So far we’ve created some simple Facebook applications to evaluate the API, languages (PHP/MySQL and C#/MS SQL so far as well as IFRAMES vs. FBML pros/cons), advertising choices as well as the various psychological “hooks” that are the mainstay of engagement and viral distribution. Early days but very interesting.
As we continue to gain experience and insight we’ll be folding our gained knowledge into larger, more comprehensive social-network spanning ‘category’ applications. This is our ultimate focus and where we feel the real social land grab exists.
The diagram below illustrates this approach:
An application is created in one social network and then tweaked for optimum engagement, viral flows etc. then is deployed to other social networks allowing users from any network to interact with users of any other via the application in their respective social network.
The application could exist in one, some or all of the social networks as well as within a traditional Website or a mobile platform and may even add value via Location Based Services (LBS) depending on the application.
With enough experience/confidence/financing it would make sense to create and test your application for all the major social networks and deploy simultaneously for maximum distribution and to prevent fast moving imitators.
This is very high-level but explains our strategic intentions without disclosing our (and our partners) application ideas and concepts!
I hope this brief summary is at least useful.
Yours Socially,
Mark Wayman
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