D-Tech Zone » Social Media

Your brain can’t keep up with your Facebook friends

Rollins — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:35:06 +0000

According to a study conducted by Robin Dunbar, professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford University- the human brain is capable of managing a maximum of only 150 friendships.

Dunbar’s number, roughly 150, is a measurement of the “cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships”.

Dunbar derived the limit from studying social groupings in a variety of societies — from neolithic villages to modern office environments.

He found that people tended to self-organise in groups of around 150 because social cohesion begins to deteriorate as groups become larger.

Apparently, Dunbar’s number also holds true for social networking- you could have thousands of friends on Facebook, but the truth of the matter is: only about 150 of these would amount to “true” friendship.
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The interesting thing is that you can have 1,500 friends but when you actually look at traffic on sites, you see people maintain the same inner circle of around 150 people that we observe in the real world,

It then brings one to wonder if there really is any sense in having over 150 friends on Social Networking sites. Dunbar also claims that girls are more apt at keeping friends than guys;
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There is a big sex difference though … girls are much better at maintaining relationships just by talking to each other. Boys need to do physical stuff together.”

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Facebook’s “Friend of Connection” targeting filter

Rollins — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:28:35 +0000

Facebook has announced the launch of their “Friend Connection” targeting filter which allows advertisers “target friends of people already connected to their Facebook page, Application, Group or Event.

In addition to harnessing the social graph by targeting your connections’ friends, every “Friends of connection” targeted ad promoting a Page or Event includes social content about a friend’s interaction with your business, amplifying the relevancy of your ad. For example, Priya is a fan of the Nordstrom, Inc. Page. When Nordstrom, Inc. promotes their Facebook Page, they can choose to target ads to Priya’s friends by selecting the “Friends of connection” filter. Priya’s friends will receive the Nordstrom, Inc. ad with the following sentence: “Priya Gupta is a fan of this Page.” Priya’s friends are naturally more interested because Priya’s interaction with Nordstrom, Inc. is showcased directly in the ad.

Is your Personal Information really safe online?

Rollins — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:29:05 +0000

Over half a billion people use online social networks, and a vast majority of these users post huge amounts of information about themselves to share with online friends and colleagues.

A new study has revealed that online social networks Leak Personal Information to Third-Party Tracking Sites, thereby putting Social Network Users “at Risk of Having Their Identity Linked With Their Browsing Behavior”.

According to the study, co-authored by Craig E. Wills- a researcher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) – the practices of many popular social networking sites typically make users’ personal information available to companies that track Web users’ browsing habits and allow them to link anonymous browsing habits to specific people.

When you sign up with a social networking site, you are assigned a unique identifier. This is a string of numbers or characters that points to your profile. We found that when social networking sites pass information to tracking sites about your activities, they often include this unique identifier. So now a tracking site not only has a profile of your Web browsing activities, it can link that profile to the personal information you post on the social networking site. Now your browsing profile is not just of somebody, it is of you.

Like most commercial websites, online social networks use third-party tracking sites, called aggregators, to learn about the browsing habits of their visitors. Cookies are maintained by a Web browser and contain information that enable tracking sites to build profiles of the websites visited by a user. Each time the user visits a new website, the tracking site can review those cookies and serve up ads that might appeal to the user.

Though research aren’t exactly sure what tracking sites do with the unique identifiers that social networks transmit to them, there is still “a significant risk of having one’s identity linked to an inaccurate or misleading browsing profile”, especially in a case where the same computer is shared by various users. Even more worrisome is the fact that;

Once someone is in possession of your unique identifier, there is so much they can learn about you”

The new study was released on the 24th of August, and presented recently in Barcelona at the Workshop on Online Social Networks. You can veiw the full study here

Do you feel threatened or concerned by the thought of your personal information being Leaked. Leave a Comment below and let the world know.

Facebook never changed advertising policies

Rollins — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:17:14 +0000

For anyone who either saw a wall post or received a message suggesting that Facebook may have changed their advertising policies to allow third-party advertisers use your posted pictures, please note that it is completely false!

The Social Media Behemoth says it never made any such policy changes, categorically stating how it handles, and has handled privacy-related issues, not to mention security- Facebook Prohibits ads that cause a bad user experience, are misleading, or otherwise “violate our policies”.

