Facebook Backs Off Content Grabbing Terms
Facebook recently put up new terms of service saying they could use and sell user's content and keep its user's content even if people deleted their accounts. This upset many Facebook users who have personal photos and other content on the Facebook service that they don't want Facebook to be able to use or resell. The anger at the new Facebook terms kept building to the point where Facebook finally had to retract the new terms. Facebook plans to post a new revision to the terms later which could anger Facebook users all over again. Rocketboom explains Facebook's terms and what it all means for users and content ownership in the clip below.Posted on February 20, 2009
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Facebook Claims 150 Million Users
Facebook has been doing very well every since they decided to open the social network up to everyone. Originally, the social network was just for high school and college students. Facebook announced that they have reached the 150 million people milestone.
Today, we reached another milestone: 150 million people around the world are now actively using Facebook and almost half of them are using Facebook every day. This includes people in every continent-even Antarctica. If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria.That's a huge number. We would be curious how many of these are active users.
When we first started Facebook almost five years ago, most of the people using it were college students in the United States. Today, people of all ages—grandparents, parents and children—use Facebook in more than 35 different languages and 170 countries and territories.
The full potential of the web is to make the world more open, so everyone has a voice and can share what is important to them. With 150 million voices and counting, we can't wait for the rest of 2009, and we look forward to offering even more ways for you to connect with the people who matter most.
Posted on January 8, 2009
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Can You Scrub Away Your Digital Footprint?
Every social networking website you have used likely still retains the information you placed there even after you abandoned the website. For some the Friendster social network may be a website they used and abandoned years ago. Forbes explains.You may have forgotten about Friendster, the once-booming social networking site that faded as American Web users flocked to MySpace and Facebook. But Friendster may not have forgotten about you.The Forbes article called "How To Disappear Online" goes on to explain how to get informaton removed from Facebook and how information is not always easy to erase - especially if it wasn't created by you. There are also companies that will help you erase your personal data for a fee. Some companies also help to remove negative information. This process is sometimes called Googlewashing. This video from MSNBC explains how it is done. The video mentions some web services that claim to perform these services. They include Reputation Hawk, Defend My Name and ReputationDefender.com. One expert argues in the video clip that removing all negative information is not possible so it is better to counter the negative information by creating lots of positive information about yourself.
It still remembers, for instance, that John Smith from Salisbury, Md., enjoys hobbies including "comic books" and "copulation." And any Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) user can read a glowing testimonial written to Brooklynite Sam Brown, describing his habit of walking around his apartment drunk and naked, as well as his talent for using a certain part of his anatomy as a puppet.
In fact, Friendster is a ghost town of detailed personal information: The site received only 2.4 million unique visitors in the U.S. in January, but has more than 10 million American profiles, many of which publicly display information that users would probably prefer to keep private.
Posted on April 10, 2008
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Twelve Music Social Networks
Everyone has heard of the big social networks like Facebook and MySpace buat some of the niche music social networks are starting to get very popular as well. Mashable has a post that describes what they claim are the twelve best music social network. Here is a list of the music social networks discussed on Mashable's post. Unless you are really into music you probably haven't visited them all.Last.fm was recently acquired by CBS and it is has 15 million users. iLike has generated a lot of buzz lately because iLike's widget has been very popular on Facebook. MySpace technically could be included in the list since it is used frequently for music and music was one of the main reasons MySpace became so popular.
Posted on June 23, 2007
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New Social Network Targets Music Lovers
A new social network called MOG has debuted that unites people based on their tastes in music.
MOG is a new social network that helps people find other people that have similar tastes in music. If you look at some of the random MOG shots on MOG's homepage it shows a photograph of the person and lists a few of their favorite bands. You can learn more about MOG in the faq.Social networks have been expanding at a quick pace lately. Recently, new networks have launched in specific categories like autos, kids and soccer. Even Martha Stewart's company has a social network in the pipeline.
Posted on June 22, 2006
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Startups Want to Imitate MySpace's Success
The popularity of MySpace.com, a social network with over 60+ million profiles, has led to an increase in the number of companies launching social networks. There are numerous competing social networks like Xuqa, Bolt, TagWorld.com, Tagged and Friendster. Then there are emerging social networks for young people like Industrious Kid. There are also new niche social networks like Joga (soccer), CarSpace (auto enthusiasts) and Xianz (bills itself as the Christian MySpace). There is also a new service that lets you spy on MySpace members. Could this be the beginning of a bunch of product launches that work with MySpace?Posted on March 28, 2006
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Study Finds Internet Can Increase Social Bonds
People spend hours on the Internet are often thought of as being unsocial but a new study says that the Internet can provide a "social glue" for people. A BBC article reporting on the PEW study called The Strength of Internet Ties says the study found Americans often use the Internet for help with illness, careers and financial advice."When you need help these days, you don't need a bugle to call the cavalry, you need a big buddy list," said John Horrigan, associate director for research at the Pew Internet Project.Social tools like blogging, forums and social networking services have made the Internet a place where it is often easier to find people to talk to do on just about any subject than it is in the real world.
The internet is providing Americans with a path to resources, whether it be dealing with family crises or finding a new job.
The reliance and accessibility of the web is creating a new social phenomenon according to sociologist Barry Wellman.
Co-author of the report, he identifies what he terms as the rise of networked individualism - where users of modern technology are less tied to local groups and increasingly part of more geographically scattered networks.
"This creates a new basis for community. Rather than relying on a single community for social support, individuals often actively seek out a variety of appropriate people and resources for different situations," he said.
Posted on January 30, 2006
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