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Random Posts from Blogs about Facebook
Among the many announcements at Macworld today, Apple announced that iPhoto ‘09, part of the iLife ‘09 suite, now includes integration with Facebook through Facebook Connect.
Overall, it’s a nice and simple integration with a few new features that make iPhoto ‘09 much more usable in conjunction with Facebook:
- Now, you can publish photos to Facebook with custom privacy settings on each of your photo albums.
- In addition, you can sync friend tags in photos between Facebook and iPhoto.
For a full demo of iPhoto’s Facebook Connect integration, check out the video here:
In a continuing Q&A series with the winners of fbFund’s $250k second round of funding, Inside Facebook recently talked with Victoria Ransom, creator of the WildFire application.
Victoria shed light on WildFire’s strategies for success and highlighted the rise of advertising on Facebook. See our recent coverage for more background on changes in brand marketing inside social applications on Facebook.
Below, Victoria discusses how WildFire grew its business and handled marketing campaigns for giants like Pepsi, Amazon, and RedBull.
Q: What problem does Wildfire Promotion Builder solve and what inspired you to start this business?
A: Wildfire Promotion Builder provides a turnkey solution for companies (both big and small) to easily create and distribute their own branded interactive promotions (e.g. sweepstakes, user-generated contests, coupons and giveaways), and to simultaneously publish them on their website and throughout the social web. Interactive promotions are one of the most effective ways for companies to engage social network users (according to Jupiter Research, companies that run contests have twice as many social network fans as those that don’t) yet the majority of companies that advertise sweepstakes and contests on Facebook drive users outside of Facebook to engage with their promotion and thus fail to take advantage of the true power of Facebook - the social features like friend invites, activity feeds and notifications that can spread the word about promotions and companies virally.
Currently, companies wishing to integrate a promotion with Facebook’s social features need to create their own custom Facebook application - something that is beyond the resources and expertise of most companies. Wildfire Promotion Builder solves this problem by enabling companies to create their own branded interactive promotions within a matter of minutes and at a cost that’s affordable for even the smallest businesses.
Our inspiration for Wildfire Promotion Builder came from our own need. Looking for a way to promote our adventure travel company, Access Travel Ltd, to social network users, we decided to give away a free trip on Facebook. But when we searched for a way to run a sweepstakes that tapped into Facebook’s viral features we found that no easy solution existed and that we would have to build our own sweepstakes application. When other companies expressed interest in using our application, we realized that an opportunity existed to help organizations run interactive promotions on social networks and Wildfire Promotion Builder was born.
Q: A lot of the fbFund entrepreneurs that we’ve been talking with have MBAs. Do you think that the knowledge that you and your cofounder have gained from business school has been critical?
A: The knowledge we gained from our MBAs has certainly helped us with the development of our business, particularly with regard to developing our business model, pricing, and go-to-market strategy. The credibility and contacts we gained from our MBAs have also been helpful. Nevertheless, I do not think that having an MBA is critical to building a successful app company.
Q: What do you think made your app successful in the fbFund competition?
A: The variety of ideas and depth of talent represented by the 25 finalists was really impressive; we were honored to be among them. In the end, I think our app stood out because we’ve focused on developing tools that will help businesses connect with Facebook users in a way that’s entertaining and beneficial to users. Despite the fact that thousands of businesses have created Facebook pages, very few app developers have focused on building apps that can be useful to businesses. I think this, coupled with our strong team, proven business model and track of record of delivering results for our clients helped us to be successful.
Q: What methods did you employ to gain traction among Facebook users and to market your app? Is this what you would recommend to the next generation of fbFund applicants?
A: Marketing our app requires quite a different approach than that taken by most app developers because our main focus is to attract businesses rather than consumers. We’ve used a combination of partnerships, PR, and direct sales to reach out to businesses. So far, word of mouth is proving to be one of the most effective ways for us to get the word out.
Q: Finally, Inside Facebook has written recently about the growing number of international Facebook users as well as international Platform growth. We’ve also seen comments on the developer forum asking about advertising and metrics in other countries. What is Wildfire Promotion Builder doing to help brands engage with the international community on Facebook?
