Facebook News

PlacePop Facebook App Brings Places Check-Ins Feed To The Web Interface

by M. Dorn on September 4, 2010 · 0 comments

PlacePop, maker of a digital loyalty card iPhone app, released a Facebook app this week for monitoring activity in Facebook’s location product Places. It includes a Places activity feed for viewing the recent check-ins by your friends, a feature included in the touch.facebook.com and Facebook for iPhone versions of Places, but currently absent from Facebook’s web interface.

The app also allows users to view a history of friends’ or their own check-ins, Places trending amongst their friends, and graphs of check-ins at specific Places, but doesn’t include the contextual descriptions which users can include with their check-ins.

By using the app, web users and those without a Places-compatible phone can see all the recent check-ins of their friends in one feed, with no need to comb the news feed. Finally, users at home can tell if some friends are at a bar around the corner. Also useful is the ability to see Places profiles of yourself and friends, showing all the check-ins a person has made to date.

The “Trending this week” PlacePop home page sidebar shows the Places you and your friends have checked-in to recently, which often reveal large social events or the workplaces of multiple friends. The Trends tab show simple line graphs of check-ins for popular Place, which can reveal interesting fluctuations such as the increase in check-ins to a public park on sunny days.

Check-ins viewed in PlacePop’s app show the Place, those tagged, subsequent Likes and comments, and a Google map when moused over. Missing are the descriptions users have the option to enter along with their check-ins. This can be awkward, since comments you can see will often refer to the description you can’t see. To see full check-ins with descriptions, users still need to use the mobile Places interface, the news feed, or visit the Place page or friend’s profile.

Facebook could drastically reduce the app’s value by replicating some of its simple functionality, especially the check-in feed. Until then, power users and those without the right mobile phone will get much more out of Places by installing PlacePop’s Facebook app.


Josh Constine Read more: Inside Facebook

The Facebook Global Monitor, September 2010 Edition, is Now Available

by M. Dorn on September 4, 2010 · 0 comments

We’ve just released the September 2010 edition of the Facebook Global Monitor through Inside Facebook Gold.

The Facebook Global Monitor is our data report tracking Facebook’s audience growth around the world, and now includes an expanded leaderboard where we have begun tracking more than 60 new country markets that are seeing Facebook adoption and growth.

The Global Monitor tracks Facebook’s international metrics, and provides both historical data and forward-looking projections to enable developers, marketers, and analysts to spot trends and opportunities.

Each month, the Facebook Global Monitor provides the latest comprehensive data on the expansion of Facebook’s audience in approximately 100 global markets. It also includes alerts on breakout and cooling markets, and our latest in-house projections on Facebook’s growth in each country 30 days, 90 days, and 12 months into the future. See the full table of contents below.

All data in the report are based on primary research by Inside Network using data from Facebook, and each section is designed to elucidate key actionable trends. In addition to the Facebook Global Monitor, membership to Inside Facebook Gold includes monthly editions of the Global Monitor, in addition to access to our other data reports on Facebook’s top languages, user demographics, and more.

We believe big opportunities exist for developers and marketers to reach and engage the Facebook audience in these rapidly emerging and expanding markets. As always, we’ll continue to use data from the Facebook Global Monitor data as a foundation for our global growth coverage here on Inside Facebook, but if you’re looking for even more numbers, please check out Inside Facebook Gold.

