Earlier today, Facebook announced the upcoming release of a Games Dashboard and Application Dashboard, to “make it easier for users to interact with your applications and provide you with new communication channels accessible to all users from the home page.”
You’re excited, right?
Well, if you’re into playing Facebook games and using their apps, you should be. It will streamline the experience, and open up a whole new social aspect. Devs should also be happy, and Facebook is updating the Dashboard API so they can get started on integrating content.
New features include:
- Recently used applications and games
- News items
- Mentioning Users
- Your Friends’ Recent Activity
- Your Friends’ Play
- Directory
- Suggestions
- Counters and home page placement
I don’t personally favor use of Facebook games or apps because for one, I don’t have the time to sink into things like Farmville, and secondly, there are inherent privacy concerns. Facebook has yet to be completely straightforward when it comes to what information your friends’ apps can pull from your profile, even if you don’t use them. I would gladly leave the service altogether if it wasn’t the only portal keeping me in touch with some of my relatives. But, I digress.
Here’s an idea of how the Games Dashboard will look:
When it comes down to it, the dashboards will engage users and organize information. I’m sure Facebook sees it as a win-win for users and devs. What I want to know is this: Will Facebook remove all of those annoying game and app notifications currently polluting my stream? This new dashboard would be the ideal place to put them, but only time will tell.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.