Keeping up with mobile demand is something Facebook should know all about. With an iPhone app update over the weekend, many device users were thrilled, but the rest of the mobile device world was feeling a little left out. iPad users are still awaiting a dedicated Facebook app, and Android users overall have seen less attention than those that use the iPhone.
The updated Facebook app enables video viewing, posting to event walls, and posting higher-resolution photos. These are primarily focused around media-sharing, a necessary tactic for Facebook as it centralizes social interactions around this very act. So when will Facebook better leverage its widening user base with updates for their mobile apps, too?
The strategy of releasing mobile app updates and when they should be across-the-board is becoming a more intricate process for brands. The topic here is built-in marketing for a mobile app. Finding a way to manage demand for a consumer base screaming for instant gratification is the beauty and the curse of the mobile market. The fact remains, the iPhone market is still very strong and is a great place to do the research that can be applied to a wider mobile user base.
Despite the hype around record iPad and Evo sales, the raging growth of Android or the new trend towards putting mobile apps into anything with a charge, there’s still a cost/benefit balance to mobile release timing, particularly as the new iPhone 4 begins to ship out. Managing multiple mobile outreach apps will only get trickier in the short-term, until larger standards around reaching consumers directly through their mobile devices are created.
The good thing for Facebook is that it’s likely to be the creator of those standards. The social network’s platform approach has been readily applied to every major transition the social media industry has witnessed, as long as it’s been around at least. So building out its mobile platform options will be key for Facebook’s future ability to remain in a dominate position. It’s refreshed attention to the Android Market is a start.
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