Facebook Privacy settings change again (but for the last time)

Facebook have changed their privacy settings again, but they hope for the last time. This time they've simplified things, whilst maintaining their more granular controls as well.
You now have: a privacy master switch option; an application switch to stop all your data from being shared with applications, including stopping friends sharing your information on applications; the option to hide your friends list and interests;


Mark Zuckerberg's blog entry:
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=391922327130

Allfacebook gives a good point by point overview:
http://www.allfacebook.com/2010/05/facebook-privacy-must-know/

Zuckerberg explains it's not about the ads:
http://gigaom.com/2010/05/26/zuckerberg-its-not-about-the-ads/

Crowdsourcing isn't over, it's just overused.

This article below by Advertising Age puts across the point that crowdsourcing is over and that it doesn't work any more, although it does concede at the end that some projects do work.

That's the point that I would make: crowdsourcing isn't over, it's just overused by marketing departments. Just like Augmented Reality, everyone wants to get on the band-waggon, even though it might be pointless and not work for their brand.

There seems to be a pattern with new marketing techniques that goes in these stages:

1. A few pack-leaders do something new with a brand that is willing to be brave and innovative.
2. There is one high-profile successful campaign that brings it to the mainstream.
3. There is mass take-up. Brand managers will say "I want a campaign with X".
4. It's get to a point where everyone is doing it and many badly. Bad marketing agencies are making easy money off supplying the service to anyone and everyone; and brands are wanting to be a part of the phenomenon.
5. The appeal drops off and it settles down to just being another string to the marketing bow, used when appropriate.


http://adage.com/article?article_id=143896

Facebook / Zuckerberg Backlash

There has been quite a backlash against Facebook recently due to their dodgy and ever changing Privacy Policy.

This piece by Jason Calacanis talks about companies getting "Zuckered" and accuses Facebook of a lot of wrong doing, including the most common complaint of constantly changing it's complicated Privacy Policy.
http://calacanis.com/2010/05/12/the-big-game-zuckerberg-and-overplaying-your-hand/


This site reveals just how much people share, often without their knowledge. It's a search engine for all the public status updates and it's amazing what people will share with the world:
http://www.youropenbook.org

It's not all hate for Facebook though, here's an article defending them:
http://mashable.com/2010/05/16/in-defense-of-facebook/


I think that there is a middle ground here though. Facebook isn't really all that evil. You are voluntarily putting all this information into their system, you are given the options to restrict access to the information you enter into the system - albeit with a changing system, but social media sites are still in their early years and there are problems to be ironed out.
The thing that all these critics forget that lots of people out there want to share their thoughts, opinions, pictures and life with the world and broadcast their life. Most people who stupidly post on Facebook that they hate their boss would have been caught on email / instant messenger or in the tearoom. It's just another forum, that we are still exploring.

I think the article below is far more balanced and tries to explain that Facebook did not take your privacy - I'm inclined to agree.
http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=143909

The Semantic Web

There has been quite a lot of talk of the Semantic Web on this blog and we still believe it's the future. This is what will make Skynet become aware: giving all the data out there some meaning.

Anyway if you don't know what the Semantic Web is and what all of this means for you, this brief article and video will explain the Semantic Web to you.

http://mashable.com/2010/05/10/semantic-web-documentary/

Are Community Pages Bad for Brands?

With the rise of the like button and the introduction of community pages, Facebook is changing and how fans interact with brands is changing with it.

Facebook community pages allow content and information to be pulled from fans and Wikipedia. It should in theory minimise the number of duplicate pages around and be good for brands. However, the problem right now is that there is no way for brands to add or edit the content.

This article explains how to manage risk for your community page