Latest Facebook News

Facebook API to open up to other social networks
By Christina Warren
Just hours after social networking site Bebo announced that their Open Application Developer Platform (which goes live tonight) would be "100 percent compatible with the Facebook platform", Facebook has pulled out a trump card of sorts, ...
Download Squad - http://www.downloadsquad.com

Bebo adopts Facebook open platform
Xinhua - China
Bebo's Open Application Platform will be fully compatible with the thousands of applications that have helped fuel growth at social network Facebook, ...
See all stories on this topic

Facebook Counters OpenSocial; Bebo Playing Both Sides
By joseph@paidcontent.org (Joseph Weisenthal)
Facebook is ready to counterattack Google's (NSDQ: GOOG) OpenSocial. The site revealed today that its Facebook Platform would be made available to other social networking sites, allowing developers to easily port Facebook apps to sites ...
paidContent:UK - http://www.paidcontent.co.uk/

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Meebo Brings Chat to Facebook Apps; Hits 20 Million Monthly Users
TechCrunch - Atherton,CA,USA
Bringing more immediacy to Facebook apps from buddymedia, (fluff)Friends, rockyou, Slide, The Broth and the watercooler, Web-based instant messaging startup ...

Facebook targets Google with program for other social networks
Computerworld - Framingham,MA,USA
December 13, 2007 (Computerworld) -- In a direct shot across the bow of Google Inc. and its opensocial project, Facebook Thursday announced plans to allow ...

Israel's New York Consulate launches Facebook page

Ynetnews - Israel
The Consulate General of Israel in New York City recently launched a new Facebook page in its name in an effort to publicize upcoming events and to reach ...

Facebook Profiles Can Foil Job Searches
Smartmoney.com - USA
Popular social-networking web sites like Facebook and myspace are some of the latest vehicles that allow anyone who can use a mouse to create an online ...

Facebook interns rankled by younger bosses [Cubicle Culture]
By Nicholas Carlson
Facebook engineer Charles Cheever tells Intern Memo that one of the "most interesting" aspects of interning for the social network is that "it's not unheard of for interns to be older than the... [[ This is a content summary only. ...
Valleywag - http://valleywag.com

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Did Blockbuster, Facebook Break Privacy Law With Beacon?
PC World - USA
Was a 1988 law broken when movie choices that Facebook members made on the Blockbuster's Web site were made available to other Facebook members? ...

Birthday Calendar Application Reaches 2 Million Users in One Month ...

Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA

application called Birthday Calendar. In just one month since its (BUSINESS WIRE)--BigDates Solutions today announced the launch of a powerful Facebook...

More Facebook news

Facebook Removes Firewall from Applications

NewsCloud writes "Last week, Facebook quietly removed sign-in restrictions that previously hid third party applications from the public Web. In other words, Facebook now allows its third party applications to be viewable on the Web by ...
Slashdot: Generated for rossturk... - http://slashdot.org/

Facebook Beacon's traffic inflation

Many people were enraged when they got a closer look at Facebook Beacon and realized they were giving away so much data (to Facebook) and getting back nothing for it, really. One of the first to stand up against Facebook was GigaOM's Om ...
WebMetricsGuru - http://www.webmetricsguru.com/

Shuddup You, Facebook!

Again, I am not being closeminded to Facebook, but just because I have previously said you have to look at such things from the inside, it does not mean I have to embrace them equally with desire. I see an incredible environment of ...
CogDogBlog - http://cogdogblog.com

Facebook dumper may have staged Digg-linked hack [Sandra Soroka]

Sandra Soroka, the New York videoblogger who dumped her boyfriend through her Facebook status message may not have had her Flickr account hacked by outraged Digg users, as we previously reported....
Valleywag - http://valleywag.com

Latest Facebook News

Is Beacon Inflating Facebook's Visitor Numbers?
By Erick Schonfeld
While Facebook's Beacon program has been drawing the ire of many people because of the privacy issues surrounding it, advertisers might be equally concerned about whether Beacon is inflating Facebook's overall visitor and traffic ...
Techcrunch - http://www.techcrunch.com

OpenSocial Delayed Until Next Year
By Nick O'Neill
Waiting on the Facebook platform competition to come rolling out? It's not happening anytime soon. Even MySpace announced their platform at the Web 2.0 Sumit and there are still no applications available on the site. ...
All Facebook - http://www.allfacebook.com

Facebook Message email notifications now include the actual Message
By Justin Smith
Facebook just pushed a feature that will be welcomed by heavy users of Facebook messaging: actually being able to view the message contents in the notification email Facebook sends to let you know that a new message has arrived. ...

