Inside Facebook
Inside Facebook |
- Deleted Data, Removed Friends, Log-In Record and More Available to European Facebook Users
- Using the Facebook Like Box On Your Website to Gain Fans for Your Page and Maximize Retention
- Facebook Could Boost Ad Revenue Through New Marketing Education Partnerships With Business Lobbies
- ZipShare Allows for Sharing of 100MB Worth of Files to Your Facebook Wall, Groups
- New Facebook Platform Industry Hires: BranchOut, Vitrue, Involver and More
- Community Pages, TV, Movies, Games, Banks and More on This Week’s Top 20 Growing Facebook Pages
| Deleted Data, Removed Friends, Log-In Record and More Available to European Facebook Users Posted: 27 Sep 2011 02:54 PM PDT Facebook offers users the Download Your Information tool to let them get a copy of all their content and connections, but we’ve now learned that the site is storing additional data about users not available in this export. This data includes deleted content, rejected friend requests, removed friends, a list of all of a user’s logins with timestamps and IP addresses, and several unfilled data fields that could pertain to unreleased products. European citizens can request for Facebook to send the a CD loaded with a .PDF of this data plus much of what’s available in Download Your Information independently or through a privacy organization called Europe vs. Facebook, as Silicon Filter reports. However, Facebook makes users fill out a complicated form and reports indicate it doesn’t always comply with requests right away. Still, the knowledge that Facebook is storing so much data, meta-data, and deleted data on users may impact how they use the site and view the company. Facebook should consider making more of the data it holds available to each user regardless of their citizenship. Most of the data wouldn’t be valuable to competitors, but just knowing they could retrieve it might quiet the privacy and data portability concerns of some.
Critics and security researches often complain about how Facebook handles user data. Just this week, Facebook came under some partially misguided criticism about the cookies it stores on a user’s device after they log out. Nik Cubrilovic thought Facebook was using some cookies for ad targeting when they were actually to improve site security. However, Facebook did confirm a bug discovered by Cubrilovic was causing User ID numbers to be stored in cookies in some cases, and has pledged to fix this today. More transparency could reduce the frequency of these complaints. Highlights from the Facebook Privacy Data CDsEuropean users who succeed in leveraging their right to access personal data about themselves receive a CD containing the following data fields:
Here we’ll look closer at some of the more interesting data fields and discuss why users might be concerned that Facebook is holding this information: Removed Friends and Friend RequestsLast week, a guide surfaced explaining how to use a complicated process and the new Timeline profile to determine who you are no longer friends with but once were. This data is readily available in the Facebook data CD. User Peter Freund (2266770044) Also available is the date, sender, recipient, and status of all the friend requests a user has sent or received. Users might be surprised to find out even their rejected friend requests are being stored. Sender Peter Unfreundlich (1122334455) Logins and Account Status History The Facebook data CD includes a record of the time, IP address, and site of every time a user has ever logged in to Facebook. This data may be deleted by Facebook after some time. As there is no record of visits or time-on-site, this is the closest users can get to finding out how frequently they’ve checked Facebook. Also available is a record of all the account activations and deactivations, which could be used to identify those especially concerned with privacy. Ip 178.190.001.001 Photos, Shares, and Wall PostsWhile users can find some of this data in Download Your Information, these fields also included content users had deleted as well as lots of meta data. Shared links and wall posts that users had deleted appeared in the data CD. It appears that when a user deletes a tag of themselves from a photo, that tag is actually only “deactivated” and may still be present in Facebook’s records. All the meta data about a photo’s location, when it was taken, with what device, and many of the device’s photo settings are also available in the data CD but not Download Your Information.
