Inside Facebook

Vision services and benefits organization VSP Vision Care is offering a new Facebook application that allows users to create an eye chart to post in their news feeds and share with friends to promote eye care awareness. This app makes especially good sense for Facebook users.

Staring at a computer screen for hours can have an adverse effect on vision, and with more and more people spending prolonged amounts of time on Facebook, it’s not a bad idea to use the social network as a place to promote better eye care.

The app allows users to enter their own message, up to 61 characters, which they can then post to their own wall, friends’ walls, or invite others to check it out and test their vision. Charts can even be printed out to set up their own private eye care centers, at work or at home.

Obviously this isn’t an official medical test, but there is an element of fun which could make the app more viral. The idea is to convey a message, not actually self-administer eye exams, and it seems that VPS has struck a nice balance of fun with a symbol that most people associate with a brand. In this case, the brand just happens to be the entire eye-care profession.