Easier Flash/Facebook Integration

Update: More from the press release, which has since come out:

Documentation, example applications and code are now available at http://www.adobe.com/go/facebook for developers to get started building rich applications with Adobe Flash and Flex software, and Facebook Platform.

The ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform is available immediately as a free download along with developer documentation and tutorials at http://www.adobe.com/devnet/facebook.

Original article: Adobe and Facebook have announced the availability of a new Actionscript 3 Client Library for Facebook Platform, the platform for building apps on the social network. This library will enable developers to use Flash to create more compelling apps.

Flash in Facebook apps is not a new concept, but this library that Adobe has partnered with Facebook on will provide an organized and official resource for developers to utilize. In a conference call with WebProNews, Facebook Platform Program Manager Josh Elman and Adrian Ludwig, Group Manager for Adobe Flash Product Marketing told me that this project was started back in November.

There was a lot of unofficial stuff out there, but none of it had great documentation, they said, so they decided to start an officially supported, re-written code library with all public APIs, authentication, sessioning, etc. This way, Flash developers can build better integration between Flash and Facebook or Facebook Connect.

They talked a little about how developers and businesses can use flash-based Facebook apps for monetization. Of course there are advertising opportunities such as we’ve talked about in the past, but apps open up all kinds of ways for businesses to get potential customers engaged in their content.

They mentioned the Ben and Jerry’s site for example, that utilizes Facebook Connect and Flash to let users rate ice cream flavors and invite their friends to engage with the site.

They also talked about how CNN used Facebook and Flash to organize viewing of President Obama’s inauguration and allow people to pull in their friends and turn a simple streaming video opportunity into a social one and the "most streams ever."

Obviously the potential for engagement is there. Businesses can get creative with how to do it. I’m thinking you’ll want to have content that people will actually want to engage with first though.