Facebook is placing new rules on developer notifications by adding limits on inactive users and high-volume notification users. Facebook, Inc. has started to report the data users generate following an introductory test it rolled out at the end of August 2012. The social network implemented a Beta version launch of a new “Notifications API” for applications, along with a minimum “click-to-impression ratio” requirement at Facebook.com.
Facebook released the API to allow users to send succinct, customizable messages to peers and connections through Facebook.com and its “notifications jewel.” Facebook stated the Notification API will allow its community base to “re-engage users” by updating them about events, activities and their latest invites from their contacts at Facebook. A potential benefit for Facebook users may surface from the opportunity the Notifications API presents: an option to communicate with third parties across a broader spectrum of social networking.
The Facebook website is flush with messages thrumming to and fro in its social queues. The overflow of constant media and Web content communiqué are what Facebook Inc. plans to quell with the Notifications API.
“Notifications are a powerful way to communicate with users, but require good judgment,” Facebook notes. The social network has cautioned developers to self-monitor “how” they utilize its API stating, “To ensure the best reach for your notifications, be mindful of the language you use and the frequency at which you send them.”
“Notifications work well when they deliver relevant, useful information to people using your app,” Facebook states on its developer pages. Facebook, Inc. suggests users create and re-purpose Web content to attract the attention of social network communities. While Facebook has assured users it will monitor and adjust how notifications will appear, it acknowledges all notifications should ensure “developers have an optimized experience.”
Facebook has defined its ‘notifications’ as “short strings of custom text.” Developers have the option to reference authorized users within their applications. A “UID” will expand to show a detail of each user’s name, Facebook reports. When the name appears as “clickable” text, Facebook users may access the text and follow the URL synced with the notification.
The notifications are “free-form text,” and Facebook reports on its developer pages, “We enforce a maximum number of 180 characters in this field,” adding, “Otherwise, [we] will throw exception.”
The “quality controls” for the Notifications API will work efficiently Facebook states, “because users pay attention to them.” Facebook stated the API gives users “a lot of freedom to design notifications as you wish.” The social network emphasized further that developers creating their applications should forego sending notifications to any user that has not visited their application(s) within 28 days.
October 26, 2012, Facebook Inc. noted that its data revealed the social interests of persons not utilizing an app, or participating in social engagements for more than a month’s time, was significantly less than its active users. It perceived, additionally, “They are also the most likely to report your notifications as spam.”
Facebook warns developers to remain aware of spam to extend their quality control practices. “Applications that receive a high degree of spam reports may be disabled,” the social network has concluded.
Learn what you may and may not access within the Notifications API, relating to high-volume activity and inactive user queues, at Facebook’s developer pages.