FYI: Facebook's making another change...

[Bliss]

FYI: Facebook Inc.

It's immense power and (controversial) rise fascinates me...So I'm chronicling all things Facebook..

News Feed Will Probably Make a Lot of People Angry
The Atlantic WireBy Adam Clark Estes

Starting this week, Facebook is "thoughtfully and slowly" rolling out its latest ad product: a predictably personalized thing called featured stories that will appear in users' News Feeds. The industry blog Inside Facebook spotted the new posts -- which look almost identical to regular posts -- on Wednesday and confirmed with a Facebook spokesperson that the posts were indeed part of Facebook's new ad strategy. Along with "thoughtfully and slowly," the other words Facebook is emphasizing in the feature is "clearly labelled." Last month, the company said it hoped to "show people no more than one Sponsored Story in their News Feeds per day," though ZDNet's Emil Protalinski says, "This is no longer the case, as Facebook now says you may see more Featured stories 'if you visit your News Feed a lot.'"

Of course, the fear of ads appearing in Facebook's News Feed has always been that it would be perceived as creepy, like pretty much every new product that Facebook rolls out. Although we expect some scrutiny regarding privacy, the personalization aspect of the new ads seems more useful than invasive. Protalinksi describes the workflow:

"For the above ad to appear in your News Feed, two things need to happen. First, you must have already Liked Ben & Jerry’s Facebook Page, or one of your friends must have interacted with Ben & Jerry’s Page. Second, Ben & Jerry must have chosen to have the ad promoted to users who have Liked its Page.

Alternatively, a story you wrote can also be featured as an ad, but it will only be shown to people you originally shared it with. A business may want to do this in order to get more people to Like its Page by showing off someone important Liking their Page, or underlining interesting content someone posted on their Page. Facebook is likely hoping the fact that since the story is being shared between friends, it will be considered more relevant than a traditional ad would be".

So that's why Facebook wants you to Like everything all the time! (We actually suspected this since the now-ubiquitous button first was announced in 2010.) However, the friend link suggests that Facebook is catching on to the idea that button fatigue is settling in with users. Sure, some people love clicking around the web, Liking all kinds of crap, but others eschew the little button, perhaps for the (somewhat justified) fear that it's nothing more than behavior tracker. That's the wrong side of creepy, we've heard. But in that case, Facebook's found another way into your feed through your friends posts. Based on Protalinski's description, it sounds like writing a Status Update -- ahem, "Story" -- that mentions a brand could be turned into a Featured Story that appears in your friends' News Feed, whether they like the particular brand or not. We'd need to see this in action before getting all judge-y, but it feels a little bit bold based on what we've heard.
Related: The Case Against Recruiting on Facebook

Then there's the big question: what's next? The New York Observer's BetaBeat shook the snowglobe of public opinion a bit recently with a scoop about how Facebook designed the very fancy new Timeline profile design in order to pump ads into your life story. This is classic Facebook-rage-inducing stuff, and Facebook was quick to quell anxiety that your experience on the social network would soon be riddling with invasive ads. "Timeline doesn't change anything for advertisers because we don't share anyone's personally identifiable information with advertisers," a Facebook spokesperson told The Atlantic Wire last month. "Like with all products, we try to help advertisers understand how they work, but this is nothing new."
Related: German Official Urges Citizens to Stop Using Facebook

So far, the Featured Stories seem to be appearing to a very select group of users. (We were unable to find one anywhere in our feed, for instance.)

Nevertheless, we've contacted Facebook for more details about the Featured Story program and will update this post when we hear back.

 

[Bliss]

Indian court threatens to block Facebook, Google
APF

An Indian court has threatened to block sites such as Facebook and Google unless they take steps to eliminate "offensive and objectionable" content.

"You must have a stringent check. Otherwise, like in China, we may pass orders banning all such websites," the Delhi High Court said during a hearing Thursday with legal representatives for Facebook and Google India.

Both companies should "develop a mechanism to keep a check and remove offensive and objectionable material from their web pages", Justice Suresh Kait was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

Communications Minister Kapil Sibal last month pledged a crackdown on "unacceptable" online content, saying Internet service providers had ignored India's demands to screen images and data before they are uploaded.

He provided examples of faked naked pictures of Indian political leaders and religiously sensitive images.

Sibal's comments provoked anger and derision among Indian Internet users, with experts arguing that such demands could not be enforced and smacked of state censorship.

"No human interference is possible and, moreover, it can't be feasible to check such incidents," Mukul Rohatgi, a lawyer for Google India, told the High Court hearing.

India, the world's largest democracy, has more than 110 million Internet users out of a population of 1.2 billion, with predictions that 600 million people will be online in the next five years. (wow! )

Facebook and Google had moved the High Court to stay a summons issued last month by a lower court that is hearing a private criminal complaint against them.

