No longer satisfied with being the dominant network for our humble species, Facebook is now courting a different type of user: bots. And eventually you’ll be able to talk to them as if they were your friends.  “Could you transfer £100 to my brother, please?” you might one day ask your bank. Or maybe, “Do you have any blue shirts in my size?”  Sometimes they’ll ask you things too, with something like: “Do you want to hear today’s top stories?”

Source: BBC

Date: April 14th, 2016

Link (includes video): http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36021889

Discussion

1) “Messenger Platform, as Facebook calls it, is the firm’s latest application programming interface (API).  An API is a way for companies like Facebook to give external developers the access and know-how to make things on their platforms.  It’s a big opportunity – the company’s first API, which allowed anyone to create apps on Facebook, led to the birth of multi-billion dollar companies including Farmville creator, Zynga.”  What are your ideas for building something using Facebook as a platform?

2) PaaS stands for Platform as a Service, which is essentially what Facebook is offering here.  How did it help Facebook to let a company like Zynga make billions using Facebook as a platform?