Inside Facebook - http://www.insidefacebook.com

Facebook Founder Apologizes for Ad System
By Gregory Mone
The social-networking site Facebook may have to find another way to cash in on its huge user base. The company's new "social ads" program, called Beacon, has been controversial, forcing company founder Mark Zuckerberg (pictured here) to ...
Popular Science Blog - http://popsci.typepad.com/popsci/

This week in social networking

Social Networking Website VOIS.com Continues to Attract

US Based Social Networking Site Friendster Reaches Japan, Korea

zdnet Resources - OpenID

Social Networking Research

The power of social networking sites

Social networking site launched in Ann Arbor

Jamiroquai release new social networking enabled site

Boyd's law of social network sites - Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog

While I was off the grid, Cory Doctorow created a law of social network sites and named it after me:

boyd's law: "Adding more users to a social network [site] increases the probability that it will put you in an awkward social circumstance."

This comes from a brilliant column that he wrote for InformationWeek about how the Facebook communication technology (combined with their not-so-open platform strategy) resemble AOL's old segregation/segmentation approach to users. (Remember the days when AOL users couldn't email anyone who didn't have an AOL account?) Embedded in this discussion is a concern for how social network sites are extremely socially awkward. My favorite quote: "It's socially awkward to refuse to add someone to your friends list -- but removing someone from your friend-list is practically a declaration of war. The least-awkward way to get back to a friends list with nothing but friends on it is to reboot: create a new identity on a new system."

Boyd's law of social network sites - Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog

The Days of our Facebook: How Love Moved to Hate

It's always amazing to me to watch how quick the internets shift on a product, service or person.

One day it's love, the next day it's hate. It seems that we are in the hate portion of Facebook these days. Let's take a quick look back at the past few months for: The Days of our Facebook: How Love Moved to Hate

Hong Kong billionaire takes $60 million Facebook stake - MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing has invested $60 million in social networking Web site Facebook, equivalent to a 0.4% stake, and has the option for an additional $60 million investment, according to a report by a technology blog.

The All Things Digital blog on Friday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the transaction, reported that 79-year-old Li would not make the investment through his flagship companies Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.

The investment is likely part of a strategy to forge closer relations between Facebook and Li's media flagship Tom Group, the report said.

Many of Hong Kong-based Tom Group's holding, which include outdoor media, publishing, sports promotion, and internet properties, are geared towards the China market and could help Facebook tap into the fast-growing advertising market there.

Hong Kong billionaire takes $60 million Facebook stake - MarketWatch

Why You Shouldn’t Trust Social Networking with Health Information

There’s a lot of hype (and startups) to go along with trying to get you to buy into their “social networking” websites for health issues. Usually these companies have been backed by venture capitalists who expect both a relatively quick and large return on their money.

When a company is beholden not to its founders’ vision or its own mission (no matter how grand that mission or vision might be), but to financial backers who have little interest in the actual goals of the company other than to see it go public or purchased by the highest bidder as quickly as possible, guess who suffers the most? You’re right if you picked you, the user.

Since a company is an entity, not a person, it doesn’t have to be personal in these decisions. It makes them as a disconnected “other,” simply something that is trying to convince you that it is “helping” you by offering your data to others, even when it does so at times without your knowledge or permission.

