Facebook to “Notify” Users on their Phone’s Lock Screen Space
Audience engagement is one of the most challenging aspects that popular social networking sites are constantly faced with. And the only way out seems to be regularly upgrading the existing array of services, which may hopefully benefit or add up to the user experience. The challenge remains the same, whether you are ranked first or tenth in the hierarchy of top social networking sites. And Facebook, the No.1 ranked Social Networking site ensures that it’s constantly coming up with new features to keep the audience interested.
Facebook recently launched a new notification App exclusively for iOS users to cater to their B2B and B2C needs. The new standby iOS App allows users to receive push notifications from 70 news and entertainment publishers directly on their iPhones. This new iOS App named “Notify” will alert users with the latest headlines from the world of news, entertainment and other genres. Users can also customize their subscriptions by selecting content of their choice, which is irrespective of Facebook’s dashboard functionality. Hence, if a user swipes or clicks through them, then it automatically takes them to the link in their Mobile App’s browser.
To explore the new medium, users need to sign-in with their Facebook id and they will be served suggestions to follow sources based on their social profiles.
Before the official launch, Facebook’s newest offering was rumored to be inspired from its immediate rival, Twitter’s News App built along the same lines. But Facebook has ensured that it’s serving more information than just a News App. Besides news, users can look forward to enjoy video clips from Hulu, latest from the world of food, along with local restaurant updates on the go and live sports and weather updates based on their existing location. Users can also track all the above real-time information on their iPhone’s lock screen space, which the social networking giant wants to explore further as a way to maximize its target audience.
On its recent offering, Facebook’s Product Director Michael Cerda told Re/code
“People have different ways they want to consume information. Search is one way. Social is another way. And we think push notifications might be yet another. We see that as an evolving medium and want to be a part of that.”
The “Notify” App will serve notifications from 70 media houses which includes live feeds from BuzzFeed, The NYTimes, Entertainment Tonite and the latest happenings from People’s Magazine, etc. Moreover, Facebook allows 70 such publishers to alert users manually via Facebook’s dashboard or automatically through its API. So, if this interests you as a publisher, you probably need to sign-up with the Notify App to access it’s much talked about services.
In an email statement, Facebook’s spokesperson was quoted as saying:
“We are starting with a set of partners while we learn more about how people interact with the product. Besides that, we also plan to work closely with our partners to gather their feedback and make improvements, with a goal to open up to more partners in the future.”
Having said that, the “Notify” App is currently available on the iOS platform that too only for US customers.
