I had the privilege last week to interview with Phil Windley, host of Technometria on the IT Conversations podcasting network. He talked to me about Facebook, its use in business, privacy and security issues surrounding Facebook, and some quick questions on how to set up an application on Facebook. I think we covered a lot (I need to get over my “uh” problem), and this is a great thing to forward on to that business person in your organization that is contemplating a Facebook Strategy. I think we covered quite a bit across the board of what we go over in the book. You can listen to the interview here:
Category: 47
Facebook Developer Guidelines Added to Developer Wiki
I noticed this set of guidelines posted to the Facebook Developers Wiki on Saturday. The guidelines are not surprising, considering the recent backlash surrounding forced invites in many of the applications currently on Facebook. The guidelines are as followed, and I’m sure more will be added:
Invites
- Do not force a user to send invites.
- Show the invite page after performing an action.
- Make it clear the action has been performed, and that the user is not forced to send invites to continue using the app/perform the action.
- You may also include a link to the invite page somewhere in your application.
- Sending invites for an app using another app is prohibited by the TOS.
- Do not use invites for ranking purposes.
- When using invites as part of an application’s function, such as user ranking, make sure there are other ranking methods that can replace invites.
- Using invites alone increases the chances for the application, and the user’s rank within it to lose value.
- Do not use blocked markup, or attempt to use sketchy methods to gain a user’s attention in the Requests page.
- Usage of CSS, large fonts, and other prohibited markup is looked down upon by the community. We highly discourage this.
- Usage of blocked markup can also lead to the removal of your application due to violation to the TOS.
User Interface
- Do not use Javascript alert().
- JS alerts are annoying to the user, disrupt the smoothness of the experience, and does not fit in well with the Facebook UI.
- JS alert() is not allowed by Facebook.
Are there any other guidelines you think need to be added that frustrate you?
The Book is Off to the Press, but Wait — There’s More!
I’m extremely happy and relieved to say that “I’m on Facebook — Now What???” is off to the press, and the eBook is now available for purchase on the HappyAbout.info site. It has been a long time coming, but we’re finished! “I’m on Facebook — Now What???” is now officially one of the first books of its type available for sale, anywhere. Jason and I are pretty proud of that, and hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed writing it. If you’ve pre-ordered an eCopy, you have probably already received it, or will receive it in the next day. Purchase your copy here!
We love reviews! If you have a short review, we’ll post a link to Amazon.com for the book as soon as it is up, and you can post your reviews there. The more reviews we have there I am told increases our visibility on Amazon, so feel free to write one up, but save it for when I post it here. Also, you may start blogging about the book now! Our publisher has a terrific affiliate program, so if you’d like to make a little money off of your review in your blog, you can do so here. Also, don’t forget to add yourself as a fan to the Facebook Page, and subscribe to our blog at FacebookAdvice.com! Thanks again to Jason for his hard work and example in writing the book – he has been an excellent co-author to work with. Also, thanks to Lorenzen and Scoble for their great contributions to the Foreward and Afterward!
Wait, there’s more…
I’ve had so much fun writing this book, that I’ve decided to write another one. Today, I just signed a contract with O’Reilly to write what will be probably the first published manual on Facebook FBML. It will be a “small animals” book, which means it won’t quite be a full sized book, but it’s not quite a Pocket Reference either. It will most likely be called, “FBML Essentials”. So, if you’re a developer, anxious to develop Facebook applications, stay tuned! I will probably be putting together a separate site for that book too, similar to what we have done for facebookadvice.com. Please, feel free to share below your frustrations with Facebook development – I’d love to hear the most common complaints and perhaps resolve those in the book!
O’Reilly is also helping me get to Graphing Social Patterns West (no one has invited me to speak though, sorry – I am open for speaking engagements while I’m out there though!) March 3-4. If I get any other appointments I might leave earlier in the week, so feel free to book me for your user group meetings, radio, TV, podcasts, or whatever while I’m out in the L.A./San Diego area (that is my home away from home, as my grandparents live there)!
