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by grag 6292 days ago
#2 is not true. Stories posted automatically via the API won't show up in friend's newsfeeds. But apps can popup a "feed form" which allows users to preview the content the app wants to post to their wall (this can include an image or embedded swf). If the users posts it then that content will show up in all their friend's newsfeeds. I think this format is actually much better for apps.
1 comments
cos 6292 days ago
It's possible (though not very likely IMO) that that could turn out to be "much better" once app writers adapt their apps to it, and people get used to it. In the meantime, though, the viral aspect of apps was based on publishing actions people take, as a side-effect of people taking those actions, and that just isn't happening now. You do NOT see this stuff on your homepage anymore.

As I pointed out, it's not just apps. Photo tagging, friending, and a host of other Facebook actions that used to be viral aren't anymore.

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blader 6292 days ago
The implicit news feed stories were never really a strong source of virality. Our current data is showing that the new stream is performing quite a bit better for us, but YMMV.
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cos 6291 days ago
"performing" in what sense?

If someone joins a group, for example, I'm much less likely to see that, whereas before I might've looked at the group based on the title. If someone adds a friend who I know, I probably won't notice now, whereas before I might've seen it and added that friend. These kinds of things are valuable for social networking.

What kind of performance are you measuring, and why does it matter more than other kinds?

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blader 6291 days ago
I was speaking as a Facebook application developer responding to the comment about "applications can no longer be viral". I have no idea whether it's working out for Facebook as a whole, but for our own purposes it's looking very good across a whole range of metrics, mostly growth (user acquisition and activation).

As a data point, these guys: http://apps.facebook.com/livingsocial managed to get around 2 million uniques over the past couple of days, mostly from Feed virality. Again I have no idea if it's good for Facebook as a whole (and the only people who can say for sure are people with access to that data at Facebook), but for application developers it's been great.

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