MarketMe 2.0

While attending the Snap Summit last week I was asked by a Marketwatch reporter what I thought the current trend on Facebook is. My response was “crappy apps.” The majority of applications that I filter through every day are pretty poor. Once in a while though, a great application comes along that I know I will use on a regular basis and won’t remove from my application installations. The most recent application that has qualified for my mark of excellence is the Restaurant application.

Restaurants are one of the most social activities for people; any application that takes an already socially popular activity in the real world and brings it online is sure to have a great chance for success. One of the first places that I turn to when I’m looking for a great restaurant is my friends. As such, I’m going to go straight to this application anytime I’m looking for a great restaurant. This would also be an amazingly useful application to convert to mobile. Imagine getting off a plane, loading up your Facebook app on your phone and checking out what the best restaurants in town are based on your friends’ recommendations!

This is only the first phase of this application but the opportunities are endless for making this a more useful application. There were some issues with the restaurant search tool and a couple browsing issues but aside from that, this application works amazingly. I’ve communicated all the issues to Hungry Machine, the developers of this application, and they said that they are working on resolving the issues now.

One other great feature about this application is that you can immediately make a reservation via a link to OpenTable. So right after you view your friends’ favorite restaurants you can set up a reservation for later that evening. I have a feeling that this application is going to gain millions of users just because it’s so useful. This application (along with the CourseFeed application) may be one of the most useful applications I have seen on Facebook to date. Is it the “golden application” that I have long dreamed of? Not quite sure but I know that I’ll be using it a hell of a lot.

If you want to review restaurants or find great restaurants via recommendations from your friends, go install the Restaurants application.