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    • The Fight Goes On
      by Sam O'Rourke on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 7:29pm

      UPDATE on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011: Today, U.S. Attorney Melina Huaag announced that Sanford Wallace self-surrendered to agents from the FBI. On July 6, a federal grand jury in San Jose indicted Wallace with multiple counts of fraud for sending unwanted messages and Wall posts to people on Facebook. He now faces serious jail time for this illegal conduct. We applaud the efforts of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI to bring spammers to justice and will continue to pursue and support both civil and criminal consequences for spammers and others... who attempt to harm Facebook or the people who use our service.

       

      UPDATE on Thursday, Oct. 29: Today, a San Jose, Calif. court awarded Facebook $711 million in damages against Sanford Wallace, one of the spammers who accessed people's accounts without their permission and sent phony Wall posts and messages. While we don't expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent against these criminals. Most notably, the judge referred Wallace to the U.S. Attorney's Office with a request that Wallace be prosecuted for criminal contempt, which means that in addition to the judgment, he now faces possible jail time. This is another important victory in our fight against spam. We will continue to pursue damages against other spammers.

       

      Published on Friday, March 6

       

      We hate spam just as much as you do, and we're always working to stop it. Last week, we won a ruling in this ongoing fight. A court in San Jose, California issued a temporary restraining order against three spammers—Sanford Wallace, Adam Arzoomanian and Scott Shaw. They broke the law by sending unwanted messages and wall posts to people on Facebook, which in the United States violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the California Anti-Phishing Act and the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM). Now, any contact these spammers have with you or anyone on Facebook could land them in jail.

      This isn't the first time we've gone to court to battle spam. Last November, we also told you about our first victory—an $873 million judgment made against Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital for sending sleazy messages to people on Facebook. This was the largest judgment ever for an action brought under CAN-SPAM. We continue to work on collecting as much as possible from Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue (likely far less than the full amount) and have hired a firm to help with this. We're hopeful that this kind of persistent pressure will act as a deterrent against those attempting to trick and annoy people on Facebook.

      Of course, this fight requires a team effort. In addition to our dedicated legal team, Facebook also has security experts and engineers focused on the integrity of the site. We're continuing to build systems to prevent and respond to spam attacks. Our User Operations team also works around the clock to identify problems and assist people who've been affected.

      We will continue bringing spammers to justice, but we need need your help, too. Report spam by using the links located throughout the site.

      Be sure to also check out the tips and information on our Security Page to educate yourself on how to keep your account secure.

      Sam O'Rourke from the Facebook legal team is busy keeping you safe from spam.

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    • Topics: Security, Spam
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    • Friends Reunite for Entrepreneurial Dream / Deux amis se retrouvent : une entreprise est née
      by Sara Lannin on Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 1:57pm
      The following is part of our series on different ways Facebook is used across the world. Read the previous blog post in this series here. If you have a story you'd like to share with us, please submit it here.


      Many people share a dream of one day owning their own business. For Yann Boyer of France, that dream became a reality thanks to a friendship that was rekindled on Facebook.

      ...In 2003, when Yann was about to graduate from an engineering school in Paris, he talked with his friend Gregory about starting their own company but they decided not to pursue the idea then. They instead were hired by two separate companies. Yann's job kept him in Paris, while Gregory moved to the south of France. By 2007, they had lost touch entirely.

      Then in early 2008, Yann joined Facebook looking for old classmates.



      Shortly after reconnecting with Gregory, Yann received a promising job opportunity at a new company. Through a status update, he shared the news: "I am going to resign in favor of new projects." To his surprise and excitement, the update prompted a reply from Gregory, who Yann said "immediately contacted me on Facebook telling me he also intended to leave his job for something new." After dozens of messages, the pair decided to take a risk and start the company they'd dreamt of when they were students.