Apparently the “rumours” were started due to advertisements placed by third-party applications. According to Facebook;

…. Those ads violated our policies by misusing profile photos, and we already required the removal of those deceptive ads from third-party applications before this rumor began spreading.

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So how Exactly does Facebook use your Photos?

In a bid to further clarify issues, Facebook’s Barry Schnitt tells us;

We’ve run advertisements from our own advertising system for more than a year that let your friends know if you have a direct connection with a product or service, in the same way that your friends learn through your News Feed if you’re connected with another friend or an organization’s Facebook Page. For example, if one of your friends becomes a fan of a Page, you may see an ad, like the one below, with your friend’s profile photo that indicates the action that friend has taken.

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I love a conspiracy theory as much as the next fellow, but one must always stick to the facts.
If you ever see the following message, or anything remotely close, I would suggest you ignore it.

FACEBOOK has agreed to let 3rd party advertisers use your posted pictures WITHOUT your permission. Click on SETTINGS up at the top where you see the Log out link. Select PRIVACY. Then select NEWSFEEDS and WALL. Next select the tab that reads FACEBOOK ADS. There is a drop down box, select NO ONE. Then SAVE your changes. REPOST to let your friends know!

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Grabbed your Facebook username yet?

Rollins — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:47:19 +0000

Starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday, June 13, you’ll be able to choose a username on a first-come, first-serve basis for your profile and the Facebook Pages that you administer by visiting www.facebook.com/username/. You’ll also see a notice on your home page with instructions for obtaining your username at that time.

I remember reading the above update on Facebook last week. My immediate thoughts at the time were “it’s about time“. I mean what’s so “social” about a social networking site if you can’t easily identify people by their names- the very same thing by which we are all distinguished from other people or things.

I mean creating a profile on any Social Network, be it Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 or whatever, basically amounts to having your “personal” space, and of course people should and by all means must be able to identify you by that.

Anyway, someone at Facebook apparently started thinking along those lines, so we can now have our very own “personal destination, or home, on the Web” (at least as far as Fb is concerned that is).

UPDATE on Saturday, June 13: Username selection is now live at http://www.facebook.com/username/. Remember, choosing a username is optional and will give you a distinct Web address for your profile. It will not change the name that appears on your profile, in search or elsewhere on the site.

I’ve just picked up mine at facebook.com/rollinsorlu. The idea of having a custom (vanity) URL really helps the entire social networking agenda, as it allows for the creation of a URL that is much easier to remember and share with others. I mean imagine trying to tell someone “oh, you can find my profile at facebook.com/profile.php?id=xxxxxx”

The feature is also available for page administrators, the down side of course being that “Your Facebook Page must meet two requirements: it must be live on Facebook prior to the May 31, 2009 cut-off date and have a minimum 1,000 fans as of May 31, 2009.” Facebook however says that the 1,000 fan restriction will be lifted on June 28, which of course is welcome news for companies, brands, and admins with far fewer fans.

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Copyright Infringements

The gold rush which has resulted from Facebook’s new feature has left many scrambling to register their preferred usernames, but of course anyone can (literally) register anything they liked, meaning there could be copyright infringement issues. Facebook has however provided a solution to this though, by making available a “Notice of Intellectual Property Infringement (Non-Copyright Claim)” to assist anyone who wishes to report that someone’s username infringes their rights.

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More in the pipes »»

Facebook have begun testing a new version of their search system. According to the Facebook blog, users will be able to see up-to-the-minute results from friends and the Facebook Pages of which they are fans, and also people who have “chosen to make their profile and content available to everyone”.

The new Facebook Search will also enable you discover what blogs and news sources your friends are following, and see what they are saying about issues related to your search. Testing is however limited to a “small group”— just a fraction of a percent of the people on Facebook.

According to a post on the Facebook blog yesterday;

… Those of you in the test group will see new layouts for search results that will continue to include people’s profiles, Facebook Pages, groups and applications, and some entirely new Search features. With the test, you will be able to search your News Feed for the most recent status updates, photos, links, videos and notes being shared by your friends and the Facebook Pages of which you’re a fan. You will also be able to search for status updates, posted links and notes in Search from people who have chosen to make their profile and content available to everyoneI’m interested in the latest updates on the aftermath of the Iranian election. By entering the term “Iran” in the “Search” field in the upper-right corner of any page on Facebook, I will see up-to-the-minute results from my friends and the Facebook Pages of which I’m a fan, not to mention people who have chosen to make their profile and content available to everyone. I’m able to discover what blogs and news sources my friends are following, what my friends are saying about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, and how people in general are reacting to the election results.

