Once upon a time, not so long ago, the name of the of the design game was to go big. The idea seemed to be to cram as much into bloated software or websites as possible – whether it be services, advertising, code, graphics – it was overkill more often than not. Part of making the web a more social, interactive experience, was to focus on the experience of the user and a lot of good has come of so doing. Recently, the breeding ground for innovation has been platforms; whether we’re talking about mobile apps, those new services in gaming consoles, or those on Facebook, the name of the app game seems to be integration into the platforms.

Today I got a call from a friend, in a panic, saying Facebook had made a big change – according to him, FB was allowing you to see who was checking out your profile the most. Needless to say, the implications would be huge – FB Creeping being exposed would forever change how the site is used. My assumption, walking up Yonge at the time, was that he’d installed an app at some point that monitored his interactions with Friends.

I was right – and not at all shocked – upon getting home to discover he’d installed My Top Fans (certainly not recommending it.) Afterall, FB needs to keep users on the site, thereby increasing pageviews for them to make money. Discouraging users by outing their most private actions would therefore be a terrible idea, and I know I would personally question each successive photo album click. So, FB not being an evil tattle tale, the issue then becomes that users are installing apps in auto-pilot, taking no note of the Terms of Use, the implications for their privacy, and whether the service is native or added by a third party.

The savvy web user won’t be fooled often, but for everyone else we’re already seeing the implications of integration. The better integrated, the less the average user will notice, the more confusion. What’s the solution then? Compartmentalization? Disintegration? These words seem all wrong given the current trends. But are they necessary?