Platypus update

June 21, 2007

This is what happens when Facebook adds your application to their directory:

Here is a quick summary of the other numbers from the Platypus experiment:

• 416 people have looked at it
• 227 people have installed it
• 158 people are currently using it
• 69 people (30%) installed it and then removed it again

The biggest surprise to me with these numbers is the low retention rate. Why am I loosing 30% of the people who install my application? Has anyone else noticed this trend with their Facebook applications?

Introducing my 1st Facebook app, Platypus

June 13, 2007

For those of you who were wondering about the Facebook application that I wrote about yesterday, you can now see it live on Facebook. If you don’t want to install it, you can click here to see a screenshot from my facebook profile.

As I mentioned in my last post, Platypus isn’t what I’m working on this summer. If it takes off, great! If not, it’s not going to hurt my feelings. Platypus was just something I threw together in a few hours to explore the capabilities of the new API.

I must say that I’m already intrigued by the viral nature of these new Facebook applications. I just released the application this morning, but every time I log on to Facebook I find 3 or 4 more strangers who have added Platypus to their profiles. I have no idea how so many people are finding it! It’s going to be interesting to see what happens once the application gets approved for the public directory.

Don’t worry. I’ll be posting lots of insider statistics along the way as more people keep adding my Platypus to their profiles.