      Today, the result of their Facebook reunion is a small but growing business. Their company, PROVIALINK, designs and develops websites. "Sales are growing," said Yann. And the pair recently hit an exciting milestone: the addition of their first employee.

      "At first, Facebook was just an entertaining tool," Yann said. "But quickly I realized how useful it could be, particularly to keep my contacts network active. Thanks to Facebook I have been able to set up a business. I use it every day."


      Sara, an intern on Facebook's communications team, is looking up her high school classmates.

      ---

      Deux amis se retrouvent : une entreprise est née


      Cet article fait partie d'une série consacrée aux diverses façons d'utiliser Facebook dans le monde (découvrez l'article précédent de cette série). Vous avez votre propre histoire ? Contactez-nous.


      Nombreux sont ceux qui rêvent de créer leur propre entreprise. Pour Yann Boyer, ce rêve est devenu réalité grâce à une amitié retrouvée sur Facebook.

      En 2003, alors que Yann allait terminer ses études d'ingénieur à Paris, il discuta avec son ami Gregory de son idée de monter leur propre entreprise, sans pour autant mener cette idée à terme. Au lieu de cela, ils ont commencé à travailler, chacun pour un employeur distinct. Yann est resté à Paris, alors que Gregory a déménagé dans le sud de la France. En 2007, ils s'étaient perdus de vue.

      C'est au début de l'année 2008 que Yann a rejoint Facebook en espérant trouver d'anciens camarades.



      Puis, peu de temps après avoir retrouvé Gregory, Yann a eu vent d'un poste intéressant dans une nouvelle entreprise. Il a donc mis son statut à jour : « Je quitte mon boulot pour me lancer dans de nouveaux projets. » C'est à sa grande surprise qu'il a reçu une réponse de Gregory, qui lui indiquait qu'il comptait également démissionner pour quelque chose de nouveau. Après un échange d'une dizaine de messages, ils ont décidé de prendre un risque et de lancer l'entreprise dont ils rêvaient lorsqu'ils étaient étudiants.

      Aujourd'hui, le résultat de leur réunion sur Facebook est une petite entreprise prometteuse, PROVIALINK, agence de conception et de développement de sites web. « Nos ventes sont à la hausse » indique Yann. Nos deux compères ont également atteint un jalon important : leur premier employé.

      « Au début, Facebook était simplement un outil sympa et divertissant » nous dit Yann. « Mais j'ai vite réalisé son utilité, même professionnelle. C'est grâce à Facebook que j'ai pu monter mon entreprise. Je l'utilise tous les jours. »


      Sara, une stagiaire de l'équipe Communication de Facebook, est à la recherche de ses camarades de classe.
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    • Topics: Your Stories
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    • Latin Becomes a Living Language on Facebook
      by Elizabeth Linder on Friday, October 2, 2009 at 10:07am

      Most of the time when we stumble upon a Latin phrase, it's etched in stone: carved in the hallways of universities, chiseled on facades of government buildings or carefully imprinted in cathedral foyers and churchyards. The language seems almost immovable. Yet beginning today, Latin — the staid and reliable language — springs to life on Facebook.

      Latin has joined the more than 70 languages we've made available on the site in the past two years, including some which have launched just today — Azeri, Faroese, Georgian and Nepali. Some of these... are languages that millions of people speak across the globe. Others are dialects that specific communities use in select geographic areas. Still others are just for fun: "Pirate" may not appeal to everyone, but for those nostalgic for the days of Blackbeard and Captain Hook, it's there for you in Facebook's language drop-down menu.

      To students of Latin, the availability of the language on Facebook may be just what's needed to narrow the distance between themselves and the venerable language. After all, the experience of studying Latin can frequently seem somewhat far and away. Even the readings prescribed by Latin teachers have an air of detachment about them: Cicero and Demosthenes, Caesar and Virgil. While students of "living languages" practice on subtitled films and in conversation groups, on vacations and with exchange students, Latin scholars soak in rare living breaths of their studied language, satisfying themselves with the occasional legal phrase, nursery plant, benediction or school motto. Recognizing verb stems and identifying vocabulary roots just somehow aren't quite the same as ordering off a menu or asking for directions.

