In another example of cooptition, the niche social network / food & entertainment review site has established a presence on Yelp with its Hangouts application. The app is not much to write home about but it is a good example of outside companies finding value in joining the Facebook ecosystem -- and integrating in a complementary way. Yelp is well-focused on reviews and Facebook won't be stealing any of their users. Rather the move is a recognition that Facebook is the becoming a requisite part of online identity and so members of the Yelp tribe should connect there too. Facebook also a makes a good venue for passive marketing though we don't expect the growth to be anywhere as explosive as iLike's because of the local and physical nature of hangouts.

Hangouts creates a widget that tells profile readers where you'll be and your favorite hangouts based on your inputs. In this way, Hangouts is a profile extension much like the events calendar on MySpace. Scenesters use the calendar on MySpace to bolster their status by announcing the stream of shows they plan to attend. I also expect Hangout to be more a status tool than a form of passive invitation.

The venues listed in Hangouts derive from entries in the Yelp database. Clicking them on the Facebook profile leads to a Facebook landing page with ratings, venue information, and other app users / members with the same interest, in similar fashion to iLike. The venue links on the landing page lead back to the Yelp mothership. The integration of the two platforms is quite natural.

Hangouts seems to be someone's side project at Yelp because it bombs with an error when I try to make entries or often when I click anything on the profile. I'm sure they'll get it right. However, given the open field and relentless introduction of new applications everyday, they should get it right sooner than later. Hangouts is gravy to the loyal Yelp user base, but the real danger of complacency is someone coming out of nowhere iLike-style to take the local space on Facebook.

Popularity: 23% [?]

I saw this funny post by social networking expert Stowe Boyd yesterday:

I have been exploring a bunch of the new stuff on my Facebook account.

Question: Why does Facebook only allow me one blog to be imported? I write three, and they represent different sides of my character. This is a show stopper in the long run. I will move to Jaiku permanently, if they don't fix this flaw.

This is like Paris Hilton complaining that jail doesn't suit her lifestyle or a homebuilder complaining that a Honda sedan doesn't carry lumber as well as a pickup truck.  But then Facebook is no mere Honda and it can in fact carry lumber -- or represent the many facets of Boyd's character:  Rick Measham of Australia released a Jaiku application last week for Facebook.  And this is not even an official Jaiku product.  Twitter is already on the F8 bandwagon and many more will follow.  Even the experts can gloss over the depth and power of the Facebook F8 social platform.  Facebook is no mere static object, it is a Transformer.

Popularity: 10% [?]

While not a very useful application, Food Fight does demonstrate the intrinsic power of playful social interaction over glitzy effects.  Food Fight, developed by David Gentzel of Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!), extends the psychology behind the poke.  As in MMORPGs like Warcraft or with virtual roses in Hotornot, users of the application spend a virtual currency on a menu of food items to toss at their friends.  The items show up on the FF widget on the target profile.  A whole list of tossings shows up on each person's FF application page.  The major glitch in the idea is that the recipients must have the application installed to receive food thrown at them.  But you can invite friends to install the app and judging from the discussions on the app board, the grade school audience seem to be big fans of it.  Food Fight has 200,000 or so users today.  Each user is alloted $5 to spend on food per day and the virtual credit is free.

Popularity: 10% [?]

That's the subject of a short email from Mike Lanza today.  Videos using the Click.TV player will stop working as of June 8.  To those worry that this cool piece of technology will go away, Mike reassures us:

While I regret this shutdown, I am very excited by the reason behind it.  You'll be seeing Click.TV technology very soon doing *much* bigger and better things.

Popularity: 8% [?]