Chief Privacy Officer for Facebook, Erin Egan, posted a blog on Friday 23 March, 2012, that highlighted Facebook’s concern at people abusing their authority by requesting user details and passwords. It seems a number of employers have been requesting both current and prospective employees to hand over their Facebook account passwords. Facebook is outraged that employers would even think of doing such a thing as this totally contravenes the privacy policies set out by Facebook.

Egan wrote: “If you are a Facebook user, you should never have to share your password, let anyone access your account, or do anything that might jeopardize the security of your account or violate the privacy of your friends.  We have worked really hard at Facebook to give you the tools to control who sees your information.

As a user, you shouldn’t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job.  And as the friend of a user, you shouldn’t have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don’t know and didn’t intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job.”

Egan also made a convincing argument as to why employers are at risk when they ask for employee passwords: “We don’t think employers should be asking prospective employees to provide their passwords because we don’t think it’s the right thing to do.  But it also may cause problems for the employers that they are not anticipating.  For example, if an employer sees on Facebook that someone is a member of a protected group (e.g. over a certain age, etc.) that employer may open themselves up to claims of discrimination if they don’t hire that person.”

Facebook has “made it a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to share or solicit a Facebook password.” They also state that if need be, they would take legal action should the need arise, against anyone infringing on their Privacy Policy.

While I appreciate Facebook’s sincere concern at these privacy violations, and Egan has written a convincing blog addressing the issues, I can’t help but feel that this blog was not the best place to address the issue. I am quite sure that those already infringing on the privacy policies of Facebook, probably don’t know what the policies are, or even care what they are. This leads me to believe that they probably will not even read Egan’s blog, but maybe that’s just the pessimist in me and Egan’s blog will in fact change the actions of these employers who, in infringing the Facebook privacy policies, clearly have no respect for the privacy of their employees or potential employees.

“Facebook has always been committed to being transparent about the information you have stored with us – and we have led the internet in building tools to give people the ability to see and control what they share.
But we can also always do better. I’m committed to making Facebook the leader in transparency and control around privacy.”

This quote comes from a blog written by Mark Zuckerberg on 29 November 2011. The blog was written in response to the announcement made by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) that Facebook has agreed to settle the charges made by the FTC that Facebook has deceived their users. The FTC was particularly concerned with the fact the Facebook has made promises about the security and privacy of their users information but has failed to live up to these promises.

In Mark Zuckergerg’s blog, he agrees that Facebook has had some problems in the past and has not always notified users about changes that would change their privacy settings and more. He also states that they are doing everything they can to ensure that this does not happen again; including undertaking to do biannual independent audits of their privacy practices to confirm that they are indeed living up to the commitments they make.

Some of the other requirements of the settlement as laid out by the FTC state that Facebook is:

– barred from making misrepresentations about the privacy or security of consumers’ personal information;

– required to obtain consumers’ affirmative express consent before enacting changes that override their privacy preferences;

– required to prevent anyone from accessing a user’s material more than 30 days after the user has deleted his or her account;

I find it quite refreshing that not only has Facebook agreed to the settlement but also seems to be taking this all very seriously. Whether it is a brilliant PR strategy or an earnest desire to be better and keep their users feeling safe, Facebook has played its cards right.

Zuckerberg starts his blog by saying:

“I founded Facebook on the idea that people want to share and connect with people in their lives, but to do this everyone needs complete control over who they share with at all times.

This idea has been the core of Facebook since day one. When I built the first version of Facebook, almost nobody I knew wanted a public page on the internet. That seemed scary. But as long as they could make their page private, they felt safe sharing with their friends online. Control was key. With Facebook, for the first time, people had the tools they needed to do this. That’s how Facebook became the world’s biggest community online.  We made it easy for people to feel comfortable sharing things about their real lives.”

I’m quite sure this settlement agreed to by Facebook will not deter any users or potential users from using Facebook, but rather encourage people to do more and say more. Rather clever, don’t you think?

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got around to watching The Social Network, a film based on the early days of Facebook. (Although, since it is only about six years old, we could still be in what will considered the “early days”). In the film, you could see the Facebook team watch as the number of members hit the 100 000 mark.

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Having joined the social networking site Facebook three weeks ago, I have realised that I am uniquely suited to helping people make the most of their Facebook experience. This is why I have created a guide to the site, hopefully you will all profit greatly by my experience.

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Have you ever commented on Facebook, only to see a mistake as soon as you post it? Sure, you can delete it and start over, but who wants to spend the time rewriting, especially if it was a long comment.

Facebook has just unveiled a new feature that allows you to go back and edit comments within a few seconds after you have posted them, similar to the way you are able to edit messages on Skype. “A few seconds” means just that though, one estimate was that it took just twelve seconds before your only option is to delete and start all over, hopefully without the error this time.

