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Is Facebook’s “like” button violating German privacy laws by providing the social network with information on state websites? According to government officials they are and have removed them from all state websites. Facebook says nein!
Last Friday, Thilo Weichert, head of the data protection agency in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, ordered that all state institutions remove Facebook “Like” functionality from their websites. Embedded Facebook “Like” widgets apparently pass information from the website where they live to Facebook headquarters back in the states. This, according to Weichert, is in violation of German and European privacy law. Facebook, of course, disagrees.
A Facebook spokesperson, who remained unnamed by company policy, admitted that Facebook headquarters does receive information, such as IP addresses, from users on pages with the Like widget. He also pointed out that the information is deleted within 90 days, a time period that matches up with industry standards.
One of my high school teachers once told our class, “if you’re going to be stupid enough to do something illegal, at least don’t be stupid enough to put it on camera.” That was before the days of Facebook and YouTube, but it seems like the best advice you can give people these days is what my teacher said, followed by “and if you’re stupid enough to put it on camera, for the love of God, don’t be stupid enough to upload it on to the internet.”
Vanessa Starr Palm and Alexander Daniel Rust certainly wish they got this advice and heeded it before they visited the Bahamas, killed an endangered lizard, ate it, documented the whole thing with photos and then uploaded the images onto Facebook.
The couple has been charged with violating an animal protection act and may also face additional charges for breaking a U.S. law that bans committing a crime in a country with a relationship to the U.S.
If you enjoy these sorts of stories, be sure to check out more funny Facebook crime stories over at Oddee.
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You may or may not have seen some warnings on your friends Facebook posts the past few days warning of the social network’s importation of all your cell phone contacts. While this is true if you use the Facebook application for your smart phone, the company denies that is publishing all of your contact info without your consent. What has your experience been with Facebook phone book tool? Find out if your numbers have been saved by Facebook:
To see the phonebook that’s causing all the fuss, click on Account in Facebook’s top right corner, then click on Edit Friends, and click Contacts at the left side. Indeed, Facebook does store a list of phone numbers, both contacts you have imported from your phone as well as information your Facebook friends have themselves added.
Looks like Domino’s is capitalizing on the trend of revitalizing ’80s and ’90s ad campaigns and programming, because the Noid is back! (Remember when he had his own video game?) If you like Domino’s on Facebook, you can play their Noid shootout game and receive a coupon for a free pizza if you’re the high scorer that round. I played once and didn’t even come close to winning, but you’re probably much more talented than I am. Good luck.
Aaron Wood created three propaganda posters featuring social media giants Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Excuse me while I head on over to Facebook to help out my friends' farms (I hear that there's also a war against mafia brewing. My help is needed!): Link - via +PeteCashmore
Comments Off Remember Mel Gibson’s movie The Man Without A Face? This is what that tale of a isolated and introverted man would be about if it were made today, courtesy of Dan De Lorenzo & Ben Stumpf. -via The Daily What
Steven Zezulak developed an application that will create the impression that you’ve updated your Facebook status from a variety of different technologies, food products, or dubious anatomical locations. See if you can trip up your friends. Link and reddit Thread -via Geekosystem
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Chase Mitchell has pretty much nailed it in this piece, right down to the appropriate profile pictures. Read the rest at the link. Link -via QA Hates You
“Two Boys”, a new opera at the ENO London Coliseum, highlights the profoundly weird behavior we engage in online. Watch as this guy takes his Facebook and Twitter activity to the streets. “Do you want to be my friend? Can I poke you? What’s your comment?” If you’re going to be London-bound sometime between June 24 and July 8, you can pick up tickets to the show on the Two Boys website.
via Gizmodo
Facebook lets me keep in touch with colleagues, friends and my grandma. But one pair of divorcees used everyone’s (least?) favorite social media site to destroy one another from afar in what turned out to be a pretty sneaky double-cross.