Facebook is officially blocked in China, while Google pulled its search engine out of the country two years ago after a confrontation with Chinese authorities over censorship.

Well, that's one guarantee Facebook and Google's customer service reps won't be based in India.

 

[Bliss]

Insane magnitude...

Facebook projected to hit 1 billion active users by August
jeff_hughes January 12, 2012

Facebook is on track for world domination with a projected 1 billion to be actively using the service by August 2012.

There are about 6.9 billion people currently living in the world, and Facebook is projected to capture close to 14% of that number by the end of this summer. According to a new study, the Facebook user count will hit 1 billion by the month of August.

Gregory Lyons, a senior analyst over at the iCrossing global digital marketing agency, is the man behind the impressive 1 billion user projection. Currently, Facebook is well over 800 milion active users according to the social networking giant’ recent statistics, but can the company really tack on another 200 million users in 7 months? Lyons seems to think that is a possibility.

The analyst based his projection on Facebook’s current growth rate: “Using a process of linear regression on the data from the end of 2008 onwards we expect Facebook to hit a billion active users around August 2012. Looking at the data from 2006-mid 2008 it looks like Facebook was growing at an exponential rate, however more recent data suggest it’s growing in a linear fashion.”

If you look back in 2011, Facebook hit its 700 million mark in May thanks to a large number of new users from countries such as Brazil, the Phillipines, Mexico and India. Brazil and India both ditched Google’s now defunct social network Orkut for Facebook.

Lyons points out that, though Facebook growth hasn’t been as frantic in early adopting countries like the United States or the UK, large developing countries have begun to acquire a taste for Facebook. Brazil’s Facebook growth has jumped form 13 million to 30 million, and India has grown from 22 million to 36 million in the past 9 months. Those big numbers make up only 3% and 16% of India and Brazil’s population respectively; there’s plenty of room for Facebook to stretch its feet in those countries.

Based on the numbers, it doesn’t look like the Facebook fad will be going the way of Myspace anytime soon.

Shame on Google for choosing to name their social network "Orkut"!

 

[Bliss]

FB's Timeline mandatory rollout: u have 7 days

Facebook Timeline mandatory rollout: You have 7 days to scour your past
By Mike Wehner, Tecca | Today

The time to edit your online persona is now

Facebook is the virtual home to more than 800 million active users, so any change to how the network operates is a big deal. And nothing could be bigger for the social hotspot than completely revamping everyone's front-facing profile page, and that is exactly what is happening today. Starting this morning, the new Timeline feature — that up until now has been an optional switch — is now mandatory.

The Timeline differs from the default profile pages we know and love in several ways. Now, rather than showcasing only your most recent posts, your personal front page can be scrolled back months or years at a time. Most importantly, this change can offer visitors a glimpse at your entire social networking past, all the way back to the day that you joined up. The revamp can be both a blessing and a curse for seasoned social networkers, as it can produce a bit of pleasant nostalgia, but also drag up some of your less proud public moments.

Left untouched, your Timeline may remind of you of breakups, job troubles, or even a few unfortunate party photos that you have long since buried. Depending on your settings, these black marks on your digital past could allow new followers — including friends or business associates — to see a side of you that was better kept tucked away.

Privacy is already a hot topic for Facebook users and the network's litany of sharing options can be difficult to navigate, even for the most experienced users. The company isn't oblivious to how the Timeline may drag up some unwanted past events, so a short buffer zone is in place to allow you to modify your online persona before making its new debut. You now have until Tuesday, January 31 to erase any past Facebook scars you'd prefer to hide.

The mandatory Timeline rollout will undoubtedly catch some by surprise, but you don't have to fall victim to the ghosts of past updates. Take some time to review your social networking history and don't hesitate to prune anything that you wouldn't want on the front page of a local newspaper. Because as of right now, the clock is ticking.

 

[Bliss]

declining $60g payment gamble turns into $200 million

[youtube]xPdAiQEWi8Y&[/youtube]

 

[nocturnalmission]

I've become very leery of most social network sites but especially Facebook. As current leaders in a market for subscribers and advertisers, FB continues to show a lack of compassion toward subscribers and a tenacity for doing whatever is necessary to attract money.

Users of FB and other like services lose any right to information posted on the sites regardless of what they say now or promise today. A mere change in their policy relegates users to whatever they decide to do tomorrow if it's good for business. In other words, "User Be Damned"...

A recent article on CNN News revealed another "glitch" in Facebook's protection of privacy. Pictures supposedly deleted were still on their servers and accessible years after personal requests for deletion were made...

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/06/tech/social-media/deleted-facebook-photos-online/index.html


It's outrageous that on one side of the fence, legislation and legal maneuvers are stepping in to protect the business interests of the film, music, and artistic industries, while laxly ignoring individual rights, if there are any...

