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We’ve talked before about our semi-thriving Facebook Group, “I Read Mental Floss,” which now boasts 414 members. I thought this was a lot. Then I found out 658 people belonged to a group called “It’s not a big deal. Like 8% of kids do it. When I was little I drew [male genitalia].”
So, we have some room for growth.
Mangesh and I have been kicking around ideas for _floss Facebook games or quizzes. So I’ve got a question for all you active members of the Facebook community: what are your favorite applications? Perhaps we can use those as inspiration. They don’t have to have anything to do with trivia.
Or if you’ve come across any crazy and ridiculous applications, those are also fun to share.
Comments (28)
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My favorite app by far is the Travel IQ Challenge.
posted by jesse on 8-28-2007 at 11:24 am
My favorite apps are books, and “Where have you been?” Strangest app is either the vampire or zombie one…
Personally though, I’m not a huge fan of applications in general. The beauty of Facebook in the beginning was its simplicity and I miss that.
posted by Becky Travis on 8-28-2007 at 11:40 am
I had no idea there was a MentalFloss Facebook group. I’m joining it right now. As a college student I have to admit that I spend way too much of my life on there anyway.
posted by Katie on 8-28-2007 at 11:46 am
There’s a Mental Floss facebook group? How did I not know this sooner?
I won’t lie…I’m not a huge fan of the applications. But I do like Bookshare and Where I’ve Been.
And I’d have to agree with Becky about the vampire and zombie apps. Those are really strange. I don’t remember what it’s called, but there’s also one where you can set people on fire. It serves no other purpose than the person getting a message that they’ve been set on fire.
posted by Kaitie on 8-28-2007 at 12:09 pm
the ‘where i’ve been’ application and ‘honesty box’ application are both great. the ‘where i’ve been’ shows where you’ve been on an interactive map. the ‘honesty box’ lets people post what they really think of you…anonymously.
posted by matt on 8-28-2007 at 12:23 pm
i just found out i was an officer of the facebook group, the fourth one i believe. I had no idea until today that i was an officer.
I’m not a huge fan of applications but i do like some. Theres that compare people which either really boasts your confidence or dwindles it down to nothing. Then there is religion, I seem to be very proud of my U.U. religion. There is also games, which no one seems to really care about except me of course [who finds herself procrastinating daily by snowboarding]. The Graffiti one is also an allstar, as you can see on many peoples profiles the drawing can get very intense.
Maybe you could host contests where you ask who invented the incandescent light bulb? And then have people draw the answer or something like that. Or a compare the the geniuses app., where you vote if Einstein or that president have a better profile picture, or whom you’d rather be trap on a desert island with, even which one smells better?
just a few silly ideas, I’m just a psycho teenager obsessed with Einstein, so what do i know……..
posted by Katie on 8-28-2007 at 12:23 pm
I forgot two other amazing applications [how silly of me!]. The scrubs application that offers trivia, quotes and even *gasp* pictures is a nice delight. There is also the movie application where you rate movies in the “star system” [1-5 stars] and if you want even provide a little personal review of the movie. There is also a test that compares your movie taste with your friends. You could always turn the movies into interesting people in history and then let people rate them, and review exactly how interesting the people are.
but again, this is coming from a crazy teenager who is still begging her parents for a subscription to mental_floss [damn credit cards stupid things control the world]
posted by Katie on 8-28-2007 at 12:33 pm
Oh, I don’t use apps (except for graffiti… grafitti…? can never get the spelling right on that)
But now that I know there is a group, I will join it. Cool!
PS, I introduced MentalFloss to some college students in Malawi, Africa. So there is a copy floating around somewhere the African Bush. Yay!
posted by Melissa on 8-28-2007 at 12:43 pm
I’m a big fan of FreeNES. Play all the old NES games online! Amazing.
