Using FB game apps for traffic: New platform changes - GoFuckYourself.com

$5 submissions · 09-28-2010, 04:03 PM

FB released new changes in the platform for its apps feature:

Front end: http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=429618852130

Quote:

* Full stories in News Feed so they won't miss when a friend shares an action or needs help in a game. The more active a person is in a game, the more prominent the stories will be.
* Smarter bookmarks on the home page that will automatically appear and reorder based on the games they're playing. They will no longer need to individually bookmark apps, and it will be easier to get to favorite apps.
* A clearer, highlighted number for pending requests or tasks alongside bookmarks.
* Requests in the Games Dashboard, where they can manage all their game activity and discover new games.

Back end: http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/410

Quote:

Drive Re-engagement

* Targeting stories based on usage. Application stories will only be shown to those who are already engaging with the application. This means people who play games on Facebook can freely share stories about challenges and progress with friends, without worrying about overwhelming their friends who don?t play.
* Displaying full game stories. Now that game stories are uniquely aimed at the people playing them, they will no longer be collapsed or aggregated in News Feed. This gives you more real estate to reach your users with more relevant content.
* Deploying smarter bookmarks. The apps people use the most will be automatically bookmarked and will reorder based on usage. Individual apps will no longer need to request people to bookmark them.
* Displaying more prominent counts. If there?s a task to be completed within a game, or a user has an outstanding invitation, a count will be highlighted next to the bookmark on their home page for convenient re-engagement.

Improve Discovery

* Surfacing game activity through friends. By showing fewer but more impactful News Feed stories based on friends? activity and social context, we hope to drive new user growth for games. For example, instead of the typical story saying that someone just bought a new item, it could say ?Dave, Jonny and 3 other friends? just started playing a game.
* Moving requests. With the more prominent counts, we?re encouraging users to look to the left hand nav for their daily Facebook activity, so it makes sense for games re-engagement and discovery for requests to move to that high visibility area.