Facebook adds the inevitable "groups" feature

Facebook has announced the inevitable addition of "groups", whereby users can sort their friends into different groups, so only certain comments/statuses/photos etc. are available to certain groups.

Mark Zuckerberg summarises the problem:
"There are some things you are comfortable saying to all your friends at once but a lot of things you only want to share with your close co-workers or your family and there just hasn't been a great way to do that until now."

This blog has discussed the social problems created by Facebook in the past. In the real world we automatically filter what we say and share with different friends, family, colleagues - so it makes sense that Facebook would include that feature, to further replicate the way we interact in the real world and avoid a variety of social faux pas.


Guardian article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/07/facebook-groups

BBC News article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11486427

Facebook places - Let me check you in

I was reading this article about Facebook Places and the issues that could arise when checking in other people. It immediately rang alarm in my head as to the problems it could cause in modern society, with all the white lies going around so as not to hurt people's feelings when turning down those numerous Facebook invites - or simply people cheating on their wives / girlfriends!

Also it seems strange that other people can confirm your presence in a location. Facebook compared this to being tagged in a photo, but it feels more personal to me and many others I found out after quick Google. I don't want other people to confirm my presence at a party, dinner, pub, cinema. It would be slightly scary to login to Facebook to be told you've been checked into places.

Luckily you can turn this off with a setting under the privacy settings page on Facebook, which means that you no longer have to worry about friends being able to check you in. Although I wonder how many people know about or can find the setting?

Original article:
http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=145487

How to change your Facebook places privacy settings:
http://gawker.com/5616338/the-first-thing-you-should-do-with-facebook-places-dont-let-other-people-tag-you

Facebook ad spend increases

Spend on Facebook advertising has increased by ten times in the last year. Big brands who were just experimenting with Facebook ads; now satisfied with the results, are using the platform more and more. It is predicted that Facebook ad spends will increase to $1.4 billion for 2010.

Here at Jollywise we've seen a marked increase in interest in Facebook advertising. We've been running ad campaigns for some big brands for a while and have had great success with them. The targeting and reporting available means we're able to meet client requirements and give them real ROI.


Read more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-04/facebook-advertisers-boost-spending-tenfold-as-site-grows-sandberg-says.html

Wave is dead (long live wave)

Google have just announced that Google Wave is being put to bed. Although touted as the future of the web and with a large push from Google, it never really picked up. (A little like Google Buzz)

However I believe this is more to do with Google trying to do to much in one leap. I think that a lot of the features of Wave will slowly be integrated into Google Mail and we'll see email / chat / online communication move towards what was being presented in Google Wave, just at a slower more drip-fed pace, so users can get used to the changes.
Just because Wave wasn't successful it doesn't mean that similar sites and features won't be successful in the future. I just think they will be carefully integrated into an evironment the user is familiar with, such as Google Mail and Facebook.

Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/pda/2010/aug/05/google-wave

Is Facebook over?

Apparently Facebook is no longer the coolest kid on the block. It's rapidly becoming the place to hang out less according to stats from OTX and Roiworld. The study has revealed that that they are losing interest, finding Facebook boring and visiting other sites.

Personally I don't think Facebook is anywhere near dead. However I certainly don't think it will last forever. People will talk about the Facebook generation / era, in the future.

Read more about it here:
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007808

Yahoo adds Facebook to site

Yahoo will be adding Facebook features to it's homepage, mail service and other pages very soon. For full details of Yahoo's social media integration read more on the link below:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/yahoo_adds_facebook_begins_new_role_as_social_network_aggregator.php

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/

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

New Facebook features

There's been lots all over the web about the changes to Facebook, since the F8 Facebook conference. The main point is that like is now a prominent Facebook feature and can be placed on sites external to Facebook.

This article below summarises the essentials concisely, a good quick read to see if you need to read more.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/21/facebook.changes.users/

Facebook ads to see where you've been

Facebook is planning on using your browsing history to decide which ads to serve you. Although this might provide more accurate results, it isn't something that users like and could provide some embarrassing results.

People are rightfully protective over their browser history as it's quite a private thing, but some people know that and use it to their advantage, such as the creator of this recent virus.

http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/4/19/facebook-rolls-out-web-ads-track-user-patterns/

Bebo about to go

AOL has come to the inevitable conclusion that it will have to sell or shut down Bebo. Bebo has been performing poorly of recent, with it's users in the US down from 5.8 million last year to 5.1 million this year. (This is compared to Facebook's 210 million)
They paid $850 million for it a couple of years ago, a figure that it is unlikely to sell for now.

Read more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8606379.stm

Have you heard the Buzz?

Yesterday Google launched Google Buzz. Buzz is essentially social networking in your email. Every Google Mail account will soon be able to use it's features, which include status updates, sharing pictures and videos, commenting on other's content, and discussion.
With Buzz, Google is trying to get into the social networking arena against the big-guns like Facebook. This is something they tried many years ago with Orkut, but that only gained popularity in Brazil and India. It also puts it directly in competition with Twitter, something Rory Cellan-Jones thinks it will be more of a threat to.

To be honest I think that Buzz is a bit of a last ditch attempt to get into social networking, after the hype of Google Wave, which seemed to dissipate as soon as it was launched. I can't really see Buzz getting a mass take-up, as Jon at Jollywise says "Hotmail has more users". Google might rule the search, but they don't rule email yet - so this won't have the take-up they would need to compete with Facebook.