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2007/12/02/why-you-shouldnt-trust-social-networking-with-health-information/

Top 6 Social Networking Sites as of Nov.

just a quick list:

1. MySpace - 58.8 million unique visitors.
2. Facebook - 19.5 million unique visitors
3. Classmates Online - 13.2 million unique visitors
4. Windows Live Spaces - 10.3 million unique visitors
5. AOL Hometown -7.9 million unique visitors
6. Linkedin - 4.9 million unique visitors

How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media: Putting Effective (Online) Social Networking Into Practice

Interesting details about socnet markeing and building a community:

Over the past month, I've been doing a little action research for an article on ways to be effective using online social networking sites. To do the research, I've been asking my "friends" in different online social networks, "What is your best practice or tip for using online social networking sites for your organization." I didn't just ask people from nonprofits as I wanted to get a multi-disciplinary view.

So, I started with reading and reflecting on some recent blog posts by two gurus on the topic: Chris Brogan and Connie Bensen. In response to a query, Connie provided a brilliant synthesis of the key networking principles which were my starting point for putting some ideas into practice.

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media: Putting Effective (Online) Social Networking Into Practice

Deep Read: The Case Against Facebook - AKA Mark Zuckerberg's little problem

Did Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg build his $15 billion business on a stolen idea?

It's not a new charge, but 02138, the Harvard magazine, takes a fresh look at the evidence leveled against Zuckerberg by several classmates who are suing him. It's hard to read it and not come away with the impression that Zuckerberg did some pretty unethical stuff, and then lied to cover his tracks.

There are two main questions at hand: Whether Zuckerberg, who was supposed to be working on a rival social-networking site in the months before he debuted Facebook, actively stalled his supposed collaborators to get a head start; and whether he purloined the code he was supposed to be perfecting.

On the first question, the answer seems to be yes. At a minimum, Zuckerberg has misrepresented when he started work on Facebook. Zuckerberg has said he didn't begin until Jan. 14, 2004, when he informed the founders of Harvard Connection that he would no longer be working for them. That was always suspicious, as Facebook went live less than three weeks later. And indeed, reports 02138, court documents show that Zuckerberg had already registered his domain by Jan. 11, and on Jan. 12 he emailed a partner to say the site was almost complete.

As for the code, Zuckerberg has said "[t]here is really good documentation" that Facebook's code was not based on Harvard Connection's. But it turns out there's not:

Zuckerberg has been on notice since September 2004 to preserve information relevant to the case, but for some time Facebook claimed they couldn't produce a shred of source code from when Zuckerberg first began working for Harvard Connection, the original Facebook code, or even the Facebook code in October 2004, one month after the original suit was filed. Zuckerberg's lawyers have held that nearly all the early Facebook code has disappeared, wiped from outside servers long ago or lost on missing or corrupted hard drives.

02138 has posted documents from the case here. Here's the details:

Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard Application (PDF)

Mark Zuckerberg's email to Harvard’s Administrative Board (PDF)

Mark Zuckerberg's testimony #1 (PDF)

Mark Zuckerberg's testimony #2 (PDF)

Facebook Statement of cash flows 2005 (PDF)

Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss's testimony (PDF)

Mark Zuckerberg's online diary (PDF)

Statement of damage done to La Jennifer sublet (PDF)

Media Blog - Mixed Media by Jeff Bercovici: Deep Read: The Case Against Facebook - Portfolio.com

Facebook Blinks on Beacon

It’s been so long since I’ve been able to write about Facebook every day. I’m gonna relish this while I can. BusinessWeek reports today that Facebook may be tweaking the ill-received Project Beacon. These changes could come as soon as November 29—aka today.

BusinessWeek points out, accurately IMHO, that as Facebook tweaks the system to assuage its disgruntled users, it runs the risk of upsetting its advertisers and partners:

In the wake of mounting criticism, Facebook executives are discussing changes to a controversial advertising tool that publicizes users' Web activities outside of the popular social network. Alterations to the recently introduced Beacon system could be announced as early as Nov. 29, BusinessWeek.com has learned.

Executives of the three-year-old company were in deep talks over proposed changes late into the afternoon on Nov. 28, according to a person familiar with the matter. At issue is the Beacon program, which alerts members' Facebook "friends" to purchases and other activities on third-party Web sites. A spokesperson for the company declined to discuss changes, reiterating an earlier statement: "Facebook is listening to feedback from its users and committed to evolving Beacon."

