/Facebook/ I can has Facebook
11/06/2008 | Filed under Develop > Facebook
Want to spread your message to 47 million people? Rik Lomas shows you how to use Facebook’s Developer Platform to build your very own application
Facebook is currently the seventh-biggest site on the internet, according to Alexa. What’s more, 60 per cent of its 47 million users log in every single day, and 93 per cent of them visit more than once a month. So why try to create a userbase from scratch when you can draw on Facebook’s devoted users?
Facebook launched the Developer Platform back in May, and since then, more than 5,000 applications have been created, some of them great, some of them not so great. But with 65 per cent of all users installing two or more applications on their profile, you can see that there are many opportunities to create something for a large audience.
Making a Facebook application is relatively straightforward, and that’s what I’ll be explaining in this tutorial. First, though, there are a few hoops to jump through before you start developing. The first thing you need to do is install the Developer application, which you can get from www.facebook.com/ developers. Then, once you’ve figured out what you want to build, you can create a new application for Facebook.
About the author:
Name: Rik Lomas
Site: www.welovelocal.com
Areas of expertise: Interface and front-end design
Clients: Virgin, Orange, Sony BMG, The Times
Click here to download the support files
Click here to download tutorial PDF
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Comments
Dino / 12/06/2008 / 10:53
Interesting 'reality check' advice too...
http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Disciplines/Media/Articles/db78236c999f4d31afeb103f8a5f526b/Branded-apps-on-Facebook-fail-to-attract-users.html
"But there are no branded applications in the top 50 most popular on the social network. "
"...applications for BBC Torchwood, iPlayer and BBC Weather have a disappointing combined average of 120 daily active users."
Having made a few apps for various networks (Bebo, MS Messenger, Facebook, Myspace and iGoogle), the brand helps a little if used in the right way but it's really the "Is it helping me and my mates" factor that has to be there in spades. A trailer in a widget serves nobody and Facebook users aren't stupid.
Also depends on your audience. If you have a youth <30 brand. Bebo will often be a far better bet.
Daniel Foster / 22/06/2008 / 00:09 / http://www.dealfiesta.com/
Great tutorial! I've always considered Facebook to be a good marketing medium, but never considered using applications to promote my sites.
Pebbles / 23/06/2008 / 23:44 / http://www.pebblespage.com/
thanks for sharing this information. I'll be taking a closer look at it tomorrow with my morning tea and see how I can utilize this
Jo / 24/07/2008 / 14:55
i can't understand the title... someone please help me.
does the title make sense to you ?
Frank / 13/10/2008 / 10:45 / http://learnthekana.com/
Thanks very much for this Rik. Facebook is indeed an untapped gold mine and your tutorial on how to create developer applications for it is very much appreciated. No doubt this will come in handy.
Anthony / 19/02/2010 / 11:48 / http://shapley.eu/facebook-launches-new-redesign/
This is great information, I've been considering creating a game similiar to some of the others that makes use of incentivizable affiliate offers to make some extra cash. Make use of "virtual credits" to buy tools, etc.. it would be easy.