      Though Latin has been long out of use, for some of us, it never loses its intrigue. As a native English speaker, I enrolled in Latin to supplement my study of Romance languages. I still remember reading a translated copy of "Winnie the Pooh" in Latin, and gradually working my way through state speeches and philosophic commentary dating from the Roman Empire. When I joined Facebook a year ago, I chose a Latin phrase, "dictum meum pactum" ("my word is my bond"), as the phrase that currently appears on my Facebook business card.



      It's been a few years since I've cracked open my Latin textbook, but I'm grateful to all of the people on Facebook who meticulously translated the site into a "dead" language. Cobwebs may accumulate on the stones that bear Latin phrases, but they will never conceal its distinguished past, nor stand in the way of people's desire to keep the language alive — even on the web.


      Elizabeth, an associate on the Facebook communications team, is looking forward to dusting off her Latin by using it as her language setting on Facebook.

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    • Topics: Translation, Language
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    • Causes Return to Their Grassroots Online
      by Joe Green on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 2:56pm
      Joe Green is the co-founder of Causes, a Facebook application that empowers anyone to mobilize their friends for social and political causes. Last week Causes began the second America Giving Challenge in partnership with the Case Foundation —
      a nonprofit organization that encourages the use of technology in that sector — and Parade Magazine. For 30 days, causes compete to win cash prizes for their organization based on the number of donations they receive. We've asked Joe to share his perspective on how activism is evolving on the Internet.


      ...People are adopting "Facebook Babies," but they aren't virtual infants with a penchant for online social networking. They are the nearly 30 orphans in China that have been given life-changing surgery and foster care by a nonprofit organization called Love Without Boundaries with money they raised through the Causes application on Facebook.

      Amy Eldridge, who directs this U.S.-based nonprofit in Oklahoma, relies on volunteers to recruit, educate and mobilize supporters. When someone has a question, volunteers are ready to reach out and personally respond. When Amy shares the story of a baby who needs help, her supporters respond not just by donating but also by committing to raise money from their friends.

      Amy's volunteer-focused approach is classic grassroots organizing — maximizing people's impact by empowering individuals. "Any smart nonprofit realizes that none of their work gets done without their supporters," Amy recently told me. "We now have 170 volunteers in 9 countries with a designated job."

      When you learn how Amy runs her small nonprofit, it all sounds very logical and probably a bit unremarkable — but this is not how most nonprofits operate.

      If you are one of the 75 percent of Americans who donated to a nonprofit last year, chances are you were solicited through direct mail or by a telemarketer. In addition to leaving individuals disengaged, top-down marketing tactics have high overhead costs that prevent smaller nonprofits from growing and driving innovation.

      It was not always this way. Until the 1970s, typical involvement with nonprofits looked a lot more like Amy Eldridge and Love Without Boundaries. People joined local chapters of charitable organizations whose members were friends and whose leaders were volunteers. They worked through their social connections to do everything from cleaning parks to raising money, but this shifted after the 1970s. Nonprofits began focusing on top-down marketing tactics in response to a broad societal shift away from membership in voluntary associations of all types.

      Now, the Internet — and social media specifically — is rebuilding the social infrastructure that has been crumbling underneath nonprofits for decades. As David Smith, director of the National Council on Citizenship, explains: "God, friends and Facebook provide a civic safety net." Facebook, with its representation of people's real identity and relationships, presents an unprecedented opportunity to bring the ideals and techniques of grassroots organizing to a massive number of people online. In doing so, the playing field has been leveled for individuals and organizations of all sizes.

      A paradigm shift is under way in the nonprofit world. Through the Causes application alone in just over two years, 85 million people are now involved in more than 300,000 user-created causes that educate, advocate and fund nonprofit work.