The Facebook Global Monitor

Tracking Facebook in Global Markets

September 2010

Contents

I. Introduction: The Year That Facebook Went Global

II. Global Market Report

1. Audience Size Today

2. Fastest Growing Audience

  • Last 12 months
  • Last 90 days
  • Last 30 days

3. Market Penetration Today

4. Largest Market Penetration Increases

  • Last 12 months
  • Last 90 days
  • Last 30 days

III. Emerging Market Analysis

1. Growth Projections

  • Next 30 days
  • Next 90 days
  • Next 12 months

2. Technical Alerts

  • Breakout Markets: Last 90 Days
  • Cooling Markets: Last 90 Days

IV. Regional Summaries

1. Africa

2. Asia / Pacific

3. Europe

4. North America

5. South America

V. Country Updates

1. Argentina

2. Australia

3. Austria

4. Bahamas

5. Bahrain

6. Bangladesh

7. Belgium

8. Bolivia

9. Bosnia & Herzegovina

10. Brazil

11. Bulgaria

12. Canada

13. Chile

14. China

15. Colombia

16. Costa Rica

17. Croatia

18. Cyprus

19. Czech Republic

20. Denmark

21. Dominican Republic

22. Ecuador

23. Egypt

24. El Salvador

25. Finland

26. France

27. Germany

28. Ghana

29. Greece

30. Guatemala

31. Honduras

32. Hong Kong

33. Hungary

34. Iceland

35. India

36. Indonesia

37. Ireland

38. Israel

39. Italy

40. Jamaica

41. Japan

42. Jordan

43. Kenya

44. Kuwait

45. Lebanon

46. Lithuania

47. Luxembourg

48. Macedonia

49. Malaysia

50. Maldives

51. Malta

52. Mauritius

53. Mexico

54. Morocco

55. Netherlands

56. New Zealand

57. Nicaragua

58. Nigeria

59. Norway

60. Oman

61. Pakistan

62. Palestine

63. Panama

64. Paraguay

65. Peru

66. Philippines

67. Poland

68. Portugal

69. Puerto Rico

70. Qatar

71. Romania

72. Russia

73. Saudi Arabia

74. Serbia

75. Singapore

76. Slovakia

77. Slovenia

78. South Africa

79. South Korea

80. Spain

81. Sri Lanka

82. Sweden

83. Switzerland

84. Taiwan

85. Thailand

86. Trinidad and Tobago

87. Tunisia

88. Turkey

89. Ukraine

90. United Arab Emirates

91. United Kingdom

92. United States

93. Uruguay

94. Venezuela

95. Vietnam

Learn more or join to download the report at Inside Facebook Gold.


Justin Smith Read more: Inside Facebook

New Security Features Lets Users End Active Facebook Sessions Remotely

by M. Dorn on September 4, 2010 · 0 comments

Facebook is rolling out a new security allowing users to remotely log out of any Facebook session active on another device. If a user logs in to Facebook on a public computer or a friend’s mobile device and forgets to log out when they’re done, they can visit their Account->Account Settings->Settings->Account Security->Account Activity panel, and choose to end any active session.

This feature will help protect users from malicious strangers trying to hijack one’s account, as well as the somewhat common practice of mischievous friends editing one’s profile or making unauthorized communications.

The account activity panel shows all of a user’s currently active sessions. To help users distinguish between sessions, each is labeled with the time accessed, the device name if a user named it with Facebook’s login notifications feature, the approximate location as determined by IP Address, and which browser and operating system used. Clicking “end activity” closes that session, requiring anyone using the selected device to have the password in order to access the account. Facebook also recommends changing one’s password after ending a remote session in case the unauthorized user tried to change or reset the existing password.

Unauthorized use of an active Facebook session has become a greater security concern, especially as Facebook’s mobile apps proliferate. These apps often don’t require users to log in each time they open the app, meaning if someone stole your iPhone, they could access your Facebook account through the Facebook for iPhone app until you change your password. It doesn’t take long for an unauthorized user to damage one’s credibility. By changing one’s profile to include offensive content then inviting all of one’s friends to an event highlighting these changes, spamming or defriending people, or deleting Pages and Groups a user is an admin of, lasting harm can be done quickly.

By helping users to prevent these kinds of horror stories, Facebook makes users feel safe creating a digital identity with wide-reaching influence on their real-world reputation.


Josh Constine Read more: Inside Facebook

Facebook Prevents Users From Sending Suspicious Friend Requests To Strangers

by M. Dorn on September 4, 2010 · 0 comments

Facebook has begun implementing new security measures to prevent friend request spamming. Some users are  being shown a “This Request Can’t Be Sent” pop-up if their request is deemed suspicious.

To determine if a request is suspicious, Facebook takes into account how many mutual friends you and the person potentially receiving the request have. It also factors in whether any of your prior friend requests have been marked by recipients with the “Mark this friend request as one from someone you do not know at all” link that appears when a friend request is ignored. If you have few or no friends in common, have had previous requests marked, or a combination of the two, your request may not be sent.

The security pop-up’s body reads ”Do you know this user personally? To prevent misuse of Facebook, this request can’t be sent. To learn more, plese visit the Help Center. If you believe you’re seeing this message in error, you can report the problem.”

Spammers friending large quantities of strangers with no mutual friends will be thwarted by this measure. As with all security features, false positives can occur, preventing a user from sending legitimate friend requests. However, the real issue is that many are having the security measure activated against them because they play Facebook games.

Titles such as Sorority Life, Mafia Wars and FarmVille give advantages to users who have friends to take in-game actions on their behalf. However, since most people don’t have hundreds of friends playing a certain game, they must send friend requests to strangers who do play. If the sender doesn’t include a personal message stating they want to be “game friends” or the recipient doesn’t read it, and since the request actually is from “someone you don’t know at all” the request may be marked, lowering the sender’s undisclosed Facebook credibility rating.

This problem could be addressed by Facebook adding a disclaimer to the “Add as Friend” confirmation pop-up. Explaining to users Facebook’s policy on sending friend requests to strangers and the potential sanctions might stem the practice, or at least notify users of the risks of such behavior. For most users, the new security feature will further reduce the likelihood that they’ll ever receive a malicious or unwarranted friend request.