This handy trick is useful if you realise you have made a spelling, or grammar mistake, or even if you suddenly realise that you have one of your facts wrong. There are however, a couple of catches other than the time limit (aren’t there always?)

First of all, if the person whose page you are commenting on, has set their account to email them with comments, they will receive both the original and the edited versions. This means that you can’t make nasty comments on your boss’s page, and then quickly edit it – your boss will still see the unedited version.

The second thing is that if someone else comments before you have managed to edit, you will no longer be able to do anything. Again, however, you could just delete!

The edit option can be found in the same place as the delete option, simple click on the small “x” in the top right hand corner of the comment, and the options will show.

Apparently, Facebook put this new feature into place because it will help people to make more thoughtful, involved comments, which equal more site interaction, and therefore more user satisfaction.

On Monday morning (2 May 2011) I was talking to my younger sister, who was also on Facebook at the same time. Suddenly she said, “Did you know bin Laden is dead?” I’ll admit, I was a bit sceptical, knowing that news sites are not her usual haunt on the internet. “No, really, it’s all over Facebook.” And that was how I too learnt about the death of Osama bin Laden. Not through the radio, or TV, or any type of news site, but through Facebook posts. (more…)

The launch of the new MySpace, just a few short months ago, does not seem to be saving the network’s declining traffic and revenue streams. Nor is it going to save MySpace from the News Corp. chopping board.

This week, MySpace laid off 500 of it’s employees, across the board – amounting to an astonishing 47% of it’s total staff base.

At the time, Mike Jones, CEO, stated that the decision had nothing to do with their new product, ““Today’s tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability,” Jones said of MySpace’s recent re-vamp. “These changes were purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect the performance of the new product.” CNET

However, just a few days later, Jones confirmed that News Corp. is looking for a way to off-load the failing project. Many rumors had been flying around, that the parent company was looking for a buyer for MySpace, and it is very sad to discover, that some of them were true.

Spokesperson for MySpace, Rosabel Toa, revealed to Bloomberg just recently, that “News Corp. is assessing a number of possibilities including a sale, a merger and a spinout….. The process has just started.”

I consider MySpace’s shift in focus last year, to be a very brave attempt at saving their bacon, however, it might have been the thing that killed it for them.

Listening to the forums, it seems like the general public is not all that sorry to see MySpace go down this path – which, for me at least, indicates just how much popularity MySpace is losing.

I wonder who is brave enough to invest in MySpace now? Once acquired, will the face and shape of MySpace change yet again? Or will it be dissolved into a new & exciting venture by some big player out there? Only time will tell.

The mind truely does boggle at the creativity and technical capabilities of young minds today.

Below, is the handiwork of Paul Butler, an intern on Facebook’s data infrastructure engineering team. He has created a “map” of Facebook Friendships and how Facebook users are connected to one another around the world.

The process involved in creating this map is quite impressive, not to mention the insights given by a study like this. Take note that Facebook has yet to “dominate” the world, with quite a few dark areas in China, Russia, Africa and South America.

Beautiful work to say the least.

Facebook launched a new Facebook profile layout this week. Checking it out, they have made some significant changes to the profile, although this time, they have managed to keep the new layout relatively simple & easy to use.

I remember in the past, feeling like I was navigating unchartered territories, when using past facebook layouts, however, this time round it is a much easier experience.

New features include:

1. A quick snapshot of your personal information appears directly beneath your name,

2. Directly beneath this snapshot, appears a range of photos that you have been tagged in (not to worry, you can also hide the not so flattering pics of yourself too – thanks Facebook),

3. The “tabs” now appear under your profile picture,

4. Within your “info” box, you can now share even more information about where you work, who you work with, your interests & hobbies etc…

5. Arrange your friends into groups,

6. Discover how you are connected to friends of friends.

I have read reports of some who do not actually like the new layout, so my advice, is if you don’t like change, don’t get the new layout. However, my suspicion is that while the layout has not yet become mandatory in all countries, it will do so in the near future.

The new profile layout does provide a much more pleasant user-experience, although if you are having issues, you can always check out the FAQ’s within Facebook’s Help center.

To get the new profile layout, simply go to www.facebook.com/about/profile.

Whether you realise it or not, Social Media has become an established part of most of our lives.

Yes, you still get the fuddy duddies that swear to never, ever take part in such a “mindless, waste of time”, but the reality, is that most of us have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account, or a Tumblr or Digg account. Or all of them. Some of us have so many social media accounts that we have a hard time keeping up with all of them.

It stands to reason, that someone would eventually build a social media based browser. It really was inevitable.

So now, I find myself waiting for an invitation from RockMelt to participate in their beta phase. A new browser which has focused specifically on keeping social networking at your fingertips while searching. Maybe this will make social networking and searching, less time consuming, more enjoyable. I’ll be interested to see how businesses can make use of something like this, to promote their brands & increase their profits.