Webware

Slide founder Max Levchin talks with Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li at Web 2.0 Expo.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com)

SAN FRANCISCO--Max Levchin made a name for himself as the co-founder of transaction system PayPal, one of the Web's foremost utilitarian services. Then he made a name for himself again at the helm of Slide, which isn't exactly in the same space. Its flagship product, "SuperPoke," has become the poster child--er, poster sheep--for criticism of social-networking developer applications as a silly fad.

On Wednesday, after his keynote at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, I asked Levchin if he thought there were actually a chance for some social applications to emerge that are useful rather than goofy.

"There's definitely opportunity to build utilitarian, or pure utility, apps on Facebook," he said. So I asked him to give an example.

"Alcoholics Anonymous," Levchin said, without hesitation. "If you're trying to recover as an alcoholic, there's no easy way for you to join an anonymous group on Facebook. So creating an anonymous group type on Facebook for something that people have to get off their chest but don't really want to reveal their identity (in doing so)...it's pretty utilitarian. Grim, but utilitarian." Currently, Facebook's API doesn't permit developers to anonymize the social-networking experience.

I expressed my surprise with how little time it took Levchin to up with that kind of idea. He shrugged. "Maybe it's because I grew up in Russia."

Throw me a sheep, darling.

Does "owning" a friend on Facebook sound more appealing than merely poking him?

Three new applications take the "poke" button on Facebook further.

Kathleen's wild 'n' crazy poking application lets users send a customized poke. The first step is identifying the "victim," followed by "method of attack" (impaled; nuzzled; duct-taped with, for example, a rusty spoon; chocolate-covered raisins, and so forth) and place of attack (eye, outer space, lung, teeth). This application works with Facebook but is separate from it--a big turnoff.

XMe lets its users change the default verb that appears under the photo on their profile. Elsewhere on their profile page, the XMe application allows friends to fill in their own verb to "X" the profile's owner.

Of the three new poking apps, SuperPoke has the best balance of features and design. It lets Facebook users "bite," "pinch," "own," "marry," "worship," or "throw a sheep at" friends. It doesn't have the flexibility of XMe. But it is a lot less aggressive about forcing itself on your friends when they use it to not-poke you.

Although Xme is the most popular poking application on Facebook, SuperPoke is the best of the bunch. It maintains the original vibe of the "poke" button, while adding just the right amount of creativity. It also integrates nicely into the Facebook platform and doesn't require that a person install the app on their own profile in order to Superpoke you from your profile. XMe, in contrast, won't let you use it to nudge someone whe has the app on their own profile unless you install it, too.

Mosoto is a Web-based app for Facebook, giving you a virtual desktop with chat, music, and file sharing built right in. Mosoto allows you to chat with other Facebook friends and swap photos, music, and videos using a shared storage folder from Box.net. As a service, Mosoto is meant to replace desktop applications for chatting and music.

The music player's user interface takes a design cue from iTunes. Double-clicking a song starts playing it instantly, almost like it's running off your hard drive--a good use of streaming. You also can quickly make playlists with simple drag-and-drop functions. There's no album art for music tracks, which is a little disappointing. Adding your own files is intuitive and handled through the centralized uploader. Again, this is linked to your storage from Box.net.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Unlike the glorified message board that is Facebook, Mosoto enables you and your friends to interact live. The interface is reminiscent of Meebo, with hierarchical buddy folders, and features that let you set your online status and check buddy information. The chat windows themselves give you Facebook-centric options like poking, viewing user profile, sending a message through Facebook's e-mail, and adding people as a Facebook friend. You also have the option to check out users' shared media folder to view their content.

As a Facebook user I can see the use of Mosoto, but I wouldn't necessarily pick it as a replacement for iTunes and Trillian (the two apps I use for chat and music). I see elements of Mosoto fitting in as widgets, or something to be added to Facebook as a feature. Mosoto still ties into your Facebook universe, but in a way it feels somewhat distant and removed. Despite this, Mosoto is still slick and a smart application of Facebook's API, not to mention it's the first real IM for Facebook users. It will be interesting to see whether people will use it instead of their chat and music apps.

Mosoto is currently in private alpha, with the intent on a public launch next month. In the meantime, you can sign-up for Mosoto testing here.