      Last year, in partnership with the Case Foundation, Causes started America's Giving Challenge to help nonprofits discover the potential of online organizing. The competition allows any U.S. based cause to enter and win cash awards for their nonprofit based on the number of different people that get involved through donating. We designed it so that the amount donated was irrelevant, instead focusing on the number of people who got engaged.

      More than 26,000 people donated nearly $600,000 to mostly small grassroots organizations. Love Without Boundaries, the 2008 winner, was awarded the $50,000 grand prize and used the money to help 10 orphaned children with heart disease. More importantly, they were able to capitalize on the momentum of the Giving Challenge to continue to develop a vibrant organization of engaged supporters.

      With this year's Giving Challenge in full swing, I want to encourage you to jump in. As grassroots organizing teaches us, an individual can have a large impact. There are so many ways you can make a difference — from donating any amount no matter how small to inviting your friends to participate or sharing information about the causes you support and joining discussions. Become a leader in your cause, and influence the people around you to do the same and discover what you can achieve when you organize.


      Joe is addictively refreshing the Causes page to track the challenge leaders and to challenge you to get involved for your favorite cause.
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    • Topics: Guest blog
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    • Responding to Abuse Reports More Effectively
      by Jessica Ann Flora on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 10:43am

      While only a small fraction of people on the site ever experience abuse such as bullying, harassment, unwanted contact or offensive behavior from others, we're constantly improving our processes to better respond if you do have a problem. By providing us with accurate and detailed information, you can help us locate and remove abuse on the site as quickly and efficiently as possible. That's why we recently made it possible for you to send us more specific and detailed reports of abuse as part of our efforts to make Facebook a safe and trusted... environment.

      Specifically, we created much more granular reporting categories for you to classify the issues you may come across including bullying or unwanted contact from other people on the site. We also added new fields where you can detail the location of abuse that occurs in videos or text. For example, if you want to report offensive content in a video, you now can tell us the specific time during the video when the abuse occurs. Or if you're reporting a note, you can copy and paste the offensive text directly from its source. The information you provide helps our international team of professional reviewers prioritize reports and know what they're looking for when reviewing the content.



      You can report abuse on the site by selecting the "Report" link located near photos, videos, notes or other content you find offensive or inappropriate. From there, you can choose from a set of categories to classify the content. These categories change depending on what type of content you're reporting, but they let you know what we consider abusive and help our user operations team process reports even faster.

      For instance, when reporting an offensive photo, you can select from the following reasons for why it may violate our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities: nudity or pornography, drug use, excessive gore or violence, attacks individual or group, advertisement or spam or infringes on your intellectual property. Keep in mind that we won't remove a photo or video just because it's unflattering.

      We rely on you to let us know when you see objectionable content, and these additional details are an important part of the process. We'll continue to work to improve your experience and give you the proper tools to report bad content and behavior.


      Jessica, a specialist on the Facebook user operations team, keeps it clean.

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    • Topics: Abuse
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    • Giving Groups a Stronger Voice
      by Knot Pipatsrisawat on Monday, October 19, 2009 at 1:17pm

      Facebook Groups have long been a part of the Facebook experience as a way for people to organize and discuss particular issues of interest. However, until now, Group activities have been isolated to the group page and it was often difficult to find out what currently was going on within a group. We have received feedback from many of you saying that you want to know more about what is going on within your Facebook Groups, in the same way you know what is happening with your friends and other connections on the site — on your home page.

      ...Starting today, we're transforming Groups to make it easier for you to communicate with other members and create a smoother experience as you browse through Facebook. If you don't see the new design just yet, you will soon. We're currently testing it with a small percentage of people on the site and will roll it out to everyone in the coming days.

      First, we revamped the design for Groups so that they look similar to other parts of the site such as profiles and Pages. This means that groups will now have a Wall that summarizes all the recent activities of people within the group and a Publisher that enables members to share their content.

