Tag Archives: facebook

Take your creeping to the next level

Posted on by

Remember when Facebook let you stalk that hot, mysterious partygoer on Sunday mornings? Or was just a distraction during your Monday morning lecture? There was Farmville, Mafia Wars, the “Like” button didn’t exist and life was simpler. But those days are behind us now. Earlier this week, Facebook unveiled its new home page, as well as a new prototype – “Timeline.”

Though there’s been quite the hullabaloo over the “new” Facebook – three news feeds on one page? Way too much – Timeline has gone relatively unnoticed. The new app allows you to see the entire sequence of the user’s life – birth, growing up, break ups, marriage, etc. The app also allows users to post music so people visiting (ahem, wasting time) their page can listen along.

The app offers a home page of sorts which users can customize with photos, friends, maps, info, likes and statuses.

The release date has not been announced yet, but my recommendation is to get ahead on your school work for the next, uh, three years to counter all the creeping you’re bound to do in the TECH Center.

Facebook to launch new username feature

Posted on by

MySpace is upfront about its profiles: each user’s Web page must be as conceited and self-idolized as possible. From the backgrounds, to their Myspace song, to the unique usernames, like Phillygrrrl93, every profile is completely customizable. And while stalking its enemies, Facebook decided it, too, would creep toward more personalization, according to its official blog.

Every profile on Facebook is given a randomly assigned number, such as ID=593483872. The fact that it is random doesn’t make it all intuitive or user friendly because nobody remembers this number to use it as a way to search for people.

To make profiles more personal, Facebook will allow users the option to substitute their ID number for an identifiable username. The option will go into effect Saturday, and will help people to “have an easy-to-remember way to find you;” in other words, make profiles easier to stalk and more accessible for Web engines. This, in turn, will give Facebook more hits. But once you choose your name, there’s no going back, so choose carefully!

Perhaps this moves Facebook another step closer toward the direction of MySpace, but why wouldn’t Facebook want to mirror its arch nemesis? While Faceboook’s 200 million users nearly double those on MySpace, Myspace in raking in the green. Facebook relies on 85 percent of its $250 million in revenue in 2008 from entirely advertisements.  MySpace, on the other hand, focuses on its ads, as well as the sales of ringtones, artist merchandise and other exclusive items, which earned the company roughly $755 million in revenue in 2008.

$1 gifts just are not going to cut the size of cake that Facebook should be eating.

It’s not world domination until you conquer Facebook

Posted on by

Look at you, Google, at it again.

Gchat’s on the heels of AOL Instant Messenger, and there’s no need for Microsoft Word when you’ve got Google Docs. So, of course, it’s only natural for the Internet giant to take over the world’s most popular social networking site, too.

In its most recent attempt to completely take over the Internet, Google launched Google Profiles, a social networking system with profiles eerily similar to those of Facebook.

But Google’s no fool. It knows it can’t compare to Facebook without some sort of edge – so it’s tapping into your vanity.

We’ve all done the ol’ first-plus-last name Google search, usually to be disappointed or embarrassed about whatever results are wielded. Now, once you make a profile, it will appear at the bottom of your search results, allowing you to show your future employer or newest love interest the real you.

Or at least as real as you can get on the Internet.

Facebook changes once again

Posted on by

Facebook has made adjustments to the social networking site yet again. The most recent change is a reorganization of the Friends page.

At the top of the page is a message to facebook subscribers that, “Now it is easier to find and organize your friends. Some lists have been suggested for you based on friend details you and your friends created. You can edit or delete these, or create new lists.”

i don’t think I have reached the level of facebook stalker where I need to organize my fb friends into different lists. The news feed on the homepage is enough stalking for me, for now.

Another job in trouble at the expense of Facebook

Posted on by

A Philadelphia court officer has been poked with a 10-day suspension after requesting to be the Facebook friend of a juror. The 50-year-old officer didn’t take no for an answer the first time. Upon a second request the female juror accepted the friendship, then reported him. Philly.com has the full story.

Facebook to get a little more crowded

Posted on by

It seems like everyone and their mother is on Facebook. Your News feed has updates on what your friends are doing this weekend and what grandpa ate for dinner.

If the world of Facebook isn’t full enough, the people of the mega social network expect the 200 millionth user to sign up sometime this week.

Check out great article here on Facebook’s recent changes and how they are trying to keep users happy while figuring out how to get the most out of the cash cow.

Shoplifting squirrel evades Richie

Posted on by

Yes, Richie from Richie’s Deli and Pizza in front of Anderson Hall. Today around 5:30 p.m., Richie posted this on Facebook:

He said a shoplifting squirrel – who has become notorious among Richie’s regulars – steals a chocolate/chocolate chip muffin from the box on his window counter every day. The squirrel, Richie said, has been at large for the past two weeks.

“Ain’t it funny? Every day, every time I’m trying to be creative so [the squirrel] doesn’t steal, he finds a different way,” Richie said. “And he’s been stealing it at lunch time, not when it’s dead. He steals it when I’m the busiest.”

Richie said the squirrel generally strikes between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and is adept at unwrapping both the plastic wrap the muffins come in and the extra layer Richie adds in the morning.

“People see him steal and no one tells me he’s stealing,” Richie said. “He climbs up [on the counter], goes under and around [then] he finds the chocolate muffin and takes it. Everyone just gets a kick out of it.”

OK, so Richie was likely kidding about the $100 reward, but, rest assured, he will take good care of whomever catches the sticky-handed rodent.

This photo is being used for identification purposes in the effort to find the tiny thief.