A: A number of the promotions that have run via our apps have targeted non-US audiences (including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and New Zealand). To facilitate this, we enable companies to limit eligibility to their promotions according to geography. We’ve also translated our apps into French, Spanish and German and have more languages on the way.
Thanks Victoria, and good luck!
Yet another celebrity-related story for Facebook today (we’re trying not to overdo the celebrity news here); British model Jordan (real name Katie Price) has had her Facebook group removed by the social network for violating the terms of service. After reaching the 5,000 friend limit on Facebook, Jordan set up a group on the popular site in order to maintain a relationship with her fans.
According to The Sun, however, Jordan’s group was removed by Facebook as it was not created for a company or product. Jordan reportedly contacted Facebook requesting a copy of its policy, stating that she won’t be gotten rid of so easily. What doesn’t make sense to us, however, is why Jordan’s group would be taken down in the first place.
Not only are there countless users bearing the namesake and likeness of Jordan/Katie Price for their own profiles, but there are a number of groups and fan pages dedicated to the model. None of these groups or pages appear to have been set up and administered directly from Jordan, so if she did in fact create a group it very well may have been taken down. Seeing as Jordan is a public figure, however, it seems odd that Jordan’s group page would be taken down at all.
Depending on the categorization (was it labeled as a fan group for a public figure?) or the content (was explicit content posted to a public group?), I can see why Facebook may or may not get involved in groups at all. And as we’ve also seen yesterday, other users that report content they don’t like can also lead to content removal on Facebook. Perhaps the group launched by Jordan was reported by other users after all.
But the lack of an explanation from Facebook for content removal appears to be a going trend that’s leading to some very public protests. A woman who spoke out against her breast-feeding photos felt slighted by Facebook in a way similar to Jordan’s current situation. Can Facebook handle the backlash, or should a more transparent system be put in place for conveying the network’s terms of service and enforcing the terms as well.
Image credit: The Sun
I thought the pettiness of teenagers acting out on Facebook was enough. But celebrities aren’t ones to miss out on all the fun either. Singer Katy Perry offended pop star Lily Allen when she referred to herself as a “skinnier version” of Allen, reports Celebuzz. The war of the words continued when Allen called Perry “crass” but only got nastier when Allen threatened to post Perry’s phone number on Facebook.
Now this is just my personal opinion, but wouldn’t it be easy enough for Perry to change her number? It might be a pain in the rear end, but such a threat from Allen doesn’t seem all that dangerous. I suppose we should be thankful that the celebrity war has only gone this far.
Of course, we tend to find the fact that Allen used Facebook for her threat’s conduit to be the most interesting aspect of the story. It really demonstrates the social pull that Facebook can have, on even a celebrity’s life. Way to go, Facebook. You’ve become a social staple in the lives of public figures around the world, and have become powerful enough to make Perry’s life a living hell, if only for a day. Then again, having one’s phone number publicized could be a good thing–it worked for Mike Jones.
At any rate, we don’t condone this type of behavior. Facebook, while a reflection of true human nature at times, should not be used for threats. Especially not in the public sense. Allen should read up on the stories of a few teenagers that have been arrested for harassing others on social networks before she actually goes through with this.
Image credit Perez Hilton
A new video demo has been released of the BBC’s concept for an interactive TV application, and as you can see, it has a specific social initiative that links to Facebook’s network, reports PaidContent. Running on Microsoft’s Mediaroom platform, the prototype of BBC’s interactive application has live video as well as on-demand video, featuring content from partners across the mainstream media outlets.
Other interactive features include direct sharing options for spreading content to friends, as well as geo-tagged user-generated content feeds. The less social of the features include mobile support and viewing alerts for various programs, as well as a slew of content-specific controls that enable a highly custom viewing experience for end users.
The social features themselves are somewhat basic when compared to the integration options we’ve seen from other services like Splashcast and newcomer Boxee. But as this particular BBC prototype may be related to the broadcaster’s set-top box initiative, it may end up being more social than other set-top box options already out on the market. Whether this particular approach will work in light of Boxee’s rapid feature releases and growing partnerships remains to be seen, but on the social front it looks like Boxee’s approach may be more beneficial to end users.
