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I could see something like Facebookbux taking hold. Assuming FB actually launches a payment system, and their effective fees aren't too high.

I think one reason FB's payment system has been so long in coming is that they've been thinking through all the implications of being a parallel currency.

I'm guessing at that, but it seems likely.

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They already exist and are called facebook credits: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1038

Hey, I'd missed that Farmville is accepting FB Credits now. That's pretty big.

They hadn't truly launched the credit system in a real sense. It existed, but was so low profile as to be non-existent, which I assumed was intentional. But with Farmville signing on, that's a pretty real launch.

The fee structure is still exhorbitant, though. Again, maybe intentional, to prevent it from being a practical parallel currency.

Probably intentional because that's their estimation of the demand curve -- their customers are app-writers who have to make a living off of facebook.

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