 200,000 and 4.3 million DAU, based on AppData, our data tracking service covering growth for apps on Facebook.

Top Gainers This Week

Name DAU Gain Gain,%
1.   Draw Something by OMGPOP 13,000,000 +4,300,000 + 49%
2.   Zynga Slingo 1,600,000 +1,180,000 + 281%
3.   WP Social Reader 1,200,000 +810,000 + 208%
4.   Yahoo! 2,700,000 +700,000 + 35%
5.   Rotten Tomatoes 900,000 +640,000 + 246%
6.   SmoothTV 550,000 +549,300 + 78,471%
7.   İzlesene 810,000 +500,000 + 161%
8.   Hidden Chronicles 7,100,000 +400,000 + 6%
9.   Solitaire Blitz 440,000 +390,000 + 780%
10.   foursquare 540,000 +350,000 + 184%
11.   Bubble Witch Saga 5,800,000 +300,000 + 5%
12.   CityVille 7,900,000 +300,000 + 4%
13.   Microsoft Live 19,600,000 +300,000 + 2%
14.   Spotify 5,600,000 +300,000 + 6%
15.   Your Luck [daily] 310,000 +290,000 + 1,450%
16.   Greetings 900,000 +260,000 + 41%
17.   Shufflr 600,000 +240,000 + 67%
18.   DoubleDown Casino – Free Slots, Blackjack & Poker 1,500,000 +200,000 + 15%
19.   Flipboard 1,200,000 +200,000 + 20%
20.   MyPad for iPad 2,400,000 +200,000 + 9%

Draw Something by OMGPOP grew significantly as more people begin to play the Pictionary-like mobile game with their Facebook friends. There were a few virtual world and gambling games on the list, too.

As mentioned the WP Social Reader was a big gainer on our list, as well as Yahoo, which brings Open Graph integration to its news sites. The Open Graph apps for Rotten Tomatoes and Turkish video site  İzlesene were popular, too.

Foursquare made our list for the first time in a while, likely as a result of new Open Graph integration that displays photos larger in News Feed and plots check-ins on the Timeline map.

Spotify continued to grow its user base, spreading to Nordic countries and Spain. Other apps included greetings, a video app and two apps for iPads, Flipboard and MyPad for iPad.

SmoothTV is a canvas app to find videos. The app seems to have bursts of daily active users followed periods of complete inactivity. It does not appear to be available today, however.

All data in this post comes from our traffic tracking service, AppData. Stay tuned for our look at the top emerging apps on Friday.

torsdag den 22. marts 2012 at 07.53