Having deeper integration for Facebook support beyond links could have an impact on the BBC’s ability to penetrate the social aspect of the market, but it’s unlikely that this will have any major effect on the BBC concept for interactive television, as a number of apps and networks already provide media-sharing options and the apparent personalization of BBC content through this app could have a greater appeal to mainstream users.
As very close followers of Facebook’s growth and metrics, we at Inside Facebook have been absolutely astounded by Facebook’s international growth in 2008. While Facebook’s international audience totaled 34 million people at the beginning of 2008, on the first day of 2009 that number had increased to 95 million - nearly 70% of the total Facebook audience.
For example, take a look at how Facebook grew in some countries around the world last year: Italy up 2900%, Spain up 600%, France up 400%, Switzerland up 400%, Argentina up 2000%, and Indonesia up by 600%.
What’s more is that dozens of these markets are still growing at double digit rates every month - and for many, those growth rates are increasing. Facebook’s growth rate accelerated by at least 25% in 47 countries in Q4 2008 over Q3. Its quarterly growth rate more than doubled in 28 of those countries in Q4.
As of the beginning of 2009, Facebook now reaches over 10% of the national population in 26 countries. And in December alone, there were 20 countries in which at least 1% of the total national population joined Facebook. Now translated into over 100 languages, Facebook has shown that it can penetrate nearly one third of the entire national population in multiple developed markets, and we expect this to be true of many more countries in the near future.
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As a result of this explosive growth, today Inside Facebook is announcing a new premium service and newsletter called the Facebook Global Market Monitor. The Global Market Monitor is designed to provide vital data and insight to media industry executives, global marketing and communications firms, analysts, and developers for whom Facebook’s rapid international expansion poses significant opportunities or threats.
Each month, the Facebook Global Market Monitor will provide the latest comprehensive data on the expansion of Facebook’s audience in nearly 100 global markets. In addition, the Monitor will provide alerts on breakout and cooling markets, as well as our latest in-house projections on Facebook’s growth in each country 30 days, 90 days, and 12 months into the future.
See the full table of contents of the first newsletter below. All reports are based on primary research by Inside Facebook using data from Facebook, and each section is designed to elucidate key actionable trends.
For those interested in learning more, click the purchase link above. The price is $99 per issue, or $395 for a six month subscription. Future monthly updates will be delivered directly to your inbox. As always, please make suggestions if you’d like to see more attention paid to any topic. (Custom reports are also available.) You can reach us at mail AT insidefacebook DOT com with questions at any time.
We believe big opportunities exist for developers and marketers to reach and engage the Facebook audience in these rapidly emerging and expanding markets. Cheers to continued growth in 2009!
Facebook Global Market Monitor
Tracking Facebook in Global Markets
January 2009
Contents
I. 2008: The Year That Facebook Went Global
II. Global Market Report
1. Audience Size Today
2. Fastest Growing Audience
- Last 12 months
- Last 90 days
- Last 30 days
3. Market Penetration Today
4. Largest Market Penetration Increases
- Last 12 months
- Last 90 days
- Last 30 days
III. Emerging Market Analysis
1. Growth Projections
- Next 30 days
- Next 90 days
- Next 12 months
2. Technical Alerts
- Breakout Markets in Q4 2008
- Cooling Markets in Q4 2008
IV. Regional Summaries
1. Africa
2. Asia / Pacific
3. Europe
4. North America
5. South America
V. Country Updates
1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Austria
4. Bahamas
5. Bahrain
6. Bangladesh
7. Belgium
8. Bolivia
9. Bosnia & Herzegovina
10. Brazil
11. Bulgaria
12. Canada
13. Chile
14. China
15. Colombia
16. Costa Rica
17. Croatia
18. Cyprus
19. Czech Republic
20. Denmark
21. Dominican Republic
22. Ecuador
23. Egypt
24. El Salvador
25. Finland
26. France
27. Germany
28. Ghana
29. Greece
30. Guatemala
31. Honduras
32. Hong Kong
33. Hungary
34. Iceland
35. India
36. Indonesia
37. Ireland
38. Israel
39. Italy
40. Jamaica
41. Japan
42. Jordan
43. Kenya
44. Kuwait
45. Lebanon
46. Lithuania
47. Luxembourg
48. Macedonia
49. Malaysia
50. Maldives
51. Malta
52. Mauritius
53. Mexico
54. Morocco
55. Netherlands
56. New Zealand
57. Nicaragua
58. Nigeria
59. Norway
60. Oman
61. Pakistan
62. Palestine
63. Panama
64. Paraguay
