Facebook Apps Useless? Heck no.

May 2, 2008

In analyzing a chart assembled this week by FlowingData as to the categorical makeup of Facebook’s application marketplace, Silicon Alley Insider’s Vasanth Sridharan purports the vast majority of third-party creations to be “useless.” Now, I wouldn’t argue for a second that Sridharan is entirely off base in making such an assessment. I imagine most items in that fast-expanding sea of software and services will fall into disuse, if they have not done so already.

But useless? Sure, that may be a phrase used to trigger a response, either for or against. Still, it seems odd to judge the marketplace so pertly. Certainly, the Facebook application database is comprised overwhelmingly with things labeled “Just for Fun,” but what exactly is wrong with that reality? Social networks these days are more and more often focused on things enjoyable and entertaining. What else would explain the media deals Facebook and MySpace and Bebo and Buzznet and so many others are scrounging for? Do “fun” things by default suggest irrelevance as far as application marketplace legitimacy is concerned?

In a past opinion published here at Mashable, I offered my reasoning that social networks would thrive well into the future largely due to developments in gaming and general leisure and amusements. I still stand by that statement. Given the growth in the broader gaming and entertainment space - whether one speaks about the phenomenal rise of the Wii or the wealth of premium video content making its way onto the Web - there’s little reason to think social networks will not need to survive as much on their productivity and connectivity options as their entertainment values. So this peculiar assumption that Facebook apps, given the parameters of fun vs. truly useful, are useless really holds little weight.

Yes, most titles in the Facebook application space will be ignored by the network’s many millions of users. That is an inevitable truth. But the statistics shown by FlowingData should presumably be taking in relative measure. Even if most applications are passed over, the majority chosen remain either in the ‘Just for Fun’ or ‘Gaming’ sets. Again, useless? On the whole. I think not.