Just in general, the apps that are huge and flashy (Top Friends, for example. Lamest app out there.) aren’t nearly as appealing as the more simple ones (Extended Info). As long as it doesn’t over-power the rest of the page I think it’ll go over well.
posted by David on 8-28-2007 at 1:06 pm
I like the Arrested Development quote generator. great show.
posted by Susan on 8-28-2007 at 1:08 pm
My favorite app is the where in the world have you been map, it is simple but kinda cool for people that do a lot of traveling.
posted by Gussie on 8-28-2007 at 1:23 pm
I’ll go join right now. Not a fan of the applications. I agree with Becky, the beauty was the simplicity, just basic networking for friends and people with similar interests. However, if you can find some interesting enough for the _floss seal of approval, I’d at least look into it.
posted by Jennings on 8-28-2007 at 1:25 pm
It would be nice if you had an application that showed headlines and allowed people to share summaries of interesting articles with their friends group. Maybe a “You should read” app instead of the
iRead” app, with tidbit, headlines, or short aummaries to catch people’s interest when it pops up in the news feed. Meh… just a suggestion..
posted by Jess on 8-28-2007 at 1:29 pm
Definetely the NES games one. HAs every game imaginable on there. Sweeeet.
posted by David on 8-28-2007 at 1:49 pm
I think that, if you guys decide to make any apps, you should have a random “fact of the day” generator or something else–or an RSS-style app that gives facebookers a sampling of the random goodness that is your daily blog.
I love this blog (and the magazine) and I plug you guys with my friends, family, and random strangers on the street whenever I get the chance–and a facebook app that gives people a sample of what you’re all about and includes a link to this site might just convince some of the skeptics who hover on mental_floss readers’ profiles to cross over and become m_f addicts as well…
posted by kay on 8-28-2007 at 2:00 pm
Scrabulous consumes way too much of my workday. I also enjoy the ‘cities I’ve visited’ map app some other people have mentioned, as well as Extended Info and Random Facts About Me. I could see mental_floss maybe adopting the latter; not with facts about me, necessarily, but with just random facts that pop up when people view your profile.
Now off to join this group I’d never heard of…
posted by Roger on 8-28-2007 at 2:19 pm
I love Motivate Me and Friend Wheel.
I didn’t know there was a Mental Floss group either. Joining as I type.
posted by James on 8-28-2007 at 2:43 pm
so i agree with roger– scrabulous is my favorite application. i think a trivia quiz application would work.
posted by nina on 8-28-2007 at 3:19 pm
Graffiti is beautiful and wonderful.
posted by Aemi on 8-28-2007 at 3:27 pm
Scrabulous and Travel IQ Challenge.
posted by Leah on 8-28-2007 at 4:27 pm
I like the video application… its nice because it doesn’t limit the size of the file like most sites do.
Also, I do like graffiti, but most other applications are a waste of time.
posted by Amy on 8-28-2007 at 5:06 pm
Walk Score is a pretty neat Googlemaps mash-up application. Punch in your address, and it gives a score of how “walkable” your neighborhood is by indexing nearby businesses, restaurants, parks, etc.
posted by OrderedChaos on 8-28-2007 at 5:06 pm
I just got on the ol’ Facebook (I read this earlier from school, where the net nanny won’t let me access my crack) and noticed the sudden growth in the Mental_Floss group (myself included…yes, I’m a joiner). Always fun to influence that sort of thing directly :).
posted by Becky Travis on 8-28-2007 at 5:19 pm
I love Mental Floss! As for facebook stuff, I’m a big fan (how original) of the “Where I’ve been” application. I’m a travel whore, and I get an extra kick when I get to mark a new country on my map!
I also like the movies app, where I get to rate films and read reviews. Since I see a lot of movies, it is a fun way to share my opinions on random foreign and indy films.
I like the idea of a Mental_floss application that has some kind of trivia component. Like a daily/weekly interesting piece of information that maybe links to an article externally.
While I’m kind of annoyed by the “myspacing” of Facebook and all of the extra crap on people’s pages, I can’t help but add a few myself, so there you go!
posted by Jennifer on 8-29-2007 at 1:54 am
Scrabulous! :D
posted by E on 8-29-2007 at 6:41 am
A random fact of the day or quizzes would be good apps for y’all to do.
I was annoyed by all the new applications at first too but now I love them! And I will definitely be joining the Mental Floss group!
posted by CB on 8-29-2007 at 8:07 am
I just love scrabulous….as do so many others apparently that they had to get another production crew on board to stop it from crashing because of such high traffic. Another app that i have just found is hangman .. interesting concept. It seems that anything interactive and challanging is found to be accepted more … at least from my experience.
posted by Narelle on 8-29-2007 at 7:11 pm
well ive deactivated my account currently, but before, i was addicted to the gilmore girls trivia application. Some other fun ones are graffiti and the fluff-friends, which you can now race and wager on.
posted by Annie on 8-29-2007 at 7:23 pm