Last LocationThis shows the geographic location of a user’s last login to Facebook, including latitude, longitude, altitude, accuracy, altitude accuracy, heading, and speed. This data could be based on IP address, mobile phone sensors, checkins, listed current city, and more. It could be used to personalize the site’s content. It could also help Facebook identify suspicious logins that may have come from hackers, such as if a user logged in from California then soon after logged in from Russia. Time 2011-04-16 18:51:27 UTC Name ChangesUsers are able to change their name on Facebook a small number of times. The record of different names used is not available to a user or their friends through the site, but can be found on the data CD. The information could be used to help law enforcement identify someone by a previously used alias. Time 2010-03-19 11:48:50 UTC Credit CardsUsers who have purchased Facebook Credits will have their credit card information included in an encrypted format on their data CD. The inclusion of this data may contribute to the thorough verification process Facebook makes users undertake to attain the CD. Profile BlurbThis field came up blank for those who posted excerpts of their data to Europe vs. Facebook. It could possibly be an old “About” section of the profile, or could indicate a forthcoming profile info section that would display introduction on the new Timeline profile design. Physical TokensThis field also came up blank. It could be used to list an ID number or something similar for Facebook employees who use a physical key card or security device such as RSA to enter Facebook offices. Alternatively, there’s a chance it could point to a future location product that uses near field communication-enabled devices to let users swipe to check in to Places. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Using the Facebook Like Box On Your Website to Gain Fans for Your Page and Maximize Retention Posted: 27 Sep 2011 01:34 PM PDT
The following is an excerpt of entry in our Facebook Marketing Bible. The full version contains a detailed description of how to customize the Like Box in order to get the best results for your organization. Facebook’s Like Box lets websites display a Like button for their Facebook Page. When a user clicks this Like Box, they begin seeing the Page’s updates in their news feed, a story is published to their friends, and the Page is put in the Likes section of their profile. Websites can embed the standard Like button to let users share a particular web page or piece of content, and technically they can publish news feed updates to those that click it. However, the publishing process is complicated and it essentially requires marketers to manage another Page. Here we’ll discuss why website owners with an existing (and complementary) Facebook Page will get better results by ensuring that the Like button they use on their website — and any other online property — is a Like Box that links directly to their Facebook Page, as opposed to the website itself. We’ll also walk-through how to generate a Like Box and add it to a website.
Introduction to the Like BoxThe Like Box is a more valuable addition to websites than the Like button because it lets sites conveniently retain a connection with their visitors through a Facebook Page. Adding standard sharing Like buttons to your site has value too, as clicks produce news feed stories recommending your site, and the button registers your site in Facebook’s internal search bar. For this reason, most websites should display both a Like Box for their Facebook Page and a Like button for sharing each page of their website. The full version of this article, along with a wide variety of other how-to articles on marketing topics, can be found in the Facebook Marketing Bible, Inside Network's complete guide to marketing and advertising through Facebook. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Facebook Could Boost Ad Revenue Through New Marketing Education Partnerships With Business Lobbies Posted: 27 Sep 2011 11:19 AM PDT Facebook’s advertising solutions haven’t reached their full potential in part because advertisers don’t understand them well enough to achieve peak results. The system is complicated, and the concept of social advertising is new, yet outside of some webinars and .PDFs, Facebook has done little educate advertisers on how to use its Ads products. That’s about to change, as Facebook is establishing partnerships with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business, the Wall Street Journal reports. Facebook will send representatives to local and regional offices of the two business lobbies to educate members on how best to promote themselves on the social network through its marketing and advertising products. This education could increase understanding and trust in Facebook Ads, leading more businesses to increase their Facebook marketing spend. Such adoption could help Facebook grow the advertising revenues that fuel the company.
Next month’s initiative with the Chamber of Commerce and NFIB will coincide with Facebook giving away $10 million in $50 ad credits to small business. When the ad credit promotion was revealed earlier month, we discussed how it could lure in small businesses to experiment with Facebook ads. However, we noted the promotion would only produce long-term advertisers if Facebook paired the ad credits with the education necessary for businesses to run successful advertising campaigns. Facebook has recently released several new advertising options that can be especially helpful to small businesses, including Broad Category Interest targeting and zip code targeting. It will also soon make a wealth of new marketing opportunities available as advertisers will soon be able to target users based on their media consumption habits in addition to their listed interests thanks to new Open Graph app protocols launched at the f8 developer conference.
While veteran Facebook advertisers will appreciate these new tools, they may make Facebook’s marketing solutions even more complicated for those without experience. Facebook seems to have recognized this, and will now be augmenting its online resources with in-person education sessions. Google has been offering free “Seminars for Success” and other in-person education events since at least 2008 to help marketers understand its AdWords and analytics products. Some see this outreach as an important component of Google’s rise to power in the advertising world. Employing a similar strategy, Facebook could get advertisers more comfortable targeting by interest and behavior rather than just keywords. By choosing to run its education series through two powerful lobbies, Facebook can also advance its political interests. The choice of partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and NFIB matches with the recent news that Facebook has started its own political action committee. Keeping regulators through the PAC and lobby relationships will help keep regulators at bay so Facebook can continue to monetize user data through ad targeting. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ZipShare Allows for Sharing of 100MB Worth of Files to Your Facebook Wall, Groups Posted: 27 Sep 2011 10:10 AM PDT ZipShare is an application from WinZip that quickly and easily allows users to share up to 100 megabytes worth of data on Facebook, either to their groups or on their Wall. The app brings you through Facebook Connect, asks you to upload your files and where you want to post them (group or Wall). The app then converts this data into a zip file and publishes a download link.