      Second, group activities, which previously only appeared in the group, will now be delivered to your News Feed. To ensure that you get the most interesting and relevant content from groups you've joined, you only will see stories when one of your friends posts within a group rather than when all members post. For example, you now will see a story when your friend uploads photos from a recent party at your high school alumni group or when one of your friends posts a message on the Wall of your pick-up soccer group saying that there is a special game this week.



      Interacting with Groups will become easier since you can follow the links to the content directly from the News Feed stories or make comments on these stories directly from your home page. You can choose to see only group-related stories on your home page by sorting by Groups from the filters on the left-hand side.

      Keep in mind that while Groups and Pages now look the same, they still serve different purposes. Groups are for fostering member-to-member collaboration, while Pages remain the best way to broadcast messages to your fans if you are a business, organization, public figure or other entity.

      You can form a Facebook Group around any community you're connected to in your real life: book clubs, sports teams, churches, whatever you want. To date, there are over 45 million groups on the site. If you aren't a member of a group yet, search for one to join or start your own.


      Knot, a software engineering intern, is reading about his friends' group activities from his News Feed.

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    • Topics: Pages, News Feed, Groups
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    • Olympic Movement Meets the Global Facebook Village
      by Graeme Menzies on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 11:13am
      Graeme Menzies is the director of online communications for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), to be held from Feb. 12, 2010 to March 21, 2010. He works with a passionate team to extend the Olympic games experience through online media. In honor of the Olympic flame being lit in Greece this Thursday, Oct. 22, we've asked Graeme to discuss how VANOC is connecting people worldwide through online communications.


      When Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic movement over a century ago, he... sought to create a moment where athletes and spectators could experience the positive and transformational effects of sport — values of friendships, respect and excellence. At the beginning of the 1900s that experience was a social experience, but one that was largely limited to those who had the resources and time to travel.

      By the 1960s, Marshall McLuhan was already predicting that the evolution of electronic communication media would significantly reduce barriers of time and space. In effect, he said, the planet would be reduced to a "global village." Both visions now live side by side.

      More than ever before, the most successful games are not only those that provide the most outstanding physical infrastructure for athletes and spectators, but also the most outstanding online experience for virtual fans and spectators.

      The Torch Relay

      This Thursday, the Olympic flame is being lit in Olympia, Greece. Canada's Olympic torch relay will be the longest ever held in one country, covering 45,000 km (or nearly 28,000 miles) on a 106-day journey by some 12,000 torchbearers carrying the torch through over 1,000 communities and landmarks across the country.

      In the past, traditional media such as newspapers, radio and television, would record and tell the story of the relay. Now, citizens are telling the story themselves by sharing their photos, videos and thoughts on their Facebook profiles, their blogs and other social media. This new reality is what led the Vancouver 2010 team to reach out beyond its website and engage significantly in the social media space.

      In Canada, where Facebook is already extremely popular, we've actively encouraged local Olympic torch relay celebration communities to use Facebook to build local engagement, enthusiasm and momentum. Communities such as Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Red Deer, Alberta, are using Facebook to communicate local torch relay news, stories and photos on Facebook Pages.

      Anyone can follow the torch route as well. We've complemented our website with a Vancouver 2010 Olympics Page. It includes links to the interactive torch relay map, as well as a 2010 video that will give you a taste of the experience we're trying to build for the world.



      Fans already are commenting as they discover who's been selected as a torchbearer, and soon we expect to see more fan-submitted photos and accounts of the Olympic flame making its way across the country.

      Creating the Online Venue

      On a global scale, we worked with volunteers and Facebook in Canada to build the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Page as an effective tool to engage the world. The majority of the fans are international, including significant engagement from countries one wouldn't normally associate with winter sports, including Indonesia, Venezuela and Columbia.

      These fans prove the fundamental assumptions of Facebook: People with shared values and interests — not necessarily geography — will seek out and connect with each other online.