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The Pope meets you on Facebook

Rollins — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:51:55 +0000

Social networking has changed the face of the web (and indeed everything else) in recent times, with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter spearheading the cause- redefining and giving new meaning to “socialization”.

Social media provide an interactive platform to connect and share with your friends and loved ones, likewise a perfect opportunity to grow your business, and now:
a source for spiritual revival.

The vatican has launched a website at www.pope2you.net, offering an application called “The pope meets you on Facebook,” which allows the faithful to see the Pope’s speeches and messages on their iPhones or iPods.

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The “Pope2You” Facebook app, lets you receive the messages of Pope Benedict XVI through the most important social network of the world. Essentially you can meet the Pope on Facebook, listen to his words, see his pictures, receive his messages of congratulations through “virtual postcards”.

Though you won’t get an email saying Pope Benedict added you as a friend and you can’t “poke” him or write on his wall, but the Vatican is still keen to use the networking site Facebook to woo young people back to church.

Pope2You allows you to share the most wonderful pictures of Benedict XVI with your friends on Facebook, along with his words of hope and peace. You can;

Send the virtual postcards from the Pope to your friends.

Download and read the Pope’s Message for the 43th World Communications Day.

Spread friendship with the Pope and become a witness of Christ in the world through the web.

Send now your virtual postcards

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Africa’s Talking Are You?

Rollins — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:46:57 +0000

I have always heard gators were dangerous, but boy have I had fun playing with this one.

(In case you haven't already figured it out, that's me up there)

I first learnt about Gatorpeeps from Oluniyi David Ajao’s review of Bar Camp Nigeria 2009 (which I really should have attended but for the most inevitable of reasons)- WORK! ..

Anyways, GatorPeeps is essentially a micro-blogging service that provides a platform for Afrigator users to connect with other “like-minded African users” through short updates and community interaction.

It basically works like most other micro-blogging platforms, featuring a status update box and a public timeline.

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The Status Update Box

The status update box allows you keep your friends… err …. updated with what you are currently doing by Saying It Loud!

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Public Timeline

The public timeline (just below the status update box) allows you view your friends updates, and has a really remarkable “Friends Blogposts” feature which allows you to toggle between your friend’s peeps and their latest blog posts so you can actually keep track of what they’re blogging about.

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It doesn’t end there

Gatorpeeps offers an array of features which make it safer to play with
According to the Afrigator blog, Gatorpeeps would be extended to an SMS-based mobile offering to cater for users who wish to “use their mobile phone as their primary device”.

If only that were all.

They’ve also added some really, really, REALLY cool tools to the mix, my favourite of course being the Post it to Twitter tool which essentially allows you to dual-post to Gatorpeeps and Twitter via a really simple setup process.

HEY! There’s more.

Gatorpeeps is going to be developed at a very fast rate. We have lots of plans for where we want to take it and we’ll be moving like a Boeing to get there. Some of our future development includes:

Mobile web front-end

Mobile apps for Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, iPhone and Android

SMS integration

Extending Community functionality

Smarter ways to share links & photos via Gatorpeeps

Plugins & Widgets for all environments

Closer integration with Afrigator

~~API Access~~ (oh wait, that’s done)

API Documentation

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" /> Man I’ve really got to hand it to Justin, Stii, and the rest of the gang.
Gatorpeeps really is the bomb.

And you there! Africa’s talking, Are you? Hit us with a couple of comments and let us know ok?

Don’t forget to follow the D-Tech Blog on Twitter, and yeah Peep me up a line or two. You’d most likely be hitting me up on Twitter as well. Sweeeet !!!!

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Is your business utilizing Social Media?

