f8 Event and Facebook Platform FAQ
What is f8?
f8 was an event held at the San Francisco Design Center on May 24, 2007, during which Mark Zuckerberg
unveiled the next evolution of Facebook Platform. The event included an eight-hour “hackathon,” where both
Facebook engineers and outside developers collaborated on building new applications on the new Facebook
Platform.
What is a “hackathon”?
A hackathon is an all-night coding event during which Facebook engineers work on any project that interests
them. Facebook uses the word “hackathon” to refer to a gathering of engineers, who possess technical expertise
and collaborate on innovative projects. Facebook has a tradition of holding frequent developer hackathons, which
have spawned some of the most popular features and applications on the site.
What is Facebook Platform?
Facebook Platform is a development system that enables companies and developers to build applications for the
Facebook website, where all of Facebook's 24 million active users can interact with them. Facebook Platform
offers deep integration into the Facebook website, distribution through the social graph and an opportunity to build
a business.
What is the social graph?
The social graph is at the core of Facebook. It is the network of connections and relationships between people on
Facebook and enables the efficient spreading and filtering of information. Just as people share information with
their friends and the people around them in the real world, these connections are reflected online in the Facebook
social graph.
What is a Facebook application?
A Facebook application uses Facebook Platform to access information from the social graph, offering users an
experience that’s relevant to them. Facebook applications can plug into the Facebook website in a number of
ways: applications can be embedded on users’ profile pages, reside on their own separate pages (called “canvas”
pages), or live through desktop applications using data from the Facebook social graph.
What’s new in Facebook Platform?
We’ve been adding functionality since Facebook Platform first shipped in beta in August 2006. With the latest
evolution of Facebook Platform however, third-party developers can now create applications on the Facebook site
with the same level of integration as applications built by internal Facebook developers. Now developers
everywhere have the ability to create Facebook applications that deeply integrate into the Facebook site, as well
as the potential for mass distribution through the social graph and new business opportunities.
Why did Facebook launch Facebook Platform?
Our engineers have created great applications for Facebook, but we recognized that third-party developers can
help us make Facebook an even more powerful social utility. Facebook Platform gives developers everywhere the
tools to create applications that we just wouldn’t have the resources to build in-house, and those applications
make Facebook an even better way for our users to exchange information. Developers also benefit from
Facebook Platform as it gives them the potential to broadly distribute their applications and even build new
business opportunities.
What kinds of applications can be built on Facebook Platform?
The kinds of applications developers can build on Facebook Platform are limited only by their imaginations.
Because applications are based on the Facebook social graph they can be more relevant to users, keeping
people in touch with what and whom they care about. We’ve already seen a variety of applications built by our
developer partners, including those for sharing media files, book reviews, slideshows and more. Some of the
156 University Avenue • Palo Alto, CA 94301 • T: 650-543-4800 • F: 650-543-4801