65. Peru
66. Philippines
67. Poland
68. Portugal
69. Puerto Rico
70. Qatar
71. Romania
72. Russia
73. Saudi Arabia
74. Serbia
75. Singapore
76. Slovakia
77. Slovenia
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78. South Africa
79. South Korea
80. Spain
81. Sri Lanka
82. Sweden
83. Switzerland
84. Taiwan
85. Thailand
86. Trinidad and Tobago
87. Tunisia
88. Turkey
89. Ukraine
90. United Arab Emirates
91. United Kingdom
92. United States
93. Uruguay
94. Venezuela
95. Vietnam
Footnotes & Methodology
Often times I track where incoming visitors to AllFacebook are coming from. It’s a private addiction of mine to see how quickly people are coming into the site. This evening when I returned home, I noticed that one of my visitors came from a shared link on Facebook. When I clicked the link, I saw the image pictured below. It was a page which included 3 comments from visitors. I would have previously been unaware of who these visitors were but I now have insight.
Interestingly enough, these visitors happened to be Middle Eastern which helps me know how I’m doing with converting new users. For example, I’ve been seeing an increase in traffic from the Middle East with our coverage of social media’s role in the Gaza war. Since this article wasn’t related to our recent Middle Eastern coverage it let me know that I had successfully converted some new readers to the site.
It was not only encouraging but it also gave me insight that I previously wouldn’t have known. It was also great to see that other visitors experienced a social experience on this site with their friends despite it being apparent on my site in the comments. Additionally, it was great to get insight into some of the communication that I previously would have been unaware of.
This insight is invaluable in that I can now reach out to those visitors directly. This is just one additional way of reaching out to visitors of this site and it’s one step toward complete knowledge of site visitors. Ultimately the trend is toward better data about site visitors and this is definitely a feature which enables that. What has been your experience so far with Facebook’s enhanced sharing feature?
Facebook’s Platform team tonight posted a note letting developers know that due to “a significant increase in user growth and engagement” due to internationalization and Facebook Connect, user IDs will move from 32 to 64 bits in the upcoming months. Apparently, 4.2 billion IDs (the amount of possible 32 bit numbers) is not enough! In addition, the format for photo IDs and album IDs will be changing too.
As Facebook scales its service to handle large volumes of user data, it will need to make slight changes like this from time to time. Hopefully, this will not cause a headache for too many developers.
Even though the Israeli government is turning to online social networks to distribute information about the war in Gaza, there are others using such social networks for their own agendas. According to Gawker, some Facebook users have found it impossible to post certain content related to words like “Gaza” or “Palestine.”
From the users’ perspective, it seems as though Facebook is censoring some politically sensitive content. But Gawker reports that the supposed censorship is really a result of the self-contained flagging system, which enables users to report inappropriate content. To the dismay of many, this merely reflects Facebook as the user-generated network that it is. As a reflection of human nature’s truest colors, users are no doubt frustrated by the act of not being able to express themselves through Facebook’s network. What’s a user to do?
This isn’t the first type of censorship we’ve seen in the online space, and there’s only so much you can do when content is being prevented from posting as a result of other users flagging the content. Should Facebook step in, it would then become the ultimate determining factor in which content can and cannot be posted, leading to an extremely sticky situation. In fact, Facebook sometimes does find itself in such situations, even when deciding what types of groups are permitted on its social network.
So what does all this say about various groups that are looking to social networks for getting their word out? In the case of the Israel government, what if its content was being reported on Facebook? While Israel seems to be focusing more on visual and instant communication feeds like YouTube and Twitter, content could ultimately be blocked from spreading further across the web if other users are reporting it as inappropriate content on networks like Facebook.
Regardless of an individual’s stance on the content itself, could this be the real democracy of media dissemination when users wield so much control? That certainly appears to be the case, and it only emphasizes online networks’ ability to bring out the often unseen sides of people.
