What It Does:: Can’t get enough of America’s favorite bi-curious Keebler Elf look-alike reality TV star, Tila Tequila? Fear not! The Tila Tequila Widget not only advertises an infatuation with Ms. Tequila but also allows users to download wallpaper and ringtones directly to their cell phones. Her face is proudly plastered over a large chunk of the user’s Facebook page to boot. What’s not to love (except her horrendous TV show)?
Number of Downloads:: 220, which equals the same amount of people excited for the 2nd season of “A Shot at Love.”
Why It Fails:: Tila Tequila’s life is a textbook definition of “flash in the pan.” Attempting to make a revenue-cultivating Facebook app off of her celebrity is inherently problematic, especially since Ms. Tequila’s fifteen minutes of fame were up about a year ago.
What It Does:: This is a quiz created by a particularly rabid American Idol fan with too much time on his hands. It bases your American Id-entity based on six inane questions with multiple-choice answers corresponding with the eponymous final 5 contestants. The results of the test surprised us: Syesha Mercado? Remember her? Neither do we.
Number of Downloads:: 229 Simon Cowell devotees.
Why It Fails:: It’s clear that “American Idol” has enormous longevity and staying power, but this app was obsolete the minute it was created.
What It Does:: Facebook is a microcosm of the vast expanses of the Internet, even the ornithology-minded parts; therefore, it’s not surprising that there is an application that allows users to “Send fancy breeds of Chickens [sic] to friends.” The different breeds do not correspond to anything in particular; they’re simply just a variety of chickens. The more chickens you send to friends (who must install the app themselves), the app will “unlock” more send-able breeds of chickens.
Number of Downloads:: 215 users and no Jim Perdue among them.
Why It Fails:: We cry fowl on this application. “We Love Chickens” is an egg-cellent demonstration of how sometimes private hobbies don’t translate well into Facebook applications. The entire app consists of simply accruing more and more “breeds” (read: pictures) of chickens on the user’s Facebook page. Unless you really, really love chickens, we can’t see how this application is even remotely appealing to the average Facebooker.
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Recent Comments | 4 Total
September 6, 2008 at 12:52pm by Johannes Bhakdi
Ha, thats a fun article! Its true there is lots of crap on Facebook. We are working on a facebook application (Klatcher widget) that makes user generated content sell - I hope we don't appear in the next issue of the worst applications ;)
Sell your content on Klatcher
September 7, 2008 at 8:17pm by A. Lapre
Most, if not all FB apps are annoying and really make your FB page look cluttered. I have yet to see any really useful apps or apps that are "fun" to take the time to download and share.
September 8, 2008 at 10:50am by David Mullings
Oh so true.
I would love to see an article on the opposite too: the ones that have been successful, like Coinjar or iLike.