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Melissa Chang

10 cool Facebook applications that you’ve probably never heard of -- but should

Melissa Chang06.04.2008
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Comments 7

We’ve all heard of, played with or used the most popular Facebook applications -- Scrabulous, Owned! and (Lil) Green Patch come to mind. But what about the not-as-popular Facebook applications? With more than 27,000 apps to choose from, and the number growing daily, there are plenty of diamonds in the rough that may be unknown, but still stand out because they are particularly interesting, unique, viral or just darn fun.

Here are 10 Facebook applications that you probably have never heard of -- but should.

1) Traveler IQ Challenge -- This game tests players to find out the answer the question "How well do you know your world?" As a clock counts down, the game presents players with world cities, famous places and world capitals, at various skill levels. Players can only advance to the next level after reaching a high enough score. When players are done with the round, they get a ranking -- an overall ranking, and a ranking among their friends -- and they are given the opportunity to "challenge their friends" to compete. As well as being educational, this game is addictive. The interface is clean and easy-to-use, and the sense of urgency that the ticking clock provides is excellent.

2) iDescribe -- This application is based on the premise that people like to know what their friends think of them. The application makes it easy for friends to pick 5 words that best describe each other. The genius of this app lies in its inherent viral nature -- after signing up for iDescribe, there is no way to use it unless your friends are using it, too. In fact, when users sign up for the service and don’t immediately invite their friends, they are reminded: "You haven't invited any of your friends to iDescribe! So you may not be described back by as many people as you would if you invite some friends!"

3) Web Presence -- This application is really simple and useful. It allows users to feature their "social profile" by linking to their profile pages on various other social networking sites. This comes in handy for both business and personal use, as users can add a Web site or blog URL, or link to their profiles on LinkedIn, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter or any other site. There are some features that seem missing here -- it would be helpful if the app prompted users on the services that they could enter, it would be nice to be able to reorder the list, and the RSS integration that’s coming in the future will be great -- but this is still a simple, easy-to-use and helpful application that could quickly benefit every Facebook user.

4) Sketch Me -- This is another fun and very easy to use app. As soon as the application is installed, it immediately takes the user’s profile picture and creates a pencil sketch of the image. Once the user’s friends see their pencil sketched picture, they’ll want one of their own.

5) TWENTY20 Cricket -- First a huge disclaimer -- I don’t play cricket or know how to play cricket. But even so, this is a really cool game. The best thing about TWENTY20 Cricket is that when a user signs up, they build a team made up of themselves and 14 friends. Without the friends, there’s no game. And the application encourages continued use; the more that users "train" on playing, the more points they earn (and the more likely they are to win in head-to-head challenges).

6) Launch A Package -- This is the only corporate app that made the list, and it’s from FedEx. The tool lets you create a package to send to a friend, placing "gifts," photos or other attachments in a well-branded FedEx box. The most fun comes at the end of


Comments

Hey Melissa! Thanks for picking our game as part of your list. You can chat about strategy and compare scores with other Traveler IQ addicts in our travel forums

Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager


Great list, Melissa. For the Traveler IQ Challenge, try to play it on large screen with a mouse ... laptop screens and pointing devices are not precise enough, especially at the higher levels.

Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard


i want to be in the list
http://www.facesaerch.com/update/
It's like an Iphone met Facebook and they began to twi****!

any chance?


I'm looking for an application like the travel app. that will allow you to post where all your facebook friends are from.. This will encourage others to add and reach out all over the world... any thoughts on that? Maybe the travel iq team might want to build something.


Good work Melissa. Can you add News Flash application to this list.
http://apps.facebook.com/newmsp

Here's the News Flash "about page":
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=20915663760

Thanks


Here's the correct url: http://apps.facebook.com/newsmap
Thanks


it's kinda goofy but i found a pretty cool facebook app that's on the what happens in vegas movie (the rom-com with kutcher and diaz) promotional page. it's a "most likely to..." type of highschool yearbook thing where you nominate your facebook friends. there's some wacky options and it's well thought out. check it out....
http://www.new.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=24680196617


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