I'm sure one day, after a multitude of lives have been ruined because of their actions, social sites will be required to carry a disclaimer about the longevity of information posted on their respective sites, but until then, we are fair game if we choose to connect and "share".

Like leading the lambs to the slaughter house...

 

[Bliss]

I've become very leery of most social network sites but especially Facebook. As current leaders in a market for subscribers and advertisers, FB continues to show a lack of compassion toward subscribers and a tenacity for doing whatever is necessary to attract money.

Users of FB and other like services lose any right to information posted on the sites regardless of what they say now or promise today. A mere change in their policy relegates users to whatever they decide to do tomorrow if it's good for business. In other words, "User Be Damned"...

A recent article on CNN News revealed another "glitch" in Facebook's protection of privacy. Pictures supposedly deleted were still on their servers and accessible years after personal requests for deletion were made...

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/06/tech/social-media/deleted-facebook-photos-online/index.html


It's outrageous that on one side of the fence, legislation and legal maneuvers are stepping in to protect the business interests of the film, music, and artistic industries, while laxly ignoring individual rights, if there are any...

I'm sure one day, after a multitude of lives have been ruined because of their actions, social sites will be required to carry a disclaimer about the longevity of information posted on their respective sites, but until then, we are fair game if we choose to connect and "share".

Like leading the lambs to the slaughter house...

This is why I am very, very careful about what I post on FB, and what I "say". Any prospective employer can Google your name on FB...

Btw, if you use Yahoo mail and FB, know Yahoo shares your contact list with FB....It's why you might get friend suggestions of people FB would have no clue you were acquainted with (and I'm referring to people who are not friends with your friends). Almost daily I get the FB 'suggestion" for a guy I chat with daily via Yahoo email, but who knows none of my friends...yet there is FB suggesting me to "friend" him. :???:

 

[Bliss]

How ironic...I just went to check out Yahoo's news and look...

Facebook "defriending" led to double murder, police say
By Tim Ghianni | Reuters – 4 hrs ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - A Tennessee couple who "defriended" a woman on Facebook were murdered in their home by the jilted woman's father and another man, police said on Thursday.

"It's the worst thing I've ever seen," Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece said, adding he had never seen anything like it in his 27 years in law enforcement in the area. "We've had murders, but nothing like this. This is just senseless."

He said Billy Clay Payne, Jr. and Billie Jean Hayworth were killed last month after they deleted Jenelle Potter, the daughter of one of the suspects, from their "friends" list. Both were shot in the head and the man had his throat cut.

The couple's 8-month-old baby was in the mother's arms, unharmed, when the bodies were found.

Marvin Enoch "Buddy" Potter Jr., 60, and Jamie Lynn Curd, 38, were each charged on Wednesday in Mountain City in northeastern Tennessee with two counts of first-degree murder. The men were arrested on Tuesday.

The case was not the first involving violence linked to Facebook. Last year in Iowa, a woman was arrested on accusations of setting fire to a friend's garage after she was defriended on the social network site, local media reported.

In Texas, a man was accused of hitting his wife after she failed to "like" a Facebook post he wrote about the anniversary of his mother's death, according to media reports.

In the Tennessee case, Reece said a couple of harassment cases had been filed against Jenelle Potter in court over "someone blocking her or taking her off."

"Once you've crossed her, you've crossed her father too," Reece said, adding that Jenelle Potter, in her late 20s or early 30s, stays home with her parents and was constantly on Facebook.

Her father, "Buddy" Potter, will return to court next week for a bond hearing after he hires an attorney. Curd, also a second cousin of one of the victims, was appointed an attorney and bond was set at $750,000 for each murder count. His preliminary hearing will be in March.

No charges have been filed against Jenelle Potter, the sheriff said. She could not reached for comment.

Curd's attorney, R.O. Smith, an assistant public defender, said it was "safe to say there's more to it than the Facebook problem, it appears."

"I wish I could provide more of what went on, but there's needless to say a lot of rumors swirling around and nothing substantiated on the rumors," Smith said.

(Reporting By Tim Ghianni; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Cynthia Johnston)

http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-defriending-led-double-murder-police-014442236.html

 

[nocturnalmission]

Most of the major news services have picked up on the Yahoo story but, interestingly, Facebook chooses to remain silent... FB's initial release will portray the offending family as loony and accept no responsibility or they will just sit on the sidelines and let this play itself out.

I don't like feeling paranoid, but the more I read, the less I want to be part of the social networking strata... It's like the "big brother" syndrome is really coming to past. Who knows what information is being "mined" and for what purpose?

I haven't given authorization for linking Yahoo to Facebook. I refuse to do so... but I'm sure I've already been tagged somewhere, by some algorithm that makes me as vulnerable as the next unsuspecting soul.