      In our case, we have built the Facebook Page and provided basic content, such as timely news, images and videos, and let the fans do the rest. In a surprising irony, this is not too dissimilar to what organizing committees traditionally do in order to host the games — build venues, provide information and let the athletes and fans do the rest.

      By bringing Facebook, including Facebook Connect and other social media into the mix, we are getting closer to the goal of making the games a meaningful social experience for fans in Canada and all over the world. More than ever before, the Olympic games are the games of the global village.


      Graeme hopes you'll participate in the 2010 winter games by becoming a fan of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Facebook Page.
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    • Topics: Pages, Guest blog
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    • A New Tune for Facebook Gifts
      by Will Chen on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 3:35pm

      We're continuing to enhance the Facebook Gift Shop so you have more ways to express your appreciation for the people in your life. A couple months ago, we took a first step by testing new types of gifts created by developers, including e-cards, charity donations and even real-world gifts where you can buy a friend a physical gift along with a virtual one.

      We now are unveiling a newly stocked and redesigned Gift Shop, with new categories of gifts and additional gifts for charity, music and sports from developers. With so many gifts available, we... also introduced a new design to make it easier for you to browse and purchase gifts with different gift categories. We will be rolling these changes out to everyone in the coming weeks, so don't worry if you don't see them just yet.

      Remember, in order to buy Facebook Gifts, you must purchase credits on the site using a major credit card. Credits cost 10 cents in U.S. currency, and they are available for purchase in 15 currencies. After you select your gift, click "Buy," and we'll walk you through the rest.

      Music Gifts (U.S. only)
      You now will be able to purchase songs as gifts for your friends. The "Music and MP3s" section of the Gift Shop, powered by LaLa.com, offers over 8 million songs for any music lover from artists such as Beyonce, the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Imogen Heap and even Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Web songs are 1 credit each, while full, downloadable, and digital rights management-free (DRM) MP3s are 9 credits each.

      Gift recipients can play their Web songs and MP3s from their Facebook News Feed and wall as frequently as they like, as well as from LaLa.com if they have an existing account or choose to sign up using Facebook Connect. MP3 recipients also have the added ability to download their songs and enjoy their gift on music players like iTunes and Windows Media Player. Other people who are able to see the music gift will only be able to play the song in full once, after which they will be able to play a 30-second clip.

      Sports Gifts
      For the next big game, be sure to rally your friends by sending them their favorite team's mascot or jersey with branded virtual gifts. Officially licensed gifts from the U.S. National Basketball Association and U.S. Major League Soccer are now available in the Gift Shop, as well as school-themed gifts from a number of major U.S. colleges ranging from Oklahoma State to Stanford University. These gifts are offered in the "Sports" section of the Gift Shop.

      Gifts for Good
      You already can purchase gifts on behalf of non-profits, including Kiva, Project Red, TOMS Shoes, Charity Water and the World Wildlife Fund. The net proceeds of those gifts are donated to the organizations. Now, you'll be able to support even more causes your friends care about through gifts offered by the Causes application in the Facebook Gift Shop.

      My sister is an animal-lover and for her upcoming birthday I'll be making a contribution to the Humane Society of the U.S. through a Facebook Gift that will go towards towards animal rescue efforts by that organization. In addition to the proceeds that directly impact the cause, my gift will appear as an image on her Wall.

      Whether your gift contribution is for disaster relief, world hunger, medical research or education, your gift will have a financial impact and help spread the cause's word.

      With a greater variety of gifts, we hope that you will have even more freedom to express how you feel for every occasion. Look for even more gifting options to come over the next few months.


      Will, an engineer, is excited to be making the new Gift Shop available to his friends in time for his birthday.