Angela Voelkert, 29, set up her ex by creating a false Facebook identity, 17-year-old “Jessica Studebaker.” (By the way, that’s a big no-no with Facebook’s terms of service.) She used the profile to exchange messages with the ex, David Voelkert, 38 of South Bend, Ind. On June 1, Angela Voelkert used the information to apply for a restraining order against her ex-husband, who spent four days in custody until a judge dismissed charges yesterday.
The charges against David Voelkert focused on him allegedly placing a GPS device on his ex-wife’s car to track her, for purposes of finding someone to “take care of” and “put a cap in her ass” for $10,000 — as revealed by these Facebook messages.
But, it seems Voelkert was onto his ex-wife, and knew she embroiled him in a sting operation. And just as she was trying to use the information against him in the fight for custody of their kids, he did the same by feeding the faker with an elaborate plan.
Federal prosecutors were prompted to drop the charges after an affidavit emerged filed by David Voelkert days earlier, on May 25, that revealed he knew “Jessica” wasn’t a real person.
“I am lying to this person,” he stated, “to gain positive proof that it is indeed my ex-wife trying to again tamper in my life. Anything said in the chat to her from me cannot be held as the truth and I am chatting to this person in attempts to prove to my court that my ex-wife will not leave my personal life alone … In no way do I have plans to leave with my children or do any harm to Angela Dawn Voelkert or anyone else.”
He, in turn, wanted to use this as evidence in their ongoing custody case. His ex-wife used exchanges between him and “Jessica” dated May 31 as her evidence in obtaining the restraining order.
The charges were dropped and Voelkert no longer lists a “Jessica Studebaker” as a friend on Facebook.
Link | Image: iconfactory
So it seems Susyj87′s briefly infamous Facebook friends tattoo was a hoax. Not only was the tattoo a fake (a transfer that only lasted a few days), but the video itself was a promo piece for a company called Pretty Social that makes custom gift items using your Facebook photos. As much as I hated the idea of a woman walking around with 152 faces permanently stamped on her arm, I hate this even more.
Sigh. Why are people so weird? This woman got a massive tattoo of 152 of her nearest and dearest Facebook BFFs’ faces tattooed on her arm. As in, permanently etched onto her body. I hope none of these people are fair-weather friends; how does one unfollow a face inked into their skin?
France has finally gotten around to banning the something truly offensive to its populace. No longer will French television and radio broadcasters be allowed to mention the words “Facebook” and “Twitter” on air.
In a move based on legislation from 1992 that decrees mentioning services by name is a form of advertising, use of the words “Facebook” and “Twitter” will not be allowed on French radio or television, unless part of a news story. France’s Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) says the reason for the ban is to avoid giving the American social networking giants an edge over smaller sites.
Though the move does not restrict use of the Facebook and Twitter sites in any way, critics of the legislation argue that banning mention of Facebook and Twitter will confuse the public. “Like us on our social networking site” just doesn’t have the same clarity as “Like us on Facebook.”
Have you ever wanted to have your own museum exhibition? Well now you can with the Museum of Me Facebook application. The app takes all of your Facebook information and formats into an “exhibition” featuring your frequent likes, all photos you have uploaded and the most frequent words you post on your page.
Now and then while surfing the web we all come across something almost believable yet just outrageous enough that we are not sure if it is real or not. However most of us don’t experience this doubt while reading articles from such an infamous humor source as The Onion. Here now is a site that chronicles those folks reactions who think the president was going to push the nuclear button just to see what would happen.
This map of the world illustrates how and where we are connected to our friends on Facebook. What is interesting is that the map is constructed entirely by Facebook connections and is still able to show accurate borders of the continents. See full map at link.
Here is a tip to any adulterous men and women out there. If you are going to cheat on your spouse, make sure you post the evidence of such on any social networking websites. One attorney in St. Petersburg, Florida says 90 percent of her divorce cases involve Facebook!
“You get a little bit of everything that happens on Facebook,” said Carin Constantine.
“Everything from clients coming in with pictures of the opposing party doing a keg stand with high schoolers… to teenagers drinking alcohol served by a parent… to a picture of a husband at a nightclub dancing with a babysitter.”
