There has been a lot of blogging hype in the last few days after the announcement that facebook was opening it’s doors to third party applications (see New York Times article for more detail). What this means is that Facebook becomes a ‘platform’ which allows others to integrate applications within the profile. Not only does this mean that in customising applications in your profile you can make identity statements, it also means that facebook can become a ‘portal’ (an entry point) for all things web – your web is created through your profile and includes all your social networks.
I’m simplifying but this is basically what all the hype is about – a potentially enormous and growing ‘market’ for the integration of applications, advertising, and who knows, a business model which could charge for its services in the future.
In a previous previous post I looked at the expansion of facebook in the UK. More specifically as of today the number of members of mmu’s facebook network is 7,491. Now I’m wondering if such a presence and the possibility of integrating third party application inside Facebook will encourage some thought in the ways in which faculty at mmu could participate.
- How about a calendar in facebook that links to faculty/programme events?
- A link to student services?
- A link to WebCT?
If email is becoming increasingly substituted by ‘facebooking’ and threaded discussion boards now looking archaic, should we begin looking at alternatives?
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