Hi5 randomizes application gallery to give developers even exposure

One of the challenges of launching a social networking application platform is engendering a sense of equal opportunity for success on the platform amongst developers. While Hi5, MySpace, and others have largely achieved this by allowing developers equal access to the “sandbox” for a number of weeks, Hi5 has taken the additional step of randomizing the order of applications in the Hi5 app gallery. Instead of ranking apps by reach, Hi5 is giving all apps equal exposure until it determines an “engagement metric” to order applications by.