In order to retrieve the information users simply click on the link on Facebook, which goes back to the ZipShare website, download and they're done. While this isn't the only file sharing service that utilizes Facebook, ZipShare distinguishes itself for being so quick to use,and be being free of ads, delays and pop-ups.
Prescott Lee of ZipShare said this was all intentional. The app was meant to be simple, and to fill a gap that exists on Facebook, which allows for easy sharing of video and photo files but not things like Excel files or PowerPoint presentations. ZipShare even allows for a package of multiple types of files to be bundled into a zip file at once with the app.
Currently ZipShare allows for a 20 MB limit per upload, with users capped at a total of 100 MB. The files stay on the servers for 7 days, then expire and the space frees up again. "this is really the first foray into social [for WinZip] but there are other things we are thinking about right now," Lee said. He added that, in the week prior to its release, hundreds of folks took advantage of an email invite signup to be among the first to use the app. A week into its release the app already has several thousand users, he added. People today often connect with friends primarily via Facebook rather than email or old instant messaging clients, so there’s a need for socially-focused file sharing services like ZipShare. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Facebook Platform Industry Hires: BranchOut, Vitrue, Involver and More Posted: 27 Sep 2011 09:48 AM PDT BranchOut hired a group of marketing and engineering employees this week, Vitrue hired Phil Evans as Regional VP EMEA for its London offices, and Involver hired an engineer. Efficient Frontier, Work4 Labs and Wildfire also hired account management, sales, collections and intern personnel. If your company is hiring new people or making a notable promotion, please let us know. Email mail (at) insidefacebook (dot) com, and we'll get it into next week's post. Also, please note that information about most new hires, below, comes directly from company updates from LinkedIn. Looking for new opportunities? Check out the Inside Network Job Board, which shows the latest openings at leading companies in the industry. Here's this week's list of hires:
Who else is hiring? The Inside Network Job Board presents a survey of current openings at leading companies in the industry. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Community Pages, TV, Movies, Games, Banks and More on This Week’s Top 20 Growing Facebook Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2011 08:57 AM PDT
Some Page consolidations occurred over the past week, resulting in some interesting appearances on our list of Pages growing by Likes this week. This includes the Hockey Page, reality TV shows, a Turkish quote Page and more. Pages on our list this week required 413,800 and 3.7 million Likes to make the top 20 this week. We compile these lists with our PageData tool, which tracks Page growth across Facebook.
Community Pages on our list this week included Hockey with 1.4 million Likes to 1.5 million and Mario, the popular Nintendo character, with 659,000 Likes to 661,300 this week. Both of these Pages seemed to grow as a result of Page consolidations. Music grew by 274,200 Likes to reach 28.1 million.
TV shows on the list this week included NatGeo with 440,700 Likes to reach 3.5 million; the Page is currently promoting a popular show about body image in Latin America. Then "Tia & Tamera" grew by 417,900 Likes to 430,200; the growth on the reality TV show Page seemed to be a Page consolidation. The same was true for the Australian TV show "Neighbours" which took a huge jump in the past week of 401,400 Likes to reach 415,600 Likes. Movies on the list included "Titanic" with 409,500 Likes to reach 13.4 million, "Transformers" which grew 334,500 to pass 9 million Likes partially due to a contest and the upcoming release of the DVD of the movie and then "Harry Potter" grew by 274,500 Likes to reach 34.9 million.
There were also a pair of games whose Pages made the list, Texas Hold’em Poker grew by 309,400 Likes to 50.6 million and Angry Birds by 298,700 Likes to 7.8 million. A mixed bag of the rest of the Pages included musicians, writers, football clubs, cars and candy. Aventura, a band, grew by 791,700 Likes to 2.3 million. Agatha Christie, the writer, grew by 788,700 to 787,200 Likes, most of it during the past week, seemingly a Page consolidation. Capital One's Page grew by 772,600 Likes to 2.3 million, perhaps due in some part to its new Zynga integration? There was the Lamborghini Page, which grew 607,200 Likes to 632,600 in the past week (another consolidation?), candy Page Lutti [Officiel] which grew 445,500 Likes in the past week to 636,700 Likes, the Page seemingly was just created. Facebook's Page grew 360,100 likes to 53.1 million. A Turkish Page about quotes, Anlamlı Sözler, grew 356,900 Likes to 1.1 million and seemed to be another consolidation. The facebook realesed the new Dislike Button™! Add it Now!! not a fake! Page grew 333,000 Likes to 445,400 (even though it actually is obviously a fake). Finally, FC Barcelona grew 274,600 Likes to 20.7 million. |
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