You probably thought those pesky Facebook applications were ridiculous. Constant viral notifications beckoning you to use the force on your friends, as you serve them a virtual beer while high fiving them. You buckle and eventually give in, uploading them so you can interact with your social circle.
While I fail to see how many of these applications enrich our social networking lives, there are a handful that are useful, engaging and spread like a wildfire – which essentially contain the key elements to quality Web 2.0 friendly content.
Initially begun for university students to network and interact, its distinctive, unadorned simplicity minus the extravagant features, has demonstrated as the chosen place where Generation Y’s movers and shakers click.
“Their young, smart and brash”, as described in an article by Stephanie Armour, in USA TODAY.
So why would this bright and web-sassy demographic sign up to a load of applications that quite frankly make little or no contribution to their lives?
Welcome to the next generation of Web 2.0 fashioned applications – Facebook style – The Blog RSS Feed Reader.
I personally grew tired of the Facebook application wasteland that currently exists. I too am a member of Facebook and have been searching for a sophisticated, intelligent application that would not only engage my social network but inject quality content onto my Facebook profile.
After extensive experimentation and many late night discussions, ‘The Blog RSS Feed Reader’ was born. A collaboration between myself and Wiliam staff members, Benjamin Christie and Jason Deacon – the feeder syndicates blogs via an RSS feed, directly onto Facebook Profiles - displayed for everyone to see in social networks.
Its unique personalisation, suitable for individuals and organisations alike, delivers an ingenuous method to generate traffic towards Facebook Profiles.
The real beauty lies behind the content material streamed. While user generated content is largely generic from other applications, users ultimately control what the Blog RSS Feed Reader produces - using the exact content they have nominated to be selected.
Essentially the Blog RSS Feed Reader operates as both a content syndication service and a notification system which doesn’t require any additional software – users only need to download the application and it’s ready to use immediately.
Within days of uploading the application, over 1288 individuals had added it to their Facebook Profile. This overwhelming response, clearly demonstrates how effective online viral marketing has become.
While the response to Wiliam’s Blog RSS Feed Reader application has been tremendous, Benjamin stumbled upon a glowing review on facebookprofile.com that had us convinced that we were clearly onto the right track.
“…..it looks awesome…very web 2.0 style….Honestly just use it.”
It’s my firm belief with social utilities such as Facebook, that organisations should manipulate viral resources such as business branded Facebook applications and integrate them as a key online marketing tool.
There is no doubt that Facebook applications have the capability of generating brand awareness.
The clear advantage I have and potentially countless organisations, from uploading business branded Facebook Applications – is that It allows me to tap into various demographics and creates an opportunity for developing relationships with potential clients, employees and partners.
Add Wiliam’s RSS Blog Reed Feeder to your Facebook profile here.
1 COMMENT...
I have been using an RSS feed reader on my Facebook for a while now as another way to easily publicise my personal blog. I'll hopefully be doing the same for Netregistry's corporate blogs as well to tap into some of that Web2.0 goodness. So I was happy to read your article and then realise that the feed reader I picked was yours. Excellent stuff.
A successful blog needs to reach as many readers as possible, so wherever you have a platform, be it Facebook, MySpace, forum profiles, sister sites, etc, you should always be looking at ways of feeding them back to your blog. This application and others like it help with this brilliantly. And without me having to do a thing!
Thanks