The First Principle of Writing Academic Facebook Applications

If you really must line the pockets of Mark Zuckerberg by writing a Facebook application, be sure the application takes advantage of the nature of Facebook. First and foremost, it’s a social networking site, so your application should have some social aspect to it. Many academic Facebook applications are merely search boxes or other non-social search and information services transposed to Facebook (e.g., JSTOR Search or the countless library search widgets). Study Groups, on the other hand, gets it right by emphasizing the networking and collaboration possible within Facebook.

Comments

[…] news roundup looks at a new campus gossip website, the expulsion of a student for using a Facebook study group, and the significance of iPhones coming to campuses in the fall along with the new iPhone SDK […]

Leave a Reply