I am proud to have not lived under a rock for the last month. It has its benefits- I experienced the sublime pleasures of seeing Paris Hilton get out of jail, visited my grandmother in New York City, and found inner peace.
Still… a small part of me wished that I did live under that rock. Why? Well… there is this onslaught of Facebook applications cluttering what was my favorite social-networking application!!!
Example: Facebook Graffiti
 
OK… I exaggerate. Facebook took a very bold step by opening up their platform, and in short order they have produced some impressive applications (Flickr, iLike, etc). Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, MySpace has recently revealed that it will soon follow suit. Finally, it is also generally known that Facebook users complain whenever anything is changed.
Yet, there are tell-tale signs of "App Fatigue" in the online community resulting from an overload of Facebook Applications, which requires users to spend enough time learning and distinguishing quality applications from… well… not so quality ones.
Want to hear about my sojourn into the world of Facebook apps? Sure you do! Last week, I decided to try the "30 Boxes" Facebook application, spent 10 minutes setting my preferences, and found that my only reward was a big fat error message! (It has been a week… still not working)
To make matters worse, I received a request to be someone’s "Top Friend", who I barely knew. I rejected her request on principal- Facebook shouldn’t distinguish ‘friends’ from "best friends" or "super best friends forever." Ackkk! Definitely reminded me of MySpace.
Yesterday I sat myself down to watch a recording of Mark Zuckerberg’s address in San Diego. I heard Mark Zuckerberg reason that Facebook needed to become a platform for creating applications because decentralized systems work better and so logically ‘good’ Facebook apps would succeed. I thought to myself- “Yeah… that sounds reasonable and Web 2.0. Rock on!”
Still, I couldn't help but notice that leaving Facebook users to sort out which apps are good and which are not, have left many users fatigued and simply lost interest in trying new applications. I’ve heard repeated complaints how the new applications reduce Facebook’s "clean and simple" interface. This is more than just anger about suffering the Facebook Graffiti app…it is just that no one wants to take the time to sort through the 90+ applications! Facebook users don’t want to install a new application that are not trustworthy nor tested in order to "throw food" or add "super poke."

Even Facebook App developers are recognizing this trend: "I definitely think that people are initially going to run into 'app fatigue,'" said Amit Gupta who created a Facebook Platform application for his photography tips newsletter, Photojojo. Facebook users are an especially finicky bunch- the release of the News Feed last year provides a prime example of how Facebook users expressed vehement disapproval, followed by acceptance and support. People don’t like change… familiarity and continuity are valuable to users who don’t want to bother learning a new interface.
Will the release of Facebook as a platform, and the subsequent onslaught of mostly ineffective applications harm Facebook’s growth and reputation?
My opinion- No.
While angry that it has to conduct such sorting, the masses of Facebook users will eventually sort it out, and the useful applications will remain while others fall to the wayside. Already there are a myriad of articles on websites like CNET.com, Wired, and ZDNet that detail the most useful Facebook applications.
Bottom line- Until the initial rush of applications slows down and clear winners emerge, I don’t give a fig to whatever my friends are adding.
A lot of businesses are crazy for Facebook applications. What does the Facebook Platform mean for businesses in the long run?