I do agree with Google's outlook on the future: That everything will be online (in a cloud) and accessed through a central interface (your browser). Google would like that that interface was a Google Dashboard with all their products on. And they are on the right track with Google Docs, Google Mail leading the pack with a range of other products in support.

I think that Wave is a better vision of the future than trying to jump on the social networking bandwagon. And I think that a gradual increase in the functionality of Google Mail until it becomes Google Wave is way forward. This means that people don't have to register with a new system and they will get used to the changes as they are added. Google Mail and Wave aren't all that different in their basics at the moment anyway.

I would have suggested a more gradual move into Buzz aswell through allowing anybody with a Google account to comment on things, share things via an email, integrating a "broadcast to many" option in Google Mail. So that people end up doing all these things without thinking about using a new system.

Google are pretty good at creating and leading the way. I for one - love the way that Google Mail works in comparison to normal mail systems and I do believe that Google Wave (or something similar) will become the norm in a few years. They might have got it right with Google Buzz and my doubting voice will be silenced. Despite my belief in Google's success lying elsewhere, I will be following Google Buzz with interest.


Further reading:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/feb/09/google-launch-expand-social-networking

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8506148.stm

"Social news" on the Huffington Post with Facebook

The Huffington Post have been working very closely with Facebook to create Social News on the Huffington Post. It's a much deeper use of Facebook Connect than has been seen before and both sides are hoping that it will be beneficial. Huffington Post want to become the place to get your news on Facebook and comment.


http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090816/huffington-post-and-facebook-go-social-with-connect-on-steroids/

Facebook eats Friendfeed

Facebook has acquired startup FriendFeed. Facebook say that they did it to attain the "the best engineers". FriendFeed employs many ex-Google employees - whom I'm sure that Facebook will be keen to have in their building! Initially the two sites will remain separate, but much of the functionality of FriendFeed will eventually come under the Facebook site.




http://www.facebook.com/press/releases.php?p=116581

http://blog.friendfeed.com/2009/08/friendfeed-accepts-facebook-friend.html

Facebook Connect in many languages

Facebook connect is now available in 64 languages. This means your facebook connect applications will now be easily accessible to people all over the world!

http://mashable.com/2009/07/21/facebook-connect-adds-foreign-language-support/

Social Media Trends

The news is that whilst Facebook is expanding, Bebo and MySpace are contracting. Facebook is continuing it's world takeover, with more and more members each day. Also on the rise are LinkedIn and Twitter, although I believe Twitter will be a passing fad for the masses I'm sure, remaining popular only for the insecure celebrities and the geeks.

MySpace is a great place for bands to host a few songs, tour dates, and advertise themselves, but as a personal profile social networking site I never though it had any longevity. And Facebook sealed their downfall in this area I think. I would love to see MySpace evolve into an online directory for bands, artists, creatives etc.

Bebo I feel has just not provided a high enough quality of service. The site has always been behind in changes to the way it works and the support is reportedly not to a high level. I think it might just be a case of the better person winning when you compare Bebo and Facebook.

Interestingly FriendsReunited is mentioned. They made the massive mistake of making you pay, which Tagged doesn't seem to have learned from. They "entice" you to buy VIP memberships to give you extra functionality on the site. A mistake I think.

Read more with the full stats:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/11/myspace-bebo-social-networking

Facebook runs a fifth of all UK ads

Apparently Facebook ran 21.6% of all ads in the UK. That's a lot of ads.

Read more:
http://www.nma.co.uk/new-measure-of-ad-views-finds-facebook-runs-a-fifth-of-all-uk-ads/3000814.article

Pre-rolling on YouTube

YouTube are going to trial pre-roll ads in the UK. I'm dead against this and I think it's one of the things that has made YouTube so successful is a lack of these forced ads. I guess this trial will see some large scale feedback on the subject.
Personally I think the way forward is highly targeted ads, like facebook provides. The video that someone is watching can mean far better targeted ads, than I currently see on YouTube.

Read more:
http://www.marketingvox.com/youtube-pilots-pre-rolls-across-uk-network-content-044166/

Update your status 2.0

Quub is a great site and app for updating your status across networks. Like hellotxt, but much better.
It's got features for beginners - like status suggestions, and advanced features for those "power users".

Check it out:
https://www.quub.com/welcome

OddCast remove barriers so you can Trek Yourself

I came across this cool little app to promote the upcoming Star Trek film:
http://www.trekyourself.com/

Now it's nothing new - as we've seen silmiar things from OddCast for a while now (Choose Your Surrogate, Commit Your Friend). However, the beauty with this new OddCast app is the integration with Facebook photos.

You can access your Facebook photos in-line in the application and use the images. I think that it is these kind of small additional removal of barriers that make people stick around and interact with applications. If you make it really easy for people, then they will take part.
People's attention span is short and they are turned off if they are asked to do much before a pay-off, or have to leave the site and go back to it. (E.g. Having to load Facebook in another browser and then log-in, go to photos, find one, save it to their desktop, and then upload it ot the app.)
I would compare it to GMail introducing auto-completing email addresses in their To field, and introducing Google Suggest, which are now common-place.

Developers, designers, marketers, competition planners and all should take heed of this and make sure they do similar things to improve usability and remove barriers.