Advice from HackerNews on my Facebook app and website?

[shenanigans]

Our app is at http://apps.facebook.com/textcontest and our site is http://TMTCinc.com .

It is a weekly contest in which you receive a prompt in the AM (ex: "What's a funny way to lose a girl in 10 seconds?"), to which you are encouraged to respond. If you have a cell phone, we can text you the prompt. If not, you can use our application.

I post and rank the funniest entries that afternoon, awarding points and updating the standings throughout the season.

So far it is just a few dozen ppl who play each week, mostly friends or friends of friends. I experimented by spending a tiny amount on targeted ad space on Facebook, and got better-than-expected results as far as CTR and getting people to install and even consistently use the app.

But I'm hesitant to spend more on advertising if this is just going to be a waste of time. What do you think? Funny idea?

[kf]

I think it could go viral. What is the mechanism you are using to get new users? It's probably worth spending $100 on advertising to see if you can hit critical mass, it's just important that your viral loop is as efficient as possible. You should consider having a prize of some to give people an additional incentive to invite their friends

[shenanigans → kf]

As of now, the only way we've gotten users has been word of mouth. No incentives for them yet. I think $100 is reasonable, though, I'll give it a shot. I haven't even heard the term "viral loop" before, so I'm learning about that right now. Thanks!