Thursday, September 27, 2007 Toral: Facebook liberation By Janette Toral Digital Filipino
FACEBOOK was one of the social networks that came out after Friendster.
For most young Filipinos, Multiply and MySpace are most likely next to Friendster in popularity.
However, something happened lately and there’s a deluge of Internet users getting active in Facebook, including me, and that is because of the numerous application invites that current users send to their friends. These application invites include questions, virtual drink, gestures and, most especially, games.
Last week, I finally succumbed and started tinkering with my old Facebook account. It was then that I discovered its developers program (http://developers. facebook.com) that allows application and website owners to provide an interface of their application in Facebook and take advantage of the millions of users online there today.
I believe that this is a unique opportunity that shouldn’t be missed and it is now serving as a benchmark for other social networks and community sites. The concept is so powerful that big guys like Microsoft are already buying a stake in the company. Google is now scrambling to develop an application that can compete with it.
For computer-related course educators, this is a good project opportunity where students can be exposed in building projects through Facebook developers program, which can be shown to a global audience. This will also give them a real-life learning experience in programming collective intelligence and even service-oriented architecture.
It is impressive to see the deluge of applications already available at the site, which includes free games where you can invite your friends such as Vampires, Warbook and Pirates, among others. I can even say that Facebook is able to convert non-gamers into active ones due to these interesting games being rolled out that provides incentives - for inviting friends to play the game and when they eventually sign up. Admittedly, I got so hooked on playing Warbook that I wrote my first blog post on how to play an online game. You can read the beginners Warbook guide at http://ituloy—ang-sulong.blogspot.com
I also use the site to learn how to play Sudoku, sell second-hand books, join communities and discussion groups, read and post Twitter messages, and many more applications. Most of the applications focus on encouraging further interaction with your friends by either sharing what you like, or playing games together, and other activities. It also keeps you posted on what your friends are doing online.
In a year or two, unless Friendster evolves, it is possible that Facebook will emerge as the leading social networking site in the Philippines.