Rollins — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:44:46 +0000

At the beginning of the year I did a review on Global IT trends for 2009, and in that review I highlighted the growth of social media in 2008, drawing support from Chris Crum’s article on “the year in social media: 2008“. I also echoed the Baseline Mag’s prediction on the expected growth of Social Networking in 2009:

…. Social Networking will continue to expand in customer relationships with brands and corporate team building efforts as ways to help the bottom line. Organizations are increasingly looking to next-generation social networking tools to conduct sophisticated business intelligence and analytics. In many cases, they are mining data and looking for trends and patterns, such as which salesperson has the relationships to pull off a deal or which customers seem to have the biggest influence with others online

It’s only been 4 months since my review, and already it’s pretty clear that social networking is on the rise. Sites like Twitter, Linked In, StumbleUpon, PerfSpot, and of course Facebook have grown even more popular, making major headlines around the globe (sometimes for all the wrong reasons)- not to mention newer social networking tools which have been popping up all over the web.

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Social Media as a brand building tool

Most people still see Social media as just a place to hang out and see what your friends are doing. They just don’t realize what a powerful marketing tool the world of social media offers their businesses.

Social media offer more than just an opportunity to stay in touch with friends and colleagues, they also provide a cost effective platform for product marketing and brand building, and indeed the popular social networking sites, in terms of marketing, offer an extremely large target-audience, often running into hundreds of millions.

Facebook for instance, has seen its membership rise from 175 million in March, to a little over 200 million in May, and it allows you “create a public profile that enables you share your business and products with these 200 million plus users.

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Legacy social media such as blogs, and newsletters also serve as handy marketing tools. Blogs have literally been in existence for over a decade, and still play a huge role in market development. They give you an opportunity to build relationships with customers, and those relationships, of course, can amount to much better sales.

Similarly, online forums- the original social networks- are still extremely relevant. They provide you a perfect opportunity to know exactly what your customers and prospects are thinking. The levels of interaction they provide can assist you in creating a proper direction for your online campaigns, and should be worth considering.

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Making Social Media Work For You

An integrated social media marketing strategy can help your business increase brand visibility, improve customer loyalty, and gain important insights about the markets you serve.

Social media marketing is the possibly the most effective way of generating traffic, and as such the importance of social media as a marketing channel should never be underestimated. It effectively compliments your other marketing strategies, and is highly sustainable.

How so?

“Social communities can be a great source of web traffic on top of any traffic you are already receiving from search engines. While you can’t easily increase your search engine traffic, social media traffic can be very easily controlled through strategic marketing.”

Social Media news sites let users post links to news articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts, and other web content. Then other site users can vote for that content, potentially sending it to the front page of the news site where millions of web goers are likely to see it and click through.

This is particular true for sites like Twitter, where users can access public timelines of other users, without neccessarily having to be friends with them (or follow them in case). Practically all the major news and web content providers are on twitter, including; Google, CNN, and BBC.

Social media channels will help your business grow by creating a community of supporters who (if nothing else) would recommend your products/services. It is common knowledge that word-of-mouth has and always will be crucial to marketing success.

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Are you using social media as a marketing strategy?

Leave a comment and let us know how effective is has been for your business. And hey, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/dtechblog

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Facebook User Accounts Compromised!!

Rollins — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:21:28 +0000

Some Facebook users have lost access to their fb accounts, due to a phishing scam which has been making the rounds. The scam, which spoofs Facebook, “lures users to enter their information at a site FBAction.net which displays a false Facebook login page”.

Within a short amount of time, users that enter their email and password find that their password has been switched and all of their friends have been emailed from the account.

According to reports- yesterday afternoon, Facebook users began receiving emails appearing to be from Facebook carrying an invitation from a friend. Clicking on the link takes you to the pseudo Facebook site, where you are asked to enter your account credentials.

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Pseudo Facebook login page at fbaction.net

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Millions of accouts have since been compromised, and according to Webpronews reports;

“Facebook says it has blocked the domain from being shared on the site, removing referring content, and resetting passwords of senders so attackers can no longer access Facebook accounts. In addition the company says they’ve asked Markmonitor to blacklist the domain and they’ve reached out to ISPs for information to file a civil suit or criminal case. ”

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Twittering In Real Life- Sweet!!

Rollins — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:50:36 +0000

Okay, I have seen (and heard) a lot of weird stuff lately, but this definitely tops the list….. completely hilarious! Twitter seems to be at the top of the web agenda lately, and even the celebrities are Twittering away. But ever wondered what “Twittering in real life” would be like?

Apparently someone has, and he decided to put it to the test. Watch Dan take his Tweets to the streets….. Sweet!!

Enjoy;

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Source: CollegeHumor.

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