Dear Facebook: Enough with the Applications

Facebook LogoHere is a challenge for you developers: create an application to opt out of Facebook application invites. Enough! I do not want to be bitten by you Vampires, I do not want to write on your wall, or a Super Wall, or a super dooper wall, or a dooper super dooper poking smiling wall.

There are so many applications developed for Facebook, with so many more added on a daily basis. Some of these are created for productivity, some for fun, but some are time wasters without providing any value. There are Wall and Poke variations with the Super Wall and SuperPoke!. The ‘Cities I’ve Visited’ Map, shows the places where a particular friend has previously visited. For those that a simple Birthday notification on your home page just doesn’t do the trick, you can add the Birthday Alert application. As for different “game” applications, why bite your friends as a vampire alone, join forces with the Lycans (WereWolves) or Zombies.

So are these applications actually providing additional value to our daily lives? Do these tools truly allow us to get to know our friends a lot better? Or are they actually doing the opposite?

Since I have started my relationship with Facebook, I have added just one application. 2 minutes later…I removed it. Immediately after I downloaded the app (it is extremely unfortunate that I do not remember its name), I realized that these applications will drain my valuable time. Based on observation of my good friend’s utility of all the different ones they have added, I am glad I have not joined this trend.

Let’s take a look at some applications I have been invited to in the past. If you use or have heard of these, let us know if you think they are valuable or not. Also, tell us of other ones you think are great or not.

Enough with the Applications

‘What Color Are you?’, ‘Compare People’, ‘Likeness’, ‘How Good A Kisser Are You?’, ‘Circle of Friends’, ‘Sticky Notes’, ‘What Kind of Lover Are You?’, ‘Are YOU Interested?’, ‘Graffiti’, ‘My Aquarium’, ‘Movies’, ‘My Garden’, ‘Flowershop’, and more and more…

Some of these sound cute, some sound fun, some could even be considered practical, such as…My Aquarium (hmmm…?). Either way, we are drowned by these applications everyday, whether we have logged onto Facebook or not. So in all actuality, are these applications a wonderful feature, or a nuisance?

Since the current statistics stand at a new application is born every 5 seconds (I wish this actually had a real source), I want to suggest a few:

  • The “Ignore Forever Application“. If I get invited by someone more than once (after I ignored them), I would like to click the ignore them forever feature. This will help filter out unknown Facebookers and the paparazzi.
  • The “Wooden Stake and Silver Bullet Application“. If I get bitten by a vampire or attacked by a werewolf more than once, I want to be able to take care of these monsters the right way.
  • And also The “I do not accept Application invites, for if I wanted to find an application, I would search for it myself Application“. This one I think speaks for itself.

By the way, I have copyright protection for my Applications I have suggested above. I guess before I will develop my ideas, I will create a Group for each…and invite ALL my friends.