Student Computing is sponsoring a contest this fall to encourage students to develop applications to promote student life (especially at Stanford) using Facebook's Application platform. Hopefully, these applications will further highlight how Web 2.0 and social networking technologies like Facebook can empower students and others within the Stanford community to collaborate, share, and build communities.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to contest winners Nathan Sakunkoo and Patty Sakunkoo for developing the Stanford Event Map app. Many of the
judges commented that the app's usefulness and specificity to Stanford helped it rise to the top. Many said that not only would they find
the app useful for themselves, but that it has great potential for the Stanford community at large and would even recommend it to campus visitors. For more information on the app, visit http://apps.facebook.com/stanfordevents.
Thanks to all of the teams for participating in the contest and developing some great apps as well as Facebook and the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab (especially through last quarter's famous Stanford Facebook Class) for working with us. To check out the other entries, read on:
- StanfordCourses, by Mike Mintz
- Social Buzz, by Danny Tarlow, Rohan Seth, Rolf Steier, and Randal Truong.
- Tournaments, by Blake Cutler, Matt Jones, and Brent Pirruccello.
- College: The Numbers, by Bryan Burr, Maneesh Sethi, and Rajveer Tut.
- PhotoGraph, by by Mark Brenneman, Adam Hahn, and Avishai Weiss.
- Stanford Answers, by Jane Huang and Mike Mintz.
Essential Stuff You Need to Know
Deadline: Monday, January 14, 2008 (extended from December 12, 2007!)
Join the Stanford Facebook App Contest Group on Facebook if you plan on participating in the contest.
Review and be sure to adhere to the Guidelines & Rules.
Review the Resources, Tips , & Getting Started section to get advice and tips on how to approach building your app, how to get started technically using Stanford web resources, and how to get access to people on campus who can offer information and guidance.
To submit your entry:
- Publish your app to Facebook.
- Send an email to facebook-app-contest@lists.stanford.edu with the following information:
- The names of the members of your team. For each team member, include his/her full name, email address, and class (freshman, sophomore, etc.).
- A description of your app in 250 words or less. The description should cover topics such as why you developed your specific app, what it does, how you think it will benefit the Stanford Community, etc.
Any other questions? Email facebook-app-contest@lists.stanford.edu.
For more details on the contest, check out:
Application Categories & Judging Criteria
Listed below are the general categories we will be looking for during the contest. In addition to an overall winner, prizes may be given for winners in specific categories, such as "Best Dorm App" or "Best Academic App." Prizes will also be given for the apps with the most number of active users as well as voted best by the Stanford community ("People's Choice").
- Residential life
- Community building
- Course management
- Libraries
- Student activities/groups
- Student events
- Academic life/teaching & learning
- Alumni relations
Staff advisors are available for information and guidance in most of these areas. If you would like to be put in touch with an advisor, contact facebook-app-contest@lists.stanford.edu.
Guidelines & Rules
- You must be a current Stanford student in order to participate.
- Entries can be submitted by teams of up to three people.
- You must adhere to the Fundamental Standard and the Honor Code.
- You must include a privacy policy with your application/entry.
- If your entry wins, but your team does not choose to support the application in the long-term, the team must be willing to share the application and its source code with Student Computing so that (at least) Stanford students can continue to use it.
Resources, Tips, & Getting Started
Useful tips to keep in mind when developing your app: (especially if you missed the November 13th Facebook Workshop on campus):
Qualities of effective Facebook Platform Applications:
- Provide engaging content / focus on the social
- Relevant information
- Showcasing interaction
- Usability
- Fresh content
Use the integration points into Facebook well, such as:
- The value of the social graph
- News feeds
When building your app:
- Develop and iterate
- Low investment
- Quick feedback
- Lots of control
- Think about intelligent promotion
Incorporate privacy (especially since it is a contest rule)
Think local!
Basic information on developing for the Facebook Application platform:
Host your Facebook App using Stanford web services (for those without other server/hosting resources):
- If you haven't done so already, set up your Stanford website by following the directions at Getting on the Web at Stanford.
- Since Facebook Apps use PHP, you will also need to activate CGI service for your Stanford website if you have not done so already. Follow the directions at the Stanford CGI Service website.
- When creating your Facebook App, you will host your app's PHP code in your Stanford CGI space-- i.e., when you enter your callback URL, it would be, for example, "http://www.stanford.edu/~username/cgi-bin/facebookapp/" (replace "username" with your username and "facebookapp" with the location/name of your app).
- If you don't want to use a URL with your username in it, you can set up a vanity URL through http://virtualhosting.stanford.edu/.
Get more information on Stanford programs and advice on how to build an app for the Stanford community:
If you want to talk to faculty or staff to get more information on Stanford programs and how you can build an app to fit the needs of a particular group-- such as talking to someone from University Communications about delivery of event or news information or someone from Residential Computing about use of technology in the residences-- email facebook-app-contest@lists.stanford.edu and we can put you in touch with the right people.
Judges & Advisors
- Chris Bourg, Stanford University Libraries
- Julie Lythcott-Haims, Freshman Dean's Office
- Josh Schiller, Residential Education
- Scott Stocker, University Communications
... And more TBA, including other faculty, staff, and selected student volunteers. If you're interested in becoming a judge and/or advisor, email facebook-app-contest@lists.stanford.edu.