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Archive for the 'Facebook' CategoryIntelligent Privacy Controls from FacebookFacebook has begun testing a new update entitled publisher, amongst other things it gives users more control over the security of their accounts, allowing them to control access to their profiles in a granular fashion. The update comes in response to complaints from users that they had no control over who out of their friends saw their status updates and wall posts etc.
Read the rest of this entry » Facebook Fund announces First Batch of FinalistsFacebook has announced 25 of the 50 finalists for awards from the Facebook Fund, a scheme that aims to provide between £25,000 and £100,000 dollars worth of seed funding for companies that create, in the words of Facebook, ‘Great social experiences that make the world more open and social.’ Essentially what that means, is companies that build apps for new company project Facebook Connect.
Read the rest of this entry » Facebook courts controversy over Holocaust denialFacebook is booking itself in for yet more negative press this year after refusing to take any action against users who have started or participated in groups that deny the holocaust, unless their country of origin has a specific law against holocaust denial.
Read the rest of this entry » Facebook = Bad GradesA few weeks ago on this blog I wrote a post called something like ‘Facebook Makes you Stupid,’ in response to research from the US that Facebook use lowers attention span. Now, it appears that research has been backed up. Read the rest of this entry » Are the Facebook protests being taken seriously? (Part 2)However real the anger of Facebook users at the new layout, there is not much that they can actually do about it. So far the threats have, by and large, only extended to day long boycotts or petitions delivered to the California head office. Very few Facebook users have actually threatened to leave the site over the redesign. Read the rest of this entry » Are the Facebook protests being taken seriously? (Part 1)Over the last few days we’ve reported extensively on the raft of changes being made to Facebook and, more specifically, on the largely negative reaction to them amongst Facebook users. Cynics might suggest that this reaction was predictable, that Facebook users are liable to complain no matter what the change but that would be somewhat missing the point. Read the rest of this entry » Facebook’s next StepIn a new blog post Facebook founder and director, Mark Zuckerberg, has outlined new plans to improve the number one social network and to “Continue making the flow of information even faster and more customized.” Read the rest of this entry » Facebook try to heal their ReputationOver the last few months, the bad publicity, court cases and conspiracy theories surrounding Facebook have conspired to do some serious damage to its freewheeling, collegiate image. In addition to having to pay a cool $65 million dollars to one of its rivals, Facebook suffered the indignity of being forced to abandon controversial changes to its user conditions due to sheer weight of public disapproval and threats of legal action. Read the rest of this entry » Facebook: The Google of Social NetworkingIn many industries 7% growth might be seen as quite respectable, good even, but not in the social networking industry, and not when your main competitor has grown by 107%. That’s the situation that MySpace find themselves in currently, after figures were released that revealed just how badly the social networking No.2 and Bebo (6% growth) are trailing Facebook in the social networking race. Read the rest of this entry » Does Facebook make you stupidWhilst going about your business on or offline yesterday, you may have come across the Daily Mail’s giant front page banner headline that read something along the lines of ‘Facebook makes you stupid!’ The story behind that was that earlier in the month a scientist named Baroness Susan Greenfield had given testimony to the House of Lords stating that the impersonal communication and instant feedback that, in her opinion, characterises Facebook contact could be harmful to human minds. Read the rest of this entry » Facebook Terms of Use change ExplainedThe statement made by the Facebook team about why they revised the controversial change to their terms of use on Wednesday seemed to strongly imply that it had been the result of pressure from Facebook users. However, that pressure had existed for weeks with Facebook simply maintaining their stance, stubbornly refusing to bend to the weight of public opinion. The day before founder, Mark Zuckerberg had even defended the changes on the company’s blog. So what changed? Read the rest of this entry » Terms of Service U-Turn from FacebookFacebook have reversed a hugely controversial change to their terms of service that allowed them to retain personal data after a user has deleted his or her profile. In a blog post today Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, clarified that the social networking leader will be returning to the original terms of service, though this move is only a temporary step “While we resolve the issues that people raised.” The Dark Side of Social NetworkingAs well as being an avenue for socialising and promoting good causes, the world of social networking unfortunately also has the potential to provide an outlet for the baser, less altruistic elements of human nature. A troubling example of this has emerged in Australia, where several groups have surfaced calling for the torture and grizzly murder of the man accused of lighting the deadly Victoria bush-fires that enveloped much of the region earlier in the month. One of the groups goes as far as to call for the man to be “burned at the stake.” Value of Facebook closer to 3.7 BillionMicrosoft’s 2007 investment in social networking leader Facebook valued the company at $15 billion dollars. Analysts were sceptical about this figure at the time and since then the valuation has become something of a standing joke. Read the rest of this entry » |
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