If you're a freak for Facebook and you own one of the few Android smartphones that can run the social platform's new Home app, then you may be in social media heaven right now.
Home, for those not familiar, enables users to replace their normal mobile start screen with their Facebook feed. Turn on the phone and you're instantly connected to Facebook. Another benefit if you like to stay connected through Facebook is that messaging is one of the features of Home. Users can tap on a friend's face on the screen and begin chatting away.
The development of Home is part of Facebook's strategic push into mobile. The company is looking to broaden the channels in which its core users engage, thereby also attempting to attract new customers and recapture former ones.
If Facebook is successful in expanding its reach through Home, it may become more attractive to retailers for consumer marketing and relationship management purposes. Ads and messages from companies users have "liked" will appear in the Facebook home screen feed along with friends' postings.
While there has been a fair amount of hype associated with the app's launch, many are finding the experience less than satisfying. The average rating of the 3,754 individuals who reviewed Home on Android Apps on Google Play as of 9:58 ET last night was 2.4 stars out of five.