New Channel For App Invites, Facebook Chat

March 5th, 2009 by Nick Gonzalez

Facebook has released a new chat API that lets developers integrate chat right into their applications. I’m holding my breath on how effective this will be, but any new viral channels are more than welcome.

Here’s how it works:

1. After embedding the fb:chat-invite FBML element, users will see a list of their Facebook friends that are online and available to chat. (Like with Facebook’s multi-friend selector, developers can choose which friends should or shouldn’t appear in this list.)

2. Users select a friend to send a Facebook chat invite to.

3. The recipient receives the invite through a Facebook chat message that pops up on their screen.

This is a new viral channel that should convert very well for developers due to:

1. The prominence of invite delivery. Unlike regular application invites, which go into the general requests inbox, chat invites pop up on the recipient’s screen instantly.

2. The social pressure to respond to chat messages in real time. If your friend wants to talk to you and knows you’re online, it’s awkward to ignore them. The same dynamic will apply to application chat invites.

via New Viral Channel: Facebook Launches Chat Invite API for Applications.

Tags: facebook

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