A recent survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers found that Facebook is cited in one in five divorces in the United States. Also, more than 80 percent of divorce lawyers reported a rising number of people are using social media to engage in affairs.
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Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has leved an accusation that Facebook is "the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented."
Assange said he believes Facebook is a giant database of names and records about people, maintained voluntarily by its users but developed for U.S. intelligence to use.
“Everyone should understand that when they add their friends to Facebook, they are doing free work for United States intelligence agencies, and building this database for them,” Assange said.
While Assange doesn’t claim that Facebook is actually run by U.S. intelligence agencies, the fact that they have access to its records is — in his view — dangerous enough.
“Now, is the case that Facebook is run by U.S. intelligence? No, it’s not like that. It’s simply that U.S. intelligence is able to bring to bear legal and political pressure to them,” he said.
Paris-based photographer Thomas M. made a set of pictures showing people as the default Facebook profile image. He writes “The aim of this project is to humanize the Facebook default avatar provided at the first login.” Mission accomplished.
Link via Walyou | Artist’s Website
We’ve known that ants are social animals like us, but a new study by Noa Pinter-Wollman of Stanford University and colleagues show just how similar they are to humans. Heck, they’ve even got the an social networking system similar to Facebook!
On average, each ant had around 40 interactions. However, around 10 percent of the ants made more than 100 contacts with other ants. Further research is examining just what makes these more social ants different than the others within the colonies.
The researchers compare this type of socialization to that seen on sites like Facebook. While most people have a relatively small number of Facebook friends, there are some with a friends list in the thousands. It is these friends that act as a sort of information hub, spreading information out to a large number of readers. These particular ants are functioning as a large social hub of information.
What if Moses had Facebook? That’s what Jewish content website Aish.com asked (and answered) with this clever YouTube clip:
Guys, are you single and ashamed about it? Forget going on pesky dates and the hassle of trying to find a girlfriend … fake it on Facebook with the help of this new startup:
Relationship status: virtual.
That’s what startup Cloud Girlfriend promises, although your friends on Facebook will never know it. The new Internet company helps guys who aren’t ready to admit, at least online, that they don’t have a significant other.
The new service allows users to create the perfect girlfriend who will write on your Facebook wall and otherwise make her ghostly presence known through social media.
Cloud Girlfriend has yet to officially launch, but the site is already generating overwhelming interest, advising visitors to "register early to get in line."
Why do some women post a lot of photos of themselves on Facebook? A new study shows that it’s because they are "more likely to base their self-worth on appearance and use social networking to compete for attention."
Overall, the results suggest that, compared with men, females identify more strongly with their image and appearance and use Facebook to compete for attention, said the lead author of the study, Michael A. Stefanone, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Buffalo.
The women who had the largest social networks and posted more photos of themselves were more highly vested in their appearance.
“The results suggest persistent differences in the behavior of men and women that result from a cultural focus on female image and appearance,” Stefanone said in a news release. “[I]t is disappointing to me that in the year 2011 so many young women continue to assert their self worth via their physical appearance — in this case, by posting photos of themselves on Facebook as a form of advertisement. Perhaps this reflects the distorted value pegged to women’s looks throughout the popular culture and in reality programming from ‘The Bachelor’ to ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians.’ ”
The authors also speculated that posting a lot of photos of oneself in the company of other people “may serve to communicate the importance of particular relationships because these bonds may provide security regarding ones appearance and self worth.”
Shari Loam of The Los Angeles Times explains: Link | Photo: Shutterstock
In fact, the entire crew of the Enterprise does. YouTube user BlackMoonCGI did an excellent editing job and showed what’s on Spock’s Facebook feed. It appears that he and Christine Chapel have had a bit of a tiff. Content warning: foul language.
via Nerdcore
Sister Maria Jesus Galan was asked to leave the Santo Domingo el Real convent in Toledo, Spain, where she had lived for 35 years -over her Facebook activities. The Dominican convent, which normally discourages nuns from dealing with the outside world, first allowed a computer in ten years ago, and Sister Maria put it to work.
