Facebook adds 11 new media-related apps

Its app time all around folks. Apple, Android, and Windows Phone are all adding apps. Obviously using apps has become a global phenomenon and the trend is just continuing. So Facebook is not one to be left far behind. A

This is an extremely strategic move by Facebook because these apps are basically ensuring retention of the user such that they don’t navigate away from Facebook and still get to read the content within Facebook.

By extending the app list Facebook is pretty much targeting users from the complete spectrum of online media houses. Here’s a list of the some of the new apps that are added:

• Buzzfeed,
• CBS Local: Los Angeles and New York,
• CMT,
• The Daily Show,
• GetGlue,
• MSNBC.com,
• MTV News,
• Pixable,
• Sporting News (coming in March) and
• TODAY Show.

Facebook has taken the decision to add these apps based on a careful analysis of the existing apps. For example take a look at this statistics – Yahoo News has seen 25 million people opt into Social Bar and the app has 2 million daily users. The Guardian’s app has been installed 5 million times, with 50% of users ages 24 and under. Digg Social Reader has driven a 35% increase in readership. All these statistics make for a very strong case.

This is just the beginning and in the future we can see more apps coming into Facebook, but for the moment Facebook is treading very selectively.