Wolfram Alpha Shows the World Some Facebook Love
September 11, 2012
An exciting reveal from Wolfram Alpha is the release of the capability for anyone to do personal analytics with their Facebook data. Stephen Wolfram, creator of Wolfram Alpha, posted “Wolfram Alpha Personal Analytics for Facebook” on his blog recently, and tells us about the multiple possibilities of this data. The first round of capabilities lets users search and analyze their own Facebook history as well as their network of friends.
Wolfram asserts in the blog post:
“And today I’m excited to announce that we’ve developed a first round of capabilities in Wolfram|Alpha to let anyone do personal analytics with Facebook data. Wolfram|Alpha knows about all kinds of knowledge domains; now it can know about you, and apply its powers of analysis to give you all sorts of personal analytics. And this is just the beginning; over the months to come, particularly as we see about how people use this, we’ll be adding more and more capabilities.”
This free service generates a report that analyzes everything from a user’s check-ins and photos to responses to posts. Wolfram Alpha Personal Analytics for Facebook also allows you to share the data you gather on, you guessed it, Facebook. This extensive and impressive showing of love to Facebook is apparently just the beginning from Wolfram Alpha, which plans to add more features and capabilities as feedback begins to roll in.
Andrea Hayden, September 11, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Facebook Called to Improve Search Functionality to Compete
September 10, 2012
A call for Facebook to do a better job with on-site search is being repeated from leading advertising industry analysts. One of the next steps for the social networking giant needs to be integrating on-site search and ad targeting functions regarding these searches. In an article on MediaPost titled, “Facebook Must Improve Site Search to Stay Competitive,” we learn that better site search could (and should) improve ROI for advertisers on the social networking site.
The article also informs us:
“For Facebook to ‘truly go after Google’ it will need to compete in search, and Google must go after social to compete with Facebook, according to Brian Solis, principal at research group Altimeter Group, and Pivot conference editorial director. ‘It took years for Google to create an algorithm to serve up the correct pages from a search query, but Facebook doesn’t have the luxury of time,’ he said.”
With the stock price looking anemic, Facebook may want to follow advice and get in gear. No one at the company would respond to comments, but it is predicted that revenue should begin to increase if Facebook continues to roll out new ad products and improve search functionality of the site.
Andrea Hayden, September 10, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Former Facebooker Airs Social Doubts
August 29, 2012
Ex-Facebook employee Katherine Losse has become a rebel, of sorts. The Washington Post declares, “Refugee from Facebook Questions The Social Media Life.” The former Zuckerberg ghostwriter found herself growing uncomfortable with the level of privacy invasion her employer, and other tech companies, were engaged in. So, she cashed in some of her valuable Facebook stock, moved to a tiny Texas town, and wrote a tell-all: “The Boy Kings: A Journey Into the Heart of the Social Network”. Oh, and she took down her own Facebook page. For a little while, at least.
Losse cites an encounter with a colleague, an engineer who was working on video-upload functionality. She tells us he made, and circulated on an internal Facebook page, a video of her napping in a car during a road trip. The article relates:
“‘The day before, I could just be in a car being in a car. Now my being in a car is a performance that is visible to everyone,’ Losse said, exasperation creeping into her voice. ‘It’s almost like there is no middle of nowhere anymore.’
Losse began comparing Facebook to the iconic 1976 Eagles song ‘Hotel California,’ with its haunting coda, ‘You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave.’ She put a copy of the record jacket on prominent display in a house she and several other employees shared not far from the headquarters.”
Ah, the Eagles; it is a classic song. The article spends some time discussing Losse’s book, Facebook in general, and Losse’s new home in Marfa, NC. Not a bad read, even if it does have a bit of a conspiracy-theory feel to it. It wraps up with a description of Losses’ current search for balance in her own life between technology and the real world. Touching.
Cynthia Murrell, August 29, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Is There a Stalking App?
August 4, 2012
This next article is not about search. . . it is about stalking. CNet News reports, “Stalkbook: Stalk Anyone, Even if You’re Not Facebook Friends.” The dodgy service, developed by MIT grad Oliver Yeh, starts with a simple concept: cache the login information of Facebook friends to see friends’-of-friends pages that would otherwise be hidden. Yeh is building on this idea to develop a roster of such logins so that, eventually, pretty much anyone will be able to see anyone else’s Facebook pages. Oh, great!
