Facebook Developers

the nazis put badges on people too..

bbernstone wrote:

the nazis put badges on people too..

But the Jews didnt have to pay It was free and for everyone

I'd like to see all developers weight in on this (keep it serious).

I think this program is a bad way to separate spammy bad apps from good, engaging apps (if that is the purpose).

The rules seem too arbitrary and applying for verification every 12 months for 42,000 apps--umm I don't see how facebook can really review every app.

Did you guys check out what they want--screen shots that document your application's flow?

$375 every 12 months makes facebook no longer an open, free platform (it's not like they're hosting apps or anything).

Bad idea.

This idea is absolutely wrong in my opinion, if dev. start to see that there is no point in creating new and interesting apps for this platform they will just move along to the other open and FREE platforms... I mean really why should we waist our time and talent to create apps that generate page views and thereby an opportunity for facebook to cash in by showing there own ads and then have to PAY for it to?

As I see it facebook is making a lot of ad revenues thanks to people working and creating apps for them for free... now they want to charge us for making them money... really a strange idea.

And please Facebook don't insult our intelligences by saying that you are doing this to help us and the users of Facebook to find good apps. the least you guys can do is to have some dignity and just come out and say what you really mean. I mean honestly how much time can it take for one of your employs to "verify" the quality of an app?
10 min, 30 min.. lets say it takes them a full hour, are you seriously charging us $375/hour for this "service"

ps. whats stopping me from paying the fee, have a clean "nice" app until i get "verifyed" and then BOOM turning things around and start spamming like there is no tomorrow?

Supy wrote:

bbernstone wrote:

the nazis put badges on people too..

But the Jews didnt have to pay It was free and for everyone

you dont think the jews paid for it? and the way we will pay for it is class seperation.. there will be the high level facebook apps up on the pedestal, and the lower class ones which deserve just as much of a chance here...

so heres my advertising for ya then...

apps . facebook . com / dreidel /

i made it out of clay!! and when facebook says its ready, o dreidel everyone will play...

<div style="position: absolute; top: -192px;"><img src="http://developers.facebook.com/images/verification_badge.gif" /></div><br /><br />

Slap that in a Static FBML block and you're golden.

How much do you think this is worth?  FOUR HUNDRED?  THREE HUNDRED?  TWO HUNDRED?  NO!!!!  You pay only $150/year for all this and moooore! (now accepting Paypal)

Last edited by Yeldarb (2008-11-18 15:02:45)

iwarner, do you think this badge will seriously bring people from other apps like the games you mentioned to your app? there are plenty of quality apps out there not having traffic because simply people that use facebook don't want serious apps.

If facebook wants to make their platform officially a clique (it already is, unofficially, for some companies), that's fine, but you know there will be another social network that will grab the opportunity and build on the fbOpen platform.

p.s.
why is it called verification? what are they verifying? will my apps be 'fake' or 'dubious' from 2009?

No I never said that

What it will do is increase my chances (if verified) of attracting new users to my application moreover than Watercooler (assuming they dont verify there 1 billion apps)

I think we all exagerate what Facebook is - yes some people rely on it now for their living - fundamentally I think this is the mistake - you cannot rely on Facebook not to suddenly dissapear one day due to liquidation etc (happened to larger companies recently)

If Facebook what to adhere to there launch policy and platform development cycle then so be it - live with it - I actually really enjoy the rapid releases they do; its a far better experience to developing on Bebo or Myspace (Myspace platform was down for most of the last weekend!) who are now so far behind that there platform ceases to be worthwhile.

So verification and a small premium to pay is nothing to get our knickers in a twist about I think.

Apple charges $99 to even register a develop account - they probably feel guilty that you also need a MAC and an Iphone to even begin

Verification is optional after all - if you believe in your application then I really dont think $375 is that much, like I said if you dont think you can earn that back then what is the point of slaving a way over it in the first place?

I think that was a very well constructed post and totally agree - the money should not be an issue - its about what added benefits we get - from my first reply to this thread I talked about Premium services for the money added support etc - this seems to have been overlooked and instead you replied to some of the less serious elements I put in it.

My issues with Bebo and MySpace are that the platform goes up and down more than I would like - a whole weekend gone - ridiculous
http://developer.myspace.com/Community/ … urday.aspx

The review application on apps is seriously floored though, but some other 'Not Free Text Box' based reivewing system would be better I think

zerostar07 wrote:

I still think an effort to 'review' apps should be community-driven, not under the shadow of the 'big brother'

I might be wrong but having actually gone through the process of reviewing literally hundreds of apps, I can say that a community-driven effort is perhaps one instance when the collaboration theory does not, CANNOT, apply. 

This is not something a person can do on an ongoing basis unless there is a real motivating force behind.  Even then, were you to achieve it, there will always be *someone* trying to undermine the effort.


Note to FB team:  For what it is worth, I cannot imagine why on earth you would need to charge so much.  In the end, you are only going to achieve one thing and that is to alienate every single developer who cannot meet that fee, for whatever reason that may be.  Add to that what many have posted regarding the implications for those apps which do not have the badge, you pretty much have a problem here.

This is one case indeed where the medicine will be worse than the sickness...

Stupid question I know but... with things such as the Oscars and the like, do people actually have to pay to be considered? 

Kind of defeats the whole purpose.

iwarner wrote:

Price - Not to worried about $375 per app it's not rediculous at all. In fact if you think you cant make that much back in 1 month of the app going live - then dont bloody code the app and saturate the directory with rubbish!

My application has a spiritual context - it's used by thousands of people - but it's never going to be more than a niche audience. It's never going to make $375 per month.
I don't sell advertising because I want an ad-free experience for users. I have to pay for web hosting so the app actually costs me money to keep going.

I have a better idea than the Verification Program. Just REMOVE all of the existing apps that are NOT well-designed, meaningful or trustworthy. The ones left are verified. Or maybe that should have been the approval process to start with (if not, what was?)? And maybe then Facebook wouldn't have to force us developers to pay them to re-approve everything.