The always fascinating Silicon Alley Insider offers up the recent results of a Razorfish survey of web consumers. There’s a lot of interesting facts (and some that seem a little too web-savvy- do 47% of Web users really use RSS?).  Online shopping was a standout feature for regular web users. I noticed the following:

55% rely on USER REVIEWS most when choosing products
21% rely on EXPERT REVIEWS most.

So shopping really is social.  There’s something to tap into here- but how does it adapt to Facebook?

I’d offer that Facebook’s format encourages interaction, not reviews. This interaction can be as powerful as well worded praise or criticism. Speaking to our own applications (which utilize some affiliate programs), interaction can be conducive to purchasing. In our case, interaction and reviews aren’t that different, but the model still works for products that aren’t as self-evident as the images we sell. Honest interaction- whatever it is- can help a user better decide what they like or don’t like. The model isn’t robust on Facebook, yet- it’s difficult to get people to interact with products in a non-purchasing setting. But the opportunity is there, waiting to be broken open by someone who makes it fun enough to work.