If Facebook is the great whale of social networking, applications are the barnacles on its back, firmly attached and along for the ride.
As Facebook's 55 million users are well aware, the site doesn't just contain the staples of social networking. The California-based site last year opened its platform to software developers that offer applications of all kinds, which users can add to their profile pages.
The result has been a land rush for virtual space. Developers hope to entice as many Facebook users as possible to add their wares, which range from trivia quizzes to maps that show where a user has travelled.
MySpace, still the most popular social network, recently announced similar plans to let in software developers. The decision is further proof that social networks firmly believe that the best way to remain fresh is to allow the entrepreneurship of the Web to piggyback on its platforms.
A great many of the applications on Facebook are simply ways to enhance your profile page or further your self-expression – a list for your favorite books, or an icon for your favorite baseball team.
But many can be the source of hours of entertainment in their own right.
Perhaps the most famous of these is Scrabulous, a miniature online version of Scrabble. Though, it’s future is in doubt because the makers and owners of the rights of Scrabble (Hasbro and Mattel) last month served a cease and desist letter to the creators of Scrabulous, two brothers in India.
However, it must be said that most of the applications are extremely lame like the quiz, which asks ‘What kind of mom will you be?’ But in many hours spent perusing the applications of Facebook, these were the most interesting:
Scramble: While Scrabulous is a version of Scrabble, Scramble is the Facebook application answer to Boggle.
GameDesire Bridge: This is a game that enables you to play bridge on Facebook. Not surprisingly, it's not exactly hugely popular. But simply having the ability to play a card game so strongly associated with old age on such a young, hip social networking site surely is a sign that Facebook isn't just a playground for kids anymore.
PuzzleBee: Jigsaw puzzles typically demand a lot of tabletop space. With the application PuzzleBee, though, you can solve puzzles and create them yourself without spilling little pieces of cardboard all over your living room.
Dogbook & Catbook: It's high time that Fido and Mrs Bigglesworth got to join the social networking fun. Dogbook and Catbook allow you to make a little profile, just like yours, for your four-legged friends. But if your pets are going to be active on Facebook, you may want to have them spayed or neutered.
Attack! This is another application clearly modelled on an already popular board game; it even advertises itself as ‘like Risk for the facebook.’ Now, you can play the game of world domination from your office cubicle.
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