2. Making Great Applications

There are more than 350,000 applications in the Facebook Application Directory, and more than 70 percent of Facebook users engage with them each month. However, only around 5,000 of those applications have 10,000 or more monthly active users. The success of an application can be short lived, so making it near the top doesn’t mean that an application will stay there.

What separates the top applications from the rest? In some cases, it is just luck, combined with effective use of the various integration points. However, the applications with staying power tend to exhibit the same quality; they deliver actual value to users. That value can be quick fun, better interaction with friends, or a new way for users to express ...

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