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    • Topics: Music, Gifts
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    • New Ways to Find and Engage with Your Favorite Applications
      by Austin Haugen on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 10:07am

      Here at Facebook we can't build all the features for the site that you want to use to connect with your friends. That's why in 2007, we opened up a platform for people outside of Facebook to create experiences directly on the site for you to interact with.

      Since that time we have seen over 350,000 applications built on Facebook Platform, in areas ranging from sports and games to family and education. These applications were built to accompany our core Facebook applications like photos, events and groups. Our goal is to offer you a smooth... experience regardless of what applications you're interacting with on the site, which is why in the next couple of months we're going to roll out some improvements to Facebook Platform.

      Here's what the changes will mean for you:

      Easier Access to Applications
      Soon, the applications menu will move from its current location on the bottom left-hand side of any page on Facebook to the navigation menu on the left-hand side of your home page. This way, you always can rely on seeing applications in the same place and easily interact with your favorites, in addition to discovering new ones. You'll have the option to bookmark applications on the home page so that your favorite applications are only a few clicks away. You'll also be able to see instant alerts from applications that you've bookmarked.

      We will be introducing a new Games Dashboard and an Application Dashboard that can be accessed from the home page and will serve as destinations for you and your friends' application activity. These will make it easy to view the latest applications you've interacted with, as well as discover new applications based on what your friends are using. You can also receive updates directly from applications here. For instance, if you're playing a game of Scrabble with your mother, you can visit the Games Dashboard to find short messages about when it's your turn to play, as well as interesting activity from games your friends are playing.

      Direct Contact with Applications
      With these upcoming changes, you'll have the option to share your email address with any application you use. If you choose to do so, you may be emailed notifications directly from any application. This new choice will give you the ability to control which of your applications can contact you and enable you to leverage the tools of your email inbox, such as folders and routing rules, to manage these communications. Finally, if you no longer want to hear from an application, you'll be able to simply unsubscribe from their mailing list.

      The email practices we're developing will be similar to signing up for or creating accounts on other web services, which is essentially what applications on Facebook are. When you do so, those services can email you directly to confirm a purchase, or provide newsletters or updates for which you signed up. Soon, you'll have a comparable experience with applications on Facebook. Keep in mind that applications will never be given your email address unless you explicitly grant them permission, and like other websites you can always choose to unsubscribe if the service is no longer of value.

      A Better Facebook Experience with Less Spam
      Allowing you to control which applications send you email notifications is just one step we are taking to reduce spam and ensure you don't receive unwanted notifications, requests or invitations through Facebook. We have heard from many of you that you want greater control over how and when you see stories in News Feed about applications. Our upcoming changes aim to improve that experience, by enabling you to only see application requests and invitations if your friends have explicitly chosen to send them to you rather than have the application take that action on your behalf.



      If you are interested in staying updated on these upcoming improvements, become a fan of the Facebook Page. We'll be rolling these changes out over the couple of months.


      Austin, a product manager, loves that playing games on Facebook is part of his job.

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    • Topics: Spam, Games, Platform, Applications
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    • New Views for Your Home Page
      by Raylene Yung on Friday, October 23, 2009 at 10:00am

      At Facebook, one of our main priorities is helping you stay on top of what is going on with the people and things you care about most. That's why today we are beginning to roll out some changes to the home page that simplify your experience by offering two views of News Feed: a summary view of the most interesting activity that's happened in the last day and a real-time view that shows you what is happening right now.

      You will be able to catch up on what you may have missed while you were away from Facebook and then easily switch to the... real-time stream when you want to see posts as soon as they're shared. Here's how it works:

      News Feed
      When you log into Facebook, you'll see the most interesting things that happened in the last day in the "News Feed" view. News Feed picks stories that we think you'll enjoy based on a variety of factors including how many friends have liked and commented on it and how likely you are to interact with that story.

      Live Feed
      Once you've caught up on what you missed, you can click through to "Live Feed" to see what's happening right now. As long as you remain logged into Facebook, you'll continue to see posts and activity from your friends in real-time. You can edit what appears in this view by clicking "Edit Options" at the bottom of the home page.

