How Apps were Impacted by the Social Stream
As the social stream (Twitter, Facebook, et al.) grows and becomes more dynamic, the state of software applications has never been healthier or more exciting. And the cool thing is that the growth of social media and applications is a mutual one. The social stream has become the driving force behind the creation of new, innovative applications — apps continue to enhance, expand, and increase accessibility of the social stream. Let’s take a quick look at how social media has bred new applications, and been integrated into others, now and in the future.
There’s no way around it: social media entities breed applications. Just look at Twitter. Out of nowhere, an app vertical specifically geared towards making the Twitter experience more dynamic was born. For those Wakoopians out there, just search for Twitter and you’ll be presented with 230+ application results. Mind you, these are only desktop and web apps; this doesn’t include mobile. A lens on Squidoo lists 275 unique desktop and web apps for Twitter alone. iLounge has a great article on all of the iPhone’s 30+ Twitter apps you’ll find in the iTunes App Store. And that’s just Twitter. There were tens of thousands of Facebook web apps created since their Facebook platform was launched in May 2007. When the next social media giant is born, expect a deluge of apps to enhance its experience.
The integration of social media into current apps and the merging of communication vehicles to include social media are also important effects to acknowledge. Digsby provides an elegant solution that merges IM 
functionality with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn integration. Oh yeah, their app supports email notifications, as well — pretty cool. The newest version of the Flock browser includes new social features like Twitter search, drag-and-drop tweets, Facebook chat, etc. Until recently, I couldn’t send tweets into Evernote for safe-keeping. Now I can. These are just a few select examples; there are many more. I expect to see social integration in applications to progress, providing users with more seamless experiences.
Other apps could improve their leverage of the social stream in new ways. Feed readers should beef up support of the social stream. They should
stop seeing themselves as RSS aggregators by taking a hint from FriendFeed and start seeing themselves as streamed information aggregators (FeedDemon is starting to with the new pre-release 3.0 version). The lines between how and what is streamed should progressively blur. Productivity apps could leverage the social stream in their help section; instead of searching forums for answers, what if I could open up “social help” and leverage the stream for problem solving without ever having to leave the application? I want the social stream to flood over my illustrations in Photoshop so I can receive real-time critiques. I don’t see how any application publisher can ignore the power and influence of the social stream and the impact it has on in-application user engagement.
In my eyes, the effects of the social stream on application use are just beginning. Assuredly, we will see more dynamic ways to connect people, share content, and democratize information — all in real-time. Twitter and Facebook are current examples of how social media breeds application verticals through easy-to-use, open platforms and how applications enhance the experience of these core social services. This relationship will continue to mature as the walls around social networks crumble, providing users with new applications that do more to exponentially enhance and expand the social stream.
Eric Montag, Product Manager, W3i Holdings, LLC
Eric uses his experience in graphic design, mobile, and internet marketing to lead the charge in product research, planning, and execution, from both a consumer and business standpoint.
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