FaceBook To Act As Application Host

FaceBook has raised the bar for social networks once again in its latest move: allowing FaceBook applications on regular web sites. This mans that FaceBook will be acting as a king of application host, something the no one else is doing right now.

The FaceBooks applications (apps) will be served by a JavaScript client library. The client library will accept calls to the FaceBook API from any website on the internet, bringing the FaceBooks to you. FaceBook apps are the little third party creations that allow you to interact in fun ways with your friends on FaceBook - giving virtual gifts, playing games, asking questions and making quizzes, among other things.

FaceBook apps are also annoying at times, as many of them require you to “spam invite 20 friends” to play. Those are the apps I usually ignore, but if the client server makes FaceBook's Ajax apps able to spam me like that on my own web site, you can bet I won't be participating in what should be a fun online experience. I gt enough of those intrusive invites from friends on FaceBook already.

The only requirement listed by FaceBook's representative is that your web site serve static HTML (if your web site does this, you can use the iFrame tag in your code without problems). Some web sites that rely on dynamic pages mayhave trouble using the applications. It isn't clear yet whether blog owners using PHP blog platforms will have any trouble using the apps or not.

This move is innovative on FaceBook's part, and gives a solid demonstration that FaceBook is going to be a contender in the social networking arena for some time to come. It also was announced at an opportune time, as FaceBook has been catching flak for copyright infringement and some in the tech blogopshere have been questioning whether their value as a company was real or just “on paper”. FaceBook has just solidly placed itself at the front of pack, leaving sites like MySpace to scramble to find their own innovation to help them stay popular.