      Why We Made Changes
      This past March, we introduced a real-time feed in the central column of your home page so you could see everything your friends were sharing as soon as they shared it. We also included a Highlights section on the right-hand side so you could see the most interesting activity going on in your network.

      While seeing real-time activities is extremely valuable, we also want to be sure you don't miss other interesting content. After hearing feedback from many of you and exploring some new designs, we decided with today's changes to move what you used to see in Highlights from the right-hand side to the News Feed view in the main column so you can more easily engage with both views.

      We also added information back to News Feed that many of you have asked for, including when your friends have been tagged in photos or have become fans of Pages, in addition to when they RSVP for events or join groups and make new friends. We also made birthdays and events more visible in the right column of the home page.

      Some of you may ask why we are changing the home page again. Like you, we know it can be disruptive when things are moved around, but we hope that these changes make Facebook a more valuable experience for you. We put a lot of thought into all the changes we make to the site and do a lot of testing before releasing anything.

      As we design new products, we gather feedback by reading emails from users like you and testing ideas with small groups of users. After every change we make, we continue to gather feedback and iterate. Please take some time to play around with this new design, and check out our Help Center if you have any questions.


      Raylene, a Facebook engineer, hopes this blog post made its way into your News Feed.

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    • Topics: Live Feed, News Feed
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    • Suggestions for Helping Friends
      by Naomi Gleit on Friday, October 23, 2009 at 12:06pm

      Do you know any friends that could use a little help on Facebook? For example, maybe they recently joined the site and are having trouble finding their friends. Or maybe they've been on the site for awhile but never completely filled out their profiles or uploaded a profile picture.

      Today, we're introducing new Suggestions in the right-hand corner of your home page so you can easily help those friends. Facebook is only useful and relevant if you can connect with friends that matter to you, and so we already use this space to show you other... people that you may know and want to share with. Now you also will begin seeing new Suggestions about people with whom you are already friends, including those who are new to the site. For instance, we may suggest that you help a friend by suggesting friends for him if he's only connected with a few people so far.



      Other new Suggestions will include friends who may need help becoming more active on the site. For instance, they may have an empty wall because no one has posted on it yet. You will see just how much help your friends need by checking out the progress bar located below their profile picture on their profile. You can help them by writing on their Wall or sending them a message, so they have a chance to get involved in sharing as well.



      Look for new Suggestions on your home page, and be sure to lend a hand to your friends.


      Naomi, a Facebook product manager, is suggesting profile pictures for her parents.

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    • Topics: Suggestions
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    • Memories of Friends Departed Endure on Facebook
      by Max Kelly on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 8:48am

      I'm facing an anniversary soon: I will have worked at Facebook for four years. I was originally drawn to the company for the opportunity to help build a technology that enables people to model their social network and interact with it online. Equally as important, it was my first opportunity to work alongside my best friend of nearly two decades. Together, we threw ourselves into the task of building something we both believed in, working 18 hours a day, seven days a week with a small team of 40 people at the time.

      About six weeks after we both... started, my best friend was killed in a tragic bicycling accident. It was a big blow to me personally, but it also was difficult for everyone at Facebook. We were a small, tight-knit community, and any single tragedy had a great effect on all of us. I can recall a company-wide meeting a few days after his death, where I spoke about what my friend meant to me and what we had hoped to do together. As a company, we shared our grief, and for many people it was their first interaction with death. To this day, I still have strong emotions when I think about that gathering.

      The question soon came up: What do we do about his Facebook profile? We had never really thought about this before in such a personal way. Obviously, we wanted to be able to model people's relationships on Facebook, but how do you deal with an interaction with someone who is no longer able to log on? When someone leaves us, they don't leave our memories or our social network. To reflect that reality, we created the idea of "memorialized" profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who've passed.

      We understand how difficult