It's fascinating watching different Web platforms utilizing each other, for various reasons. First it was Netvibes with its Facebook widget, which was mostly a cheeky move to get Facebook users to switch to Netvibes for their homepage. Now Firefox has gotten into the act with an Add-ons sharing app called Rock Your Firefox. In this case it's more about Firefox wanting to tap into Facebook's 34 Million users and create a social network around Firefox add-ons.
When I first installed the Rock Your Firefox app, I wasn't too sure what it was for. But I soon discovered its main purpose is to be a community list of Firefox add-ons, where you can share your favorite add-ons with other Facebook users. Likewise you can see which Firefox add-ons your friends are using. A social network for Firefox add-on users, basically.
Note that you can install the Firefox add-ons from within Facebook, but they aren't actually Facebook apps. They're simply Firefox add-ons (mini apps) that you find and share on Facebook. It's a little confusing, but that goes with the territory when two Web platforms get integrated together like this.
A commenter on the Rock Your Firefox homepage asked how this is different from browsing the Mozilla Add-ons site. Paul Kim, marketing director at Mozilla, replied that the main difference is that the Facebook app enables you to "find recommended add-ons from your friends on Facebook who use Firefox, and in turn letting your FB friends know the add-ons you think are useful."
This has its uses, because I have to admit that I'm curious what add-ons my friends use. For example I was able to click on Jay Meattle's FB profile and see that he is using the following two Firefox add-ons:
The main problem with this app? It doesn't display your existing add-ons. It only shows add-ons you add using Rock Your Firefox. There needs to be an automatic way for the app to detect existing add-ons and add them to your profile.
Also, it must be asked: why did Mozilla decide to create this social network on Facebook and not add their own social network functionality onto the Firefox Add-ons website? The 34 Million Facebook users was certainly a factor. And in a way it demonstrates how Facebook is becoming like a 'social network add-on' for other web apps and platforms. Why re-invent the social networking wheel when you can plug into Facebook?
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Firefox Launches Facebook App - a Social Network For Firefox Add-on Users.
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Hi Richard -- Thanks for the review, and feature suggestions. I'm the marketing director here at Mozilla. Rock Your Firefox was built by one of our summer college interns, Justin Scott, who worked with a team of other interns to test, stage and launch the Facebook app. Your suggestion to list your existing add-ons was echoed elsewhere and is something our developers are actively investigating for a future release of Rock Your Firefox.
Posted by: Paul Kim | August 6, 2007 5:31 PMRichard, thanks for the plug :)
All in all, I think this is a great step forward for the Mozilla Add-ons directory and especially for the add-on developer community.
It certainly makes the world of add-ons a whole lot more accessible to a wider audience.
Kudos to Paul, Justin and the rest of the team. Keep it coming!
While playing around with the app I quickly discovered that one can only display and recommend add-ons that are listed on Mozilla's official Add-ons directory. This is probably a good thing, as add-ons in the directory undergo stringent quality checks.
Since Shareaholic (the plug-in I released yesterday) is currently undergoing the review process to be listed (can easily take a few weeks), I couldn't add it to my list.
Check it out here: http://shareaholic.com :)
Posted by: Jay Meattle | August 6, 2007 6:16 PMThanks Paul and I updated your title in the post.
Posted by: Richard MacManus | August 6, 2007 6:18 PMYou know, love firefox, love RWW, but sooooo sick of social networks. Surely I can't be the only one.
Posted by: Mike | August 6, 2007 8:59 PMThanks for the blog. A few more and I may understand what is happening with social networks.
Posted by: Larry | August 6, 2007 10:16 PM