iLike shows potential for Facebook applications

News of the latest Facebook Platform naturally had me interested, seeing as I am a confirmed addict of this social networking site. Last week’s unveiling created boundless opportunities for e-Businesses to create applications which benefit Facebook users; the functions of these applications range from rating recently viewed movies to adopting cute fluffy friends to live on your profile. But do these applications have promise? The unexpected, exponential and instantaneous growth of the music application iLike suggests a resounding “UM, YEAH!”

Now, I usually consider myself up-to-speed with the happenings of Facebook, but I must have been asleep when iLike took this social networking site by storm. In the short span of its existence, iLike has accumulated over 1.2 million users including 23 of my own friends! The application’s appeal is that it allows users to add songs or music videos to their Facebook profile; and iLike preserves the concept of a social networking site by allowing users to interact with each other via sharing favorite artists or competing in trivia games such as “The Music Challenge.”

Two days ago, Cameron Olthuis posted a great article on Searchengineland.com, advising e-Marketers on how to maximize their chances of success with their Facebook application. Basically, interested e-Marketers ought to create an application that satisfies the members of a social networking site— something we Facebook addicts want (like free music to customize our pages!) and can easily use.

Olthuis writes, “Because the Facebook Platform is so new we are only able to scratch the surface at this point of what works and what doesn't.” It’s obvious that not all applications can expect the same magnitude of popularity as iLike. But iLike has certainly showed us that these applications have great potential in the Facebook community.