Josh Constine Read more: Inside Facebook

Thanks to Our Sponsors

by M. Dorn on September 4, 2010 · 0 comments

Inside Facebook extends a big thank you to our sponsors for supporting the continued growth of Inside Facebook. Check them out below!

RightScale provides cloud computing management for social application and game developers.

Alchemy provides management and optimization tools for creating and buying ads on Facebook.

Webtrends‘ Facebook Analytics provides visibility into the activities of Facebook followers.

Joyent provides public cloud hosting for social application and game developers.

SponsorPay provides offer-based virtual currency monetization for online games and social apps.

offerpal media

Offerpal Media is a managed offer network for social applications and online merchants.

zonglogo

Zong is a provider of mobile payments serving the digital content, social media, and gaming industries.

lifestreet-logo

LifeStreet Media is a performance advertising platform focused on social applications.


Frima Studio develops social games for big brands.

mopay is a global provider of mobile payments for web content.

adparlor_logo

AdParlor helps facebook application developers grow and monetize their applications.

softlayer

SoftLayer provides cloud and dedicated hosting services for social application and game developers.

superrewardslogo

Super Rewards is a monetization solution for applications and games running on social networks like Facebook.


Justin Smith Read more: Inside Facebook

Facebook Roundup: Search, Revenue, Traffic, Music, Plixi, Egypt, and Prineville

by M. Dorn on September 4, 2010 · 0 comments

Facebook Integrates News Stories Into Search – Facebook now displays items friends have Liked on third-party web sites within the suggested matches drop-down menu of its top search bar. Articles are not surfaced solely on the number of Likes a given article receives, the company explains, and adds that the feature launched to all users two weeks ago (people are just noticing now).

Greenpeace Goes After Facebook’s Prineville Center – Environmental activism group Greenpeace has started a campaign to get Facebook to say “no” to using coal-derived electricity at its new Prineville, Ore. data center. We’ve previously reported that Facebook would be using both renewable and non-renewable energy at the center. What’s more, the center is already doing a pretty good job of being environmentally-friendly by using naturally cold air to cool servers, an evaporative cooling system, re-using server heat for offices and reducing electricity usage.

Latest Facebook Revenue Estimate: B – Facebook’s latest revenue estimates for 2010 are hovering around billion, TechCrunch reported this week. We’d previously reported that the company’s 2009 revenues were almost 0 million and that the company was now on track to bust billion this year, although previous reports have also put the run-rate at billion. Most of the company’s revenues stems from advertising. [Image also via TechCrunch]

Facebook Traffic Eclipses Search Traffic at Gawker – Gawker’s marketing team put together some interesting data showing that its Facebook traffic is increasing across all sister sites and also that this social traffic is increasingly more important than search traffic. Specifically, Gawker gets 20 million monthly visits from social sites (up from 10 million last fall) and 7.7 million of that comes from Facebook. [Image via AllThingsD]

Microsoft Founder Sues Facebook – Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, went on a lawsuit rampage last week, filing against against not only Facebook, but eBay, AOL, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples and YouTube. Allen alleges that all the aforementioned companies are infringing on his e-commerce and search patents. These patents stem from Allen’s work at Interval Research in 1992; it closed in 2000 and some of the patents include very general descriptions for browsers, attention managers and alerts to users.

TweetPhoto, Now Plixi, Integrates Facebook – TweetPhoto has changed its name to Plixi and the company enables users to share and interact with photos on both the Twitter and Facebook platforms. Plixi aims most of its products towards Facebook and other social networks, such as its check-in service for photos. The company was founded in 2009 and recently raised .6 million in investment from several angels, as well as Canaan Partners and Anthem Venture Partners.

Egyptian Govt Monitors Facebook – The Egyptian Ministry of Interior has created a department especially to monitor Facebook activity in that country, according to Global Voices Online. This department includes 15 people who work 24 hours a day in three shifts, including two police officers and three engineers. They are tasked with monitoring criticism of the current president, Hosni Mubarak, and his son and presumed heir, Gamal.

How to Access Facebook in Vietnam – As we reported at the beginning of the year, Facebook is being blocked by the Vietnamese government. However, the web site Viet Tan has published an extensive guide on how to get around government controls, mainly by accessing “lite” versions of the social network, such as the mobile site. Despite the censorship, Vietnam has 1.2 million users according to our most recent Global Monitor Report on Inside Facebook Gold.

RootMusic’s Facebook Player Collects Royalties – RootMusic launched a YouTube tracks feature allowing musicians to collect royalties on every song played on Facebook. Through the free 520 pixel-wide version of the BandPage media player, musicians can collect revenue from every song played on Facebook; some artists currently using the service include 50 Cent and Maroon 5. See our previous coverage for more details about the company.


Sara Inés Calderón Read more: Inside Facebook

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