Techcrunch: "Screenshots And Details On Upcoming MySpace “News Feeds”"

A Reuters article earlier today gave a few details on MySpace’s upcoming “new feeds” product (which is what Facebook calls their similar product launched a year ago. We spoke to MySpace and got a much deeper look at the product, as well as screenshots of how it will look.

The new product, to be called “Friends Updates,” will launch this Thursday, says MySpace VP Communications Dani Dudeck. MySpace users from New Zealand and Ireland, where Friends Updates is being beta tested, can already use it.

The new product will give users a steady stream of event information from their friends. Profile updates, blog posts and photo/video uploads are all noted. See screenshot for a visual.


Techcrunch: "Screenshots And Details On Upcoming MySpace “News Feeds”"

Xbox 360: Social Networking Platform

Fans of the Xbox 360 will notice their systems update on December 4th, and according to reports will now allow a social networking feature called “Friends of Friends.” There exists currently within the Xbox live framework the ability to maintain a list of friends, presumably regular gaming partners.

The new update will extend that functionality to allow several levels of visibility of your friend list to others. Those 13 and up will be allowed the ability to show their friends who else is on their list. Adults will be able to make their friends list public. For those under 13, all friend lists will remain blocked.

What’s also somewhat interesting is how Microsoft is billing this update in their press releases, saying that the feature can be used as a tool to “find old friends or connect with new ones within the community of more the eight million people.” Of course, a community of eight million does not a social networking powerhouse make, but it ain’t no slouch either. I doubt there will be much use in the social network (at least initially) beyond being able to scope out other potential game-mates.

Xbox 360: Social Networking Platform

Facebook Scores Deal With ABC - The Unofficial Facebook Blog

via Facebook Scores Deal With ABC - The Unofficial Facebook Blog:

The New York Times is reporting that ABC and Facebook have partnered to bring more political coverage to Facebook users. Through the partnership Facebook gets to distribute ABC’s political content for free and ABC gets exposure to the more then 52 million Facebook users. Facebook had already created the US Politics application but it hasn’t been extremely popular.

Facebook Market Research Secrets — Alec Saunders .LOG

Good description of how to get Facebook stats on certain demographics:

Facebook Market Research Secrets — Alec Saunders .LOG

http://adonomics.com/ - checking out the number of users, frequency of use and valuation of Facebook apps

Check it out, detals below:

What is Adonomics?

Adonomics™, formerly Appaholic, is your source for Facebook analytics. By providing a stock-market-style analysis of the Facebook platform we enable developers and investors to track application growth, activity, and valuation.

(as of Nov 25th 2007):

Facebook Facts

• There are 587,618,810 installs across 9,487 apps on Facebook with over 168,000 developers currently evaluating the platform.
• These applications were used 31,818,152 times in the last 24 hours and have a combined valuation of $504,543,658.
  
• Facebook has approximately 50 million Unique Active Users in the past 30 days and a valuation of $15 billion.
  
• This translates to $300 per active user.

