Archive for the ‘Social Networking’ Category
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17
May
2010
Facebook’s Privacy Troubles on the Horizon
Back in February of 2009 there was a big debate over the new terms of agreement that Facebook adopted. Due to the negative feedback over this decision, Facebook’s executives caved from the pressure and reverted to the old terms. Now a little over a year later, this same group is at it again.
If you have a Facebook account and haven’t bothered to check your privacy settings lately, you may be surprised to learn just how much any and everyone can find out about you. Due to recent changes in the company’s privacy policy, more of your personal information is now easily accessible in more ways than you can imagine.
Facebook’s idea of privacy is that you, the user, have to police what you share. In other words, it is your responsibility to constantly check your privacy settings to see if any changes have been made and opt out of these changes if you don’t agree. I’m sure that most of you would agree when I say, there are better things to do with your time than to constantly check privacy settings on a website.
Feel free to see for yourself:
- Once logged in, click on the ‘Account’ button and then ‘Privacy Settings’.
- Next click on ‘Applications and Websites’, ‘What you Share’ and hidden almost at the bottom of the page click ‘this page’.
- Make sure you go through each application listed by clicking on ‘Edit Settings’ and secure them to your liking.
- Now, go back to the ‘Applications and Websites’ page and click on ‘What your friends can show about you’ to edit the options here as well.
- Finally, back on the ‘Applications and Websites’ page, click on the ‘Instant Personalization Pilot Program’ link and uncheck the box that allows Facebook partners to access your public information when you arrive on their websites.
Once you finish, ask yourself, should I really be forced to put up with this?
GHTime Code(s): becb9 nc
13
May
2010
Should MySpace Be Put Out to Pasture?
For years I have heard many people talk about how MySpace has been losing popularity and that it will soon be gone. As of today, these predictions have yet to come true.
I can’t help but remember when everyone I knew was talking about this great new site called MySpace. I remember feeling like maybe I was missing the boat because I hadn’t bought into the hype of creating my account, customizing the page and reconnecting with all of my friends. Don’t get me wrong, I think the social networking phenomenon is a great concept and is obviously widely popular. Many starting bands have had great success using this medium to get their music out there for the world to hear and we are able to communicate with friends and family all over the world for free. With that said, I don’t really regret not buying in to this concept, I just regret not coming up with the idea first. Let’s face it, the idea of exploit my members at every turn in order to make myself more money is just genius.
So why is it that MySpace is not as popular as it once was? Where did they go wrong and can they come back from their downward spiral? Well, to be honest, I’m not really sure and personally don’t even care.
The idea of putting my personal life out there for the world to see, doesn’t appeal to me. Most people will agree that they like their privacy and are often offended when it is violated. However, these same people will put all of their information, pictures and videos out there for the world to see. I haven’t even begun to mentioned the spam and phishing attacks that have plagued these sites since their creation that so many people are fooled by daily. Does anyone see a problem here? What better playground for social engineering and identity theft can you ask for? It’s like a one stop shop for all your criminal needs.
So what are your thoughts on the future of MySpace and/or social networking?
GHTime Code(s): nc 094dd