Sister Maria saw the future that this computer offered. She digitized the Dominican convent’s archives. The computer also offered more mundane assistance.
“It enabled us do things such as banking online and saved us having to make trips into the city,” she told the Telegraph.
The local government even gave her a prize for her digital initiatives. Oh, but with the prize came the fame. She began to collect more friends on her Facebook page. It seems, though, that this made her enemies within her own walls.
Her fellow nuns reportedly claimed that Sister Maria’s Facebook activity “made life impossible.” She was therefore asked to leave and now lives with her mother.
At the time, Sister Maria had 600 Facebook friends. Her profile page shows 1700 friends now, and her fan page has over 8,000 supporters. Link -via J-Walk Blog
And the Facebook Users With Most Friends Award goes to … your mom. No, really, moms age 40 and older have more Facebook friends than most:
The research, based on an analysis of 2,000 Facebook users found that mothers were able to capitalise on their wide range of contacts, including friends of their children and even their parents, to collect thousands of friends.
Tammi Williams, who conducted the study, said: "One reason is because, when you get to 45 or 50 you have not only your friends, but your children’s friends, acquaintances from school and others.
"Children and teenagers tend to stick to their own age group."
The survey found that the biggest group of Facebook users is the ‘Feel-Gooders’ – people who enjoy the community spirit of Facebook and seeing what their friends are doing.
The folks at Urlesque have been busy making ads for Facebook. No, not to sell anything; these are just for laughs!
Anyone with a Facebook Account can create advertisements on Facebook. You could legitimately advertise your business or perhaps a waterproof blow dryer. I decided to use the feature to create ads for things that could really use more exposure like potatoes, VHS tapes, and Reddit. If your budget is under $30,000 you can post an ad for anything you want, as long as you meet the strict guidelines. Sorry everyone, “Images of unrealistic body changes, such as extreme weight loss or muscle gain, are not allowed.”
Then again, you have to admite they get your attention. I mean, I really want a cheesburger now! See all 30 fake ads at Urlesque. Link
We don’t often post about “what happened on TV last night,” but this is pretty neat. The host on Saturday Night Live was the actor who played Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the movie The Social Network. His name is Jesse Eisenberg, and he’s up for an Oscar for the role. He is in the middle of this picture. Eisenberg was joined by SNL cast member Andy Samberg, who looks like Eisenberg, but is doing his Zuckerberg impression on the right in this picture. Then, Mark Zuckerberg himself crashed the monologue on the left. There had been speculation that if the three were ever in the same room, the universe would collapse. See the video clip at the Saturday Night Live website. Link -via The Daily What
There’s no doubt that there’s a mad rush of people and investors’ money going into social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. But are they actually a form of madness?
Yes, according to MIT professor Sherry Turkle:
“A behaviour that has become typical may still express the problems that once caused us to see it as pathological.”
She explains that people are become isolated from reality due to such social networking sites because technology is dominating our lives and making us "less human".
Under the illusion of allowing us to communicate better, technology is actually isolating us from real human interactions in a cyber-reality that is a poor imitation of the real world, she suggests.
“We have invented inspiring and enhancing technologies, yet we have allowed them to diminish us,” she writes.
Link (Photo: Shutterstock)
Facebook may let you reconnect with old friends, but for increasingly many, the social network website leads to the breakups of marriages: a staggering 1 in 5 American divorces involve Facebook as evidence of cheating.
A staggering 80 per cent of divorce lawyers have also reported a spike in the number of cases that use social media for evidence of cheating.
Flirty messages and photographs found on Facebook are increasingly being cited as proof of unreasonable behaviour or irreconcilable differences. Many cases revolve around social media users who get back in touch with old flames they hadn’t heard from in many years.
Facebook was by far the biggest offender, with 66 per cent of lawyers citing it as the primary source of evidence in a divorce case. MySpace followed with 15 per cent, Twitter at 5 per cent and other choices lumped together at 14 per cent.
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