http://adonomics.com/

MySpace Updates: MySpace November Newsletter

November 2007 Need a job? Are you looking for a full-time or part-time job? Go to MySpace�s Jobs section and search millions of jobs and internships. Add job alerts to your homepage and make your job search simple! What are you waiting for? Find your dream job now! New features in your Friends Space You�ve got so many MySpace friends, it gets difficult to keep track of them all! How many mutual friends do you have? Try out the new filters while viewing others� friends lists and your own. Check it out now! MySpace Comedy Exclusive: Dane Cook Rough the Edges Tour Named a "comedian phenom and icon" by US Entertainment Weekly magazine, comedian Dane Cook embarks on his 25 city arena tour on November 2nd. Don't miss your opportunity to see the biggest comedian today on his Rough Around the Edges Tour which runs until December 9th. Visit MySpace Comedy and click here for more tour details. MySpace Comedy Exclusive: Rock For Darfur Concert MySpace has brought its bands together once again to help end the suffering in Darfur. Rock for Darfur is one night of 35 concerts on 4 continents, all taking place on November 10th. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Save Darfur Coalition and Oxfam's Sudan crisis relief fund. Click here to learn how you can get involved! MySpace en Espa�ol: Mi Concierto presents OZOMATLI Brought to you by McDonald�s Grammy winning group, OZOMATLI plays a FREE show for an exclusive intimate crowd on November 13th. Will you be one of them? CLICK HERE for more info. MySpace Exclusive: MySpace/MTV Presidential Dialogue with Barack Obama MySpace & MTV team up to bring you a series of Presidential Dialogues with leading candidates. Click here to learn how you can be part of these LIVE, interactive events right here on MySpace. Check out highlights from the second Dialogue with Barack Obama live from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA and see how he handled tough questions from the crowd and from YOU. Global Spotlight on Germany: 1000 Stories Starting in New York last month, a new-media artist and documentary filmmaker from Berlin will travel all over the United States by motorcycle, while U.S. filmmaker Mark Simon travels throughout Germany by car. During their month-long journeys, each filmmaker will post video blogs of their interviews. Check out all the videos so far! Featured Artist: Vampire Weekend This quirky indie pop quartet have already caused a considerable buzz in their hometown of New York, even before releasing their first full-length record. Look for them this fall, as they set out on tour across the US. Listen here! Featured Comedian: Artie Lange COMEDIAN, ACTOR, WRITER, PRODUCER, ENTREPENEUR, RADIO PERSONALITY. Those are just a few ways to describe this prolific talent who continues his rise in the entertainment industry. You can listen to Artie every morning on the Howard Stern Radio Show or see him perform live at the Lincoln Center on November 9th at the New York Comedy Festival. The Human Slinky Weird Face Dance Airplane Empties Water Tanks Bad Kitty MySpace TV EXCLUSIVE: MySpaceTV Original Series! Now playing on MySpaceTV is Roommates, a daily show about four college roommates who move to the city after graduation and volunteer to have their lives filmed a la �reality webshow.� Subscribe to the show, friend the girls, and sway the action via your comments. Then tune in for fresh episodes every Monday-Friday as their lives play out for you in this hot, new, interactive series. When College ends, the real party begins. Watch Roommates now! MySpace Presents VIBE Verses: Wyclef Jean on The Release Wyclef Jean is looking for an opening act for his upcoming MySpace Release Show. Got lyrics? Visit myspace.com/hiphop for more info on how to enter.

Latest Facebook News

A police officer is under investigation after an "inappropriate video clip" was posted on Facebook

Facebook disables prohibited porn ads
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
By Elise Ackerman and John Boudreau Facebook said Friday it has disabled pornographic ads that were placed on profiles created by users of the popular ...

myspace Hypertargeting vs Facebook Beacon: Which one is creepier?
CNet News.com Blog - USA
But Google is far less intrusive (for now) than myspace or Facebook which usurp data you never signed up to disclose. "Our mission with hypertargeting by ...

Facebook backlash over sale of personal data
Independent - London,England,UK
Following weeks of discontent on group discussion boards on Facebook, one of world's biggest internet sites, it is facing a privacy backlash organised by ...

Facebook Tricks
By garhwalk(Yogesh Goel)
Facebook has been the buzz word in recent times. Well, almost all the social networking sites are getting world's attention. We are enjoying this wonderful phase web 2.0 and we keep on trying our hands on cool tips and tricks to enhance ...

Extreme social networking

No longer will you have to rely on Shirley McLaine to find out that you have an Egyptian princess or a Russian nobleman in your past. You can find out for sure and maybe they’ll come pay you a visit. 6 degrees of separation? No longer is it just a party game ending in Kevin Bacon, it’s going to be on the web, searchable, representing the web of humanity via the latest web 2.0 technology. You’ll have cousins showing up by RSS in your genome/blog reader.

The process begins, disgustingly enough, with spit. You purchase a $999 “spit kit” and you supply the requisite DNA. The company, 23andMe, tests your saliva and posts the results on their site, where you can use “…our interactive tools to shed new light on your distant ancestors, your close family and most of all, yourself.

http://blog.genyes.com/index.php/2007/11/21/extreme-social-networking/