 possibilities of Facebook applications are illustrated in the Facebook Platform Application Directory, available at
http://www.facebook.com/apps.
Are there any restrictions on what developers can build?
Developers are encouraged to exercise their creativity when building applications. Of course, all applications are
subject to the Terms of Service that every developer agrees to, which include basic requirements such as not
storing any sensitive user information, not creating any offensive or illegal applications, and not building anything
that phishes or spams users. And users will always have the power to report any applications that compromise
Facebook’s trusted environment, keeping our users’ information safe.
What are the benefits of Facebook Platform for users?
With Facebook Platform, users gain the ability to define their experience on Facebook by choosing applications
that are useful and relevant to them. Now that they have access to a virtually limitless set of applications from
outside developers, users have an unprecedented amount of choice. They can share information and
communicate with their trusted connections in ways that would never have been possible before Facebook
opened its platform.
How do users add applications to and remove applications from their account?
If a user sees an application she likes on a friend’s profile, she can add it to her account by clicking the “Add” link
on the application’s profile box. She can also add new applications by navigating to the application’s specific
page in the Facebook Platform Application Directory and clicking “Add Application” in the top-right corner. To
remove an application, she first clicks “Applications” on the left navigation bar. From there, she can “Remove” any
of the applications in her account, whether they are built by a developer partner or by Facebook.
What are the privacy controls for Facebook Platform, and what kind of user information can be shared?
On Facebook, users are always in control of their information and can choose how much of their information is
made available to specific applications. With Facebook Platform, we’re offering additional privacy controls and
requiring that third parties treat user information with the same respect we do—and our users have come to
expect. Users can also choose to completely opt out of making their data available through Facebook Platform.
Applications can never violate users’ basic privacy settings and are meant to provide users with a better
opportunity to share their information with their friends and networks.
What do third-party applications do with user information?
Applications built by third parties are required to respect Facebook users’ privacy preferences. Third-party
applications allow users and their friends to share information in new ways, without affecting the security and
privacy that they’ve always enjoyed on Facebook.
How many applications are there for Facebook Platform?
At f8, we are launching with over 85 applications from more than 65 developer partners, and that’s only the
beginning. We’re encouraging interested developers everywhere to create Facebook applications. We have no
limits on the number of applications that can be created.
What differentiates Facebook applications from widgets on other sites?
Facebook applications are deeply integrated into the site and take advantage of the network of real connections
through which users share information and communicate—what we call the “social graph.” Widgets are typically
single-purpose Flash add-ons to a web page (i.e, displaying a single video) that are not fully integrated into a site
nor are aware of the social context among users.
How will Facebook maintain its minimalist style if users can add and move applications around on their
profile?
We’re giving our users the choice to add applications and control their placement in their profiles, but we’re not
changing the essential layout and familiar style of the Facebook site. Facebook applications are focused on
providing new ways to spread information on Facebook, not about redesigning the way a profile looks. For
example, users will not be able to change the site background, add music that plays when their profiles load, or
156 University Avenue • Palo Alto, CA 94301 • T: 650-543-4800 • F: 650-543-4801

 insert animation into their profiles. Individual applications may play media, music or animations but only when a
visitor to that profile interacts with them.
How will Facebook deal with applications that compete with one another or even compete with Facebookbuilt applications?
We welcome developers with competing applications, including developers whose applications might compete
with Facebook-built applications. Many applications are likely to offer similar features. We’ve designed Facebook
Platform so that applications from third-party developers are on a level playing field with applications built by
Facebook. Ultimately, our users will decide which applications they find most useful, and it is these applications
that will become the most popular.
How will Facebook monetize Facebook Platform?
All the great applications built by our developer partners provide a service to our users and strengthen the social
graph. The result is even more engaged Facebook users creating more advertising opportunities.
Can Facebook applications include ads?
We want to enable developers to build a business on their Facebook applications, so we’re giving developers the
freedom to monetize their applications as they like. Developers can include advertising on their applications’
canvas pages, though no advertising will be allowed within the application boxes that appear within user profiles.
Are you going to share revenue with developers?
While revenue sharing is not available at launch, we are looking into ways to share advertising revenue with
developers. This version of Facebook Platform already lets developers monetize their applications as they like,
whether they choose to offer it for free or build a business on their application.
What are the key technical elements of Facebook Platform?
Facebook Platform offers several technologies that help developers use data from the social graph. In addition to
the Facebook API, this recently launched version of Facebook Platform introduces Facebook Markup Language
(FBML), which enables developers to build applications that deeply integrate into the Facebook site. Facebook
Platform also includes Facebook Query Language (FQL), which lets developers use a SQL-style interface to
query the data they can access through the API.
For more details on the technology behind Facebook Platform, check out the Facebook Developer site at
http://developers.facebook.com.
###

156 University Avenue • Palo Alto, CA 94301 • T: 650-543-4800 • F: 650-543-4801