There are a lot of features listed under the iTunes App Store’s description for the Social Player (99 cents) iPhone app, but this iPhone app really only does one thing. You choose a song to listen to from your collection, and you listen to it. Then, if you want to share it with your friends, you sign onto Facebook via the iPhone app and update your status or wall entry with the song you’re listening to.
I’m not totally sure I understand the difference between Facebook’s live feed and status updates—both seem to inform the Facebook community about your up-to-the-minute happenings—but either way, when you go live with your musical pick, the following is an example of what appears: “Jesse is listening to ‘Pieces’ by Dinosaur Jr. from ‘Farm.’” (You get a last name with status updates.) And that’s pretty much it.
Granted, there is definitely something to be said about watching information go from one electronic device to another (when you set your status, it makes a fun little “poof” noise to show that the devices are synced). And if you were to let the Facebook universe know you were listening to Dinosaur Jr. without the Social Player iPhone app, then there would be no original album cover art to go along with your update, and that is a cool element. But is it enough to warrant its own iPhone app? I’m going to go with … not necessarily.