Writer Emil Protalinski observes:
“Technically speaking, it is possible to do. He would have to build a very large network of individuals willing to use his app for such purposes, cache all the information he can, all while avoiding Facebook’s wrath as more and more users start using Stalkbook.
“Unfortunately for Yeh and fortunately for Facebook’s users, Stalkbook goes against Facebook’s terms of service (Statement of Rights and Responsibilities). In the Safety section of Facebook’s TOS, point number five clearly states: ‘You will not solicit login information or access an account belonging to someone else.'”
The app is not yet live, and Facebook officials are aware of its existence. When Protalinski asked the social networking site for comment, a spokesperson pointed him to their Data Use Policy. Yes, Facebook’s terms-of-use shout at someone like Yeh, “you must not do this!”
What a relief! There’s no way this thing could get off the ground illicitly, right?
Cynthia Murrell, August 4, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Facebook Advertising and Business Model Flawed
August 2, 2012
It seems there is more bad news for social networking king, Facebook. In addition to new lows in its share price and rough second-quarter earnings, a newly released study suggests that Facebook’s business model may be broken.
EyeTrackShop, a firm that measures audience attention, released a study that tracked user attention to ads on Facebook’s website and apps. Users had a particularly bad recall for ads that had been seen on the iPhone and generally neglected the ads overall. The article on ReadWriteWeb, “Facebook’s Mobile Strategy is Flawed, Eye-Tracking Study Indicates,” shares more on the study’s results:
“During yesterday’s call, Facebook executives revealed that more than half of its users regularly access Facebook through mobile sites. That raised concerns among analysts and investors, as nearly 85% of Facebook revenue comes from advertising, which the company has been struggling to implement on mobile platforms. The executives stressed that while their mobile strategy is in its early stages, early tests suggest that the limited number of mobile ads that have rolled out have performed well and delivered a return on investment to advertisers.”
For a company that relies so heavily upon paid advertising, this is certainly bad, as well as surprising, news. We think that a problem of this magnitude could have been noted earlier on and are left to wonder: Perhaps Facebook has other flaws as well?
Andrea Hayden, August 2, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Crushing Teen Communication. Oh, Dear!
July 30, 2012
Mashable’s headline may be a little sensationalistic, or not, depending on whether you consider email to be social media. The site exclaims, “Without Social Media, 18% of Teens Would Stop Communicating.” (The infographic that goes with the piece is here.) The write up cites a recent survey from marketing company AWeber which asked American high school and college students about their communication habits. Writer Emily Price tells us:
“According to the survey, 90% of teens are on [Facebook], and an astounding 93% of teenagers use mobile phones – the same amount that use email. 74% of teens are YouTube users, and 47% use Skype to keep up with others.
“Facebook and Email own almost equal parts of teens’ hearts. With teenagers going for both when they wake up in the morning, while they’re in class, and even while they’re on vacation.”
The study went on to ask respondents what they would do if the unthinkable occurred: cell phones, and the technology to recreate them, have disappeared from the Earth. In that event, only six percent would consider using a landline or the postal service to keep in touch. Eighteen percent vowed the hardship would push them into a virtual oubliette, from which they would never communicate again.
Consider this, though. As my beloved publisher so delicately asks, is it a loss or is it a gain when eighteen percent of teens no longer share their thoughts with the world?
Cynthia Murrell, July 30, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Study Shows Google+ Outperforming Facebook in User Satisfaction
July 25, 2012
Ready to believe some random, pop-up survey data? The Register serves some up in “Study: Users Prefer Google+ Over Facebook.” The article reports on this study from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI). The write up tells us:
“According to ACSI’s figures, Google+ tied Wikipedia with a score of 78 out of 100, leading the pack of all the social websites surveyed. By comparison, Facebook scored only a 61, which was actually 7.6 per cent lower than the previous year.”
No 2011 figure for Google+ is available, since the site was added to this survey just this year. The article goes on:
“ACSI attributes some of Google+’s high satisfaction marks to its ability to integrate Google services such as search, YouTube, and Gmail. It also calls out the ‘well liked’ Google+ mobile app, which Google says now accounts for the majority of its social network’s traffic.”