I will definitely pay more attention now...

BTW.... not trying to flirt or anything, but I really like your avatar! Deep, intriguing eyes or should I say eye, since only one is truly visible.... And having spent considerable time in the middle east, where beauty is covered by veils, your avatar strikes a nerve...

 

[JordanC]

Facebook Timeline mandatory rollout: You have 7 days to scour your past
By Mike Wehner, Tecca | Today

The time to edit your online persona is now

Facebook is the virtual home to more than 800 million active users, so any change to how the network operates is a big deal. And nothing could be bigger for the social hotspot than completely revamping everyone's front-facing profile page, and that is exactly what is happening today. Starting this morning, the new Timeline feature — that up until now has been an optional switch — is now mandatory.

The Timeline differs from the default profile pages we know and love in several ways. Now, rather than showcasing only your most recent posts, your personal front page can be scrolled back months or years at a time. Most importantly, this change can offer visitors a glimpse at your entire social networking past, all the way back to the day that you joined up. The revamp can be both a blessing and a curse for seasoned social networkers, as it can produce a bit of pleasant nostalgia, but also drag up some of your less proud public moments.

Left untouched, your Timeline may remind of you of breakups, job troubles, or even a few unfortunate party photos that you have long since buried. Depending on your settings, these black marks on your digital past could allow new followers — including friends or business associates — to see a side of you that was better kept tucked away.

Privacy is already a hot topic for Facebook users and the network's litany of sharing options can be difficult to navigate, even for the most experienced users. The company isn't oblivious to how the Timeline may drag up some unwanted past events, so a short buffer zone is in place to allow you to modify your online persona before making its new debut. You now have until Tuesday, January 31 to erase any past Facebook scars you'd prefer to hide.

The mandatory Timeline rollout will undoubtedly catch some by surprise, but you don't have to fall victim to the ghosts of past updates. Take some time to review your social networking history and don't hesitate to prune anything that you wouldn't want on the front page of a local newspaper. Because as of right now, the clock is ticking.

I have never switched and I got a reminder at the top of my FB that tomorrow is the date they "switch it for me". Remember to clean up your timeline before they expose things you don't want to share.

 

[Alinoa]

I hate Facebook. It needs to die a slow painful death.

 

[Bliss]

I have never switched and I got a reminder at the top of my FB that tomorrow is the date they "switch it for me". Remember to clean up your timeline before they expose things you don't want to share.

How do you clean it? I thought you were SOL, which is why so many people are furious. The second and third paragraph from the posted article just says changing the privacy, but nothing about cleaning it up. Can you help with advice or any updates, J? TY luv.

 

[JordanC]

How do you clean it? I thought you were SOL, which is why so many people are furious. The second and third paragraph from the posted article just says changing the privacy, but nothing about cleaning it up. Can you help with advice or any updates, J? TY luv.

At the top of my wall (now going to be called timeline) was a message that I needed to do it as my timleline would be changed for me......I went down the timeline and at the corner of each it gave me the option to "show or hide" each item in the timeline......

It also recommended reviewing my privacy settings in my account.

After I was done it had me save my changes to the timeline and either go live with it or save and wait for the to do it mandatory by Facebook "for me".

It also gave me the option to fill in the blank with names to "see" how they will see my wall. So say your mom or friend from work or whoever.

 

[Bliss]

Facebook just changed your default email without your consent: here’s how to opt out

You'd be forgiven for not knowing that Facebook has an external email system built in to the site's familiar messaging system. After all, few of us have need for yet another email address. And given the way Facebook algorithms decide to hide messages that the site doesn't believe is important, we're absolutely terrified of losing important messages.

The fact that you're not using that Facebook email address appears to have led to Facebook trying to figure out new ways to push you to the system. So, they've taken action by forcibly changing your contact email address listed on your Facebook page from your actual address that you regularly check to [your.name.here]@facebook.com — or worse, [random number]@facebook.com.

What does this mean? Well, if your high school sweetheart finds you on Facebook and wants to contact you, they'll have to do it on Facebook — there's no external option. There's nothing opt-in about this change, and there was no notification about it either: Facebook just decided to swap out emails to try to get people to use their cobwebbed email system.

Thankfully, you take a few simple steps to restore your old, non-Facebook email address. Start by visiting your profile page and clicking on "About" to bring up, amongst other things, your contact info. Click the edit button on the "Contact Info" section, which should bring up a list of all the email addresses Facebook has on file for you, including your new facebook-domained email address. Left click on the open circle to the right of your.name.here@facebook.com and choose the "Hidden from Timeline" closed circle. Then pick which email address you'd prefer folks to contact you at, and change that closed "Hidden from Timeline" circle to an open "Shown on Timeline" circle. Simple as that!

[via Gizmodo]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technol...ault-email-without-consent-opt-191146629.html