The new Paper by Facebook app has already run into trouble days after its February 3 release. The app’s name is also the name of another app, Paper by FiftyThree, and the creative app developers have expressed surprise and dismay at Facebook’s choice of name.
A Rose by Any Other Name?
Start-up company FiftyThree was displeased to discover that Facebook was releasing an app with the same name as their award-winning drawing app, which has over 100 million users, The BBC reports.
“It came as a surprise when we learned on 30 January with everyone else that Facebook was announcing an app with the same name,” Georg Petschnigg, co-founder and CEO of FiftyThree, wrote in an open letter. “We think Facebook can apply the same degree of thought they put into the app into building a brand name of their own.”
Petschnigg intimated that when his company contacted Facebook—despite a Facebook board member being a FiftyThree investor—the social network said it would not change the name and simply apologized for not letting FiftyThree know about it sooner. Because FiftyThree’s app name is trademarked in the United States and in some other countries, legal action may be taken against Facebook.
What Is Paper by Facebook?
Facebook has given users a new way to experience the social networking site with this app, which gives a streamlined, simplified version of the Facebook News Feed interspersed with real news stories. Paper, which was widely well-received following its release, has been compared to news app Flipboard in the way its user interface allows users to flip through stories like a tiny magazine instead of scrolling through the long News Feed in the traditional Facebook user interface. Paper isn’t intended to replace the Facebook app on your phone, but rather give users another option: an unpacking of a Facebook feature into a stand-alone app.
The new app will be watched very closely by the company, because previous attempts to unpack Facebook features into standalone apps have had mixed results. Facebook Messenger is a success story, but the company’s attempt at a chat app, Poke, was an embarrassing failure, as was their foray into picture-sharing with the Camera app. If Paper is successful as a stand-alone app, then Facebook will know they have reached a winning formula. There will undoubtedly be more apps to follow—assuming, of course, that Paper by Facebook retains the same name.
Do you think Facebook should change the name of its newest app?
Image courtesy of Flickr
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