Movies: A Social Activity
Watching movies (in theatres) is a social activity as few people (at least I do not know of any) go to theatres alone. Our decisions of which movie to watch, when to watch, where to watch and with whom to watch are highly influenced by our friends’ opinions. The application allows users to read the reviews written by friends as well as by other users. For users who have little or no time to read these reviews, they can scroll down the page quickly and simply look at the percentage of people who indicated that they “like the movie”.
All in all, by having a movie review application in a social networking site, it provides a one-stop platform to users to find information about movies and keep a lookout for friends who are interested in watching the same movie without logging into Flixster. Combined with other applications like Events, users can organize movie outings more efficiently.
My Two Cents
Before having to do this application critique, I did not add the application. And when I tried to add the application by doing a search using the search box, it returned me the Pages and Groups which have “Flixster” in their names. It took me quite a while before I figured that the application name is called “Movies” rather than “Flixster”; Flixster is merely the icon that they use for their application.
*** Imagine the number of people who tried to find Flixster, and gave up. ***
In my opinion, they should have created an application by the name of Flixster with the same icon and direct the users to the same URL. In this way, if a user was to look for "Movies" or "Flixster", he would end up in the same application.
The application captured a very important point: Online businesses can tap on the plethora of opportunities and resources in social networking sites (SNS).
ReplyDeleteYa, I completely agree with this, although it was probably easier to do in Flixster's case because it had all the right conditions. I also think it would be an awesome idea if they could combine it with events, but I doubt Flixster would ever provide such an option :P This is because they aren't a FB app dependent on FB, but a whole company, so there is no need to provide such extra services that actually benefits FB more than themselves.
And ya :( I also searched "Flixster" to no avail before realizing it's really "Movies"!
*** Imagine the number of people who tried to find Flixster, and gave up. ***
ReplyDeletePossible...
@Shannon
ReplyDeleteThis is because they aren't a FB app dependent on FB, but a whole company, so there is no need to provide such extra services that actually benefits FB more than themselves.
How would allowing users to create events directly through Flixster benefit FB more than itself? If the situation is win-win, why not?
Their purpose is to let people know that there is a "Flixster" that does it's basic original functions, more than making an actual FB app. Anything more is extra, unnecessary, and increases their "dependence" (for lack of better word) on FB. One thing I don't think orgs do, is redirect their users to another platform even if it'll mean greater convenience for the user.
ReplyDeleteI think ultimately the idea is for more users to use flixster.com, and having an app only serves to give users greater convenience when they are on either platforms.
ReplyDeleteOrry
If flixster can handle ticketing on facebook, it's going to save a lot of trouble for people to buy tickets and will make flixster as a complete one-stop application for movies!
ReplyDelete@Lin Myat: If flixster can handle ticketing on facebook...
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's very hard to implement on their part, so it's kinda surprising why Flixster hasn't done it yet. Most of the cinemas in Singapore allow people to book movie tickets online, so it's just one more step to integrate the system with Facebook.
(hmm, sounds like a good business idea.)
Handling ticketing on facebook would be abit messy wouldn't it? Somehow facebook always show me some random error message..At any rate Jon is right, it will benefit facebook more if they ever make such an app, but if flixter's purpose is to get more traffic then it wasn't such a bad idea. Thing is, they're still limited to US right?
ReplyDeleteChuan Yeong
I think going with 'Movies' instead of Flixter is a smart move, and to be able to dominate that keyword on Facebook has probably given them a lot more users. Doing a Google search on 'movies' (http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_enSG347SG348&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=movies) didn't return a single result relevant to Flixter for me, which might suggest their brand is not very strong outside of Facebook. I, myself, have had never heard of Flixter until recently (and on Facebook).
ReplyDeleteI think the move of flixter to multiplatform is smart. It allow users get access to flixter without even having to register a flixter account. It's the same for some other platforms. While about the function, for different platforms, there may be special features to be added so that users can use it more conveniently.
ReplyDelete@Lin Myat: If flixster can handle ticketing on facebook...
ReplyDeleteNow we're talking about another initiative to have the whole web redefine on top of the Facebook Platform. Hmmm....
@Kah Hong:
ReplyDeletei do not doubt that going with "movies" instead of Flixster is a good choice. But it will be even better if they can have 2 keywords (i.e. "Movies" and "Flixster") pointing at the same application rather than just one.
** high five ** i've never heard of Flixster or Rotten Tomatoes before the presentation by Orry. :)
@Chuan Yeong: Yes, Flixster is still limited to the United States. Having the online booking facilities on Facebook might not be such a good idea if the website is "unstable". Some potential problems: Users might end up getting charged twice for the same ticket, 2 people purchasing the same seat. I am nt sure if it is easy to resolve these problems (will appreciate some programmers' advice here...) but if these issues can be resolved, i am pretty sure there is quite a big market there.
Movie Tickets? hmm.. I think Flixster is very contented with it's 'small' market in its home country now, anyway if Flixster wants to make themselves more popular using FB, why don't they try mobile platforms instead?
ReplyDeleteImagine you are at a cinema or suddenly want to watch a movie, you can just go flixster via your phone and you get all the information you want! And I guess this is much better than Facebook?
- Hong Jun
I totally agree with Kah Hong, I've not heard of flixter until during the seminar. For me, I think the tickets thing can really be implemented. GV has done it spectacularly in Singapore. Not only that, Sistic as well. Frankly speaking, Flixter is done for the western countries, where to move from one place to another take a very long time. Imagine the horrors when you find out on flixter where's the nearest cinema (which might take an hour to reach) and manage to get free out a slot of in your busy timetable to go for a movie you wanted to watch for a very long time just to realise that by the time you went there all tickets are SOLD OUT!!! With online booking, it gives people more convenience and flexibility. It's definitely an area they can or rather should look into soon.
ReplyDeleteThough i suppose if flixter really wants to set up a "base" in facebook, they might want to cooperate with the major movie companies and from there expand. In this way, the forum can be pushed onto an internatioinal level. For example, you can have world wide reviews on movies like Harry Potter, Avatar e.t.c. Why tap onto only a portion of the population if you have the chance to grab everyone when you cooperate with others and essentially "monopoloise the industry >w<
@Carol
ReplyDeleteThe travel to cinema is not as bad as you think lah. For instance, in California, most people drive and it probably takes less 30 min to reach a cinema. With 1 hour, I could have driven from San Jose to San Francisco (i.e. the whole skretch of Silicon Valley). =P
@Kah Hong
I think they should just cre8 2 identical Facebook apps with both linked to the same database. This should resolve the problem. lol