Displaying items by tag: Social Networking

Today Facebook added a new and redesigned Help Center to help it's users to solve their issues with less trouble than they might have had so far. The new Help center has new layout and design with the addition of a list of popular questions users ask when they have problems (FAQ). The new Help Center design contains 6 large areas that contain major items that could be interesting to users based on how they use Facebook, if they go to Help Center while not logged in, they will see information about how to create your own account or resetting your password, while the standard users will have suggestions to learn privacy basics, report an issue, see what's new on Facebook and to discover new annoying features.

Identity theft is nothing new and unfortunately it is also still very common. By Some estimates 1 out of 3 people will have experienced identity theft of some sort. After a close relative had their identity stolen I did a little bit of research into the methods that some use to steal others identities and was surprised at how easy it is to do. Now that we have social sites like Facebook, Twitter and more it is actually becoming easier to steal people’s personal information and do massive amounts of damage to them financially and personally.

The big news story today is of the purchase of social news sharing site Digg to Betaworks for the small sum of $500,000. The world was shocked at this number considering the massive impact that Digg once had. When they first launched they were THE way to share your content on the internet.  Unfortunately Digg has had a series of bad management decisions as well as facing serious competition from rivals like Reddit, Stumbleupon and others. However, the story behind the $500k price tag might not be complete as new information has come to light about the way the company was sold in parts to different buyers.

A couple of weeks ago there was an uproar over the data collection practices of the iPhone social networking app Path. This app was intended to allow users to have a more intimate social networking experience. Well like an intimate partner they appear to have been going through some of their users personal information. In fact Path was requesting and uploading users contacts lists; including phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and anything else that was attached to the contact in question (there is a lot you can put in a contact entry).

Well it took a while but it looks like Google has finally added a feature that was needed on Google+ since the day it launched. No we are not talking about Google Doc integration or anything like that. No, we are talking about letting websites setup a page under the Google+ banner. The announcement happened early today as a limited number of sites were allowed to create a page. Some of the illustrious first adopters were companies like Angry Birds, Pepsi, The Dallas Cowboys, ant the Muppets. It is a pretty smart move on their part just to kick this off, but what is more they are actually providing you with the direct tools to add the +Button and links for people to go to your Google+ page directly from the website. This is a little easier than some of the developer tools that we have used for Facebook (our Facebook connect is still not working right).

We have launched our own +DecryptedTech page and will be posting articles there as well as continuing to use Facebook (and of course the DecryptedTech Forums).  Now we have to wonder when Google will allow access to the pages from a mobile device. This is something that Facebook still does not do (using the mobile app). If they can get this up and running they might convert more than a few hardcore Facebook fan sites to convert.

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So it’s the 5th of November at 9:01am (Eastern Time in the US) and Facebook is still up. I know that there will be countless articles and comments online today about this and many of them will be less than complimentary. However, the fact of the matter is that this “Op” was probably never really sanctioned by the collective in the first place. Instead this was most likely the work of a handful of members that were angry at Facebook.

If you remember our article on this back on the 22nd of September we said “As for Facebook and the 5th of November… I think they are safe, but not because Facebook is secure or well coded (it is not). It is because Facebook really does represent Freedom of speech and expression; even if the owners are rather arrogant and foolish.”  We just had a feeling that doing something like this would not be in Anonymous’ best interest and again it would be attacking one of the things that they do represent; a free and open internet (freedom of speech and expression).

Of course the argument can be raised that Facebook is a giant corporation that rakes in tons of cash and has used its members’ images, information and other items to become quite wealthy. This has upset many Anonymous members if some of the comments we have seen are any indication. However the general consensus is that Facebook is a good thing even if there are some areas that are concerning.

In the end Facebook is more user driven than a corporation like Fox, or Bank of America, or the Zeta Cartel. These companies prey off of the general public instead of allowing them the freedom to express themselves as they see fit and to communicate with the rest of the world if they chose. So today when you hear that Anonymous “dropped” another Op or more about how Chaotic they are and their lack of organization (they are a collective, but people keep missing that) just remember that while some of their members have done things that are less than acceptable (like releasing the home addresses of police officers) in the end the vast majority really are after a more open and free internet. This is why things like Facebook, Myspace and most other Social Networking sites are pretty safe.

...Of course the day has just started...

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