Facebook is at it again, ladies and gents. Just this Wednesday, the billion dollar company introduced a new news and content app, “Notify.” Wired.com claims that this new invention isn’t just to please Facebook’s users but was created to specifically lure them in even more than before. They’re doing so by enticing you to now come to your phone, not just your Facebook newsfeed on your laptop. Whether it’s a promotional move or not, Facebook is providing its users with some pretty cool new features, especially this newsy app.
As of right now, Notify is only available in the U.S. on iPhones. The app allows for users to sign up for alerts on different topics such as news, movies, sports and shopping. With all these different options, Facebook really is marketing to anyone and everyone. Good play, Facebook. An example of this playing out well might be for one user to sign up for CNN updates while the other signs up for notifications from Vogue. These notifications show up on a locked iPhone screen, and by swiping or tapping the notification, users are able to go to the full article.
Forbes.com cites that this new standalone app will compete with Twitter and LinkedIn’s Pulse because they are also content-based. This competition among different apps proves that there must be some type of trend in users wanting to gain information in a different way then simply searching the Internet on Google. At the same time, though, it will be interesting to watch Notify’s popularity, considering users are already being bombarded by a slew of other notifications, from Facebook even. It’s possible that Notify could become just another source of spam if these notifications aren’t tastefully and timely done.
Whether it’s a smart venture on Facebook’s behalf, we’ll have to wait and see. However, it is easy to see why the company began pursing the concept in the first place. Notify is another way in which Facebook is experimenting in order to expand its reach. Since users are beginning to spend time on Facebook and other social networking sites on their phones, it is smart to market strictly on a mobile basis. Notify will also be beneficial to Facebook as a site. By signing up for Notify, users will be giving Facebook permission to see exactly what they are interested in. Sounds like a pretty good way to get in some good advertisement! Well, maybe it’s not quite a win-win yet, but the future is looking more or less bright for Notify.
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