Writer Neil McAllister notes that another recent study, from Web site analytics firm Compete, found unique visitors to Google+ increasing by 43 percent from this past May to June. Sounds great for Google, on the surface.
But how much stock can we put in these statistics? And, reliability aside, what value do they add to society? It almost seems as if these surveys are designed for companies who want to annoy customers, like a digital “this call my be recorded for quality purposes” (which really means “we listen only if we are required to or need grounds to fire a cube dweller.”)
Cynthia Murrell, July 25, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Facebook Scans for Criminals
July 20, 2012
It seems that Facebook is following a path already trodden by some other big outfits. Google is also fighting crime. CNet News declares, “Facebook Scans Chats and Posts for Criminal Activity.” CNet’s Emil Protalinski cites a recent Reuters interview with Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan. The article explains:
“Facebook’s software focuses on conversations between members who have a loose relationship on the social network. . . . The scanning program looks for certain phrases found in previously obtained chat records from criminals, including sexual predators (because of the Reuters story, we know of at least one alleged child predator who is being brought before the courts as a direct result of Facebook’s chat scanning). The relationship analysis and phrase material have to add up before a Facebook employee actually looks at communications and makes the final decision of whether to ping the authorities.”
Sullivan emphasized that the technology’s low rate false-positives is crucial. Facebook wouldn’t want us non-criminals worrying about its employees poring through our communications for no good reason. The company also seems in no hurry to publicize this public service. Protalinski found no mention of the technology at either Facebook’s Law Enforcement and Third-Party Mattersor its Information for Law Enforcement Authorities.
Is Facebook just being modest about its role as a crime-stopper? More likely, they’re concerned users will get up in arms about those pesky “privacy issues.”
Cynthia Murrell, July XX, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Facebook and Delicate Editing
July 5, 2012
Facebook’s cover was recently opened and some un-pleasantries were discovered within the multi-million dollar companies own pages. The Chief Operating Officer stepped in, according to the Business Insiders article ‘How Sheryl Sandberg Stamped Out Sexism At Facebook’ and swiftly edited the inappropriate faces inside Facebook.
Sheryl Sandberg met individually with the female engineers at Facebook, of which there were only around 15 within the hundreds of engineers. She learned through her interviews that these educated women were facing some discrimination inside the company from the men and discreetly took action to remedy the situations.
One of the engineers cited two examples of sexist behavior as:
“One of the senior managers had been known to proposition women in the company. I also had an issue with an engineer who behaved, by turns, dismissively or aggressively toward female product managers.”
Sandburg discreetly resolved the issues and stated:
“The manager who propositioned employees has been demoted and the aggressive engineer was moved to another team. You see, I’m so good that I make things happen and no one even knows about them.”
Situations like the ones mentioned can swiftly get out of hand if not handled correctly. Facebook’s COO dealt with existing problems to the satisfaction of disgruntled employees, while managing to keep publicity minimal. Sandburg presented an excellent example of professional management skills when she discreetly edited the sexist pages of Facebook.
Jennifer Shockley, July 5, 2012
Entertainment Needs and Personality Drive Facebook Visits
July 5, 2012
A study published earlier this month in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media suggests that time spent on Facebook correlates strongly to personality type.
Motivations behind frequent visits may vary, but the study shows that much of what causes people to flock to the site can be traced back to personality and a simple need to be entertained. A recent article on WebProNews titled, “New Facebook Study Reveals Motivation Behind Facebook Visits,” elaborates on the study, commenting on possible motivational factors of participants. We learn in the article:
“Looking at motivational factors that could encourage individuals to spend time on Facebook, the researchers found that entertainment and passing time, along with information seeking, to be the top driving forces for visiting the social site. […]
While self expression was mentioned in the study a possible factor for visiting Facebook, limitations of the design kept the authors from formulating any theories on how it actually played into the time spent.”
Although many Facebook frequenters, like myself, may claim the attraction to the site is maintaining and building relationships, this simply does not prove to be true. The entertainment motive is repeatedly shown to be the most powerful predictor of how much time users spend on the social media site.
Andrea Hayden, July 5, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
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