One of the greatest bits of buzz around Facebook these days is the application APIs, the “Facebook Platform”. It’s also one of the most frustrating aspects from a user perspective. Very often I’ll see on my News Feed that someone installed an application and I’ll think to myself that I should check out that app. However, if I don’t do it right at that precise moment, well, the odds are that I won’t… because it seems next to impossible to find apps in the directory!
Has anyone else been able to successfully use the “search” feature in Facebook’s Application Directory?
Take today… I saw on my Facebook News Feed at some point in the day that someone I know had installed the “Appsaholic” application. Subsequently in a lunchtime conversation I wound up learning about this app enough that I got curious. So I went to my Applications page inside my Facebook account and entered “Appsaholic” in the search box. This was the result (click on image for larger version):
Oops. I tried several other variations on the name to no avail. Finally, I just went to Google and searched on “facebook apps-a-holic” which brought me to this article which gave me the application URL inside of Facebook.
Crazy.
Why should I have to go outside of Facebook in order to find an application?
Unfortunately, this has been my experience several times on different days, and I find it a bit of a concern. So much of developing an app for Facebook is about being found. Obviously the viral path through newsfeeds is one way to be found, but the application directory is an obvious one. If you make it to one of the provided lists, you’ll be found, but searching should work, one would think.
Have others experienced this problem?
(Now I would note that I couldn’t find any of the applications I’ve already installed when I searched in the directory – perhaps the issue is that the search engine is down itself. If so, it would be best for Facebook to put up a statement that the search engine is having problems rather than just saying “No applications found.”)
I had the same problem with finding a group on Facebook. I had a friend start a group, and I could see it on his profile, but couldn’t find a way to join. When I did a search I spent a fruitless half hour trying to find it, found two similar ones, but never found his.
In any case, I find FaceBook pretty addictive.
I had the same problem with finding a group on Facebook. I had a friend start a group, and I could see it on his profile, but couldn’t find a way to join. When I did a search I spent a fruitless half hour trying to find it, found two similar ones, but never found his.
In any case, I find FaceBook pretty addictive.
I’ve only been using the Facebook search facility for a week or so but it appears to be almost completely useless. The results have been inconsistent, contradictory and sometimes bizarre.