The User Activity Stream
One of the major interaction points of a social networking site is the user’s activity stream, or news feed. This feed (shown in Figure 1-3) shows users an aggregated view of their own activities and status updates, as well as the application activities of their connections and friends.
Figure 1-3. A user’s social activity stream
Often, applications within a container are not promoted in that container’s prime real-estate locations. This means that in order to drive traffic back to their applications, developers need to take advantage of features that put their applications front and center for the users.
Because it is the major interaction point for users, the activity stream is the prime outlet for doing just that. Being able to push out application-promoting activities to the user’s stream allows developers to reach an entirely new audience—the user’s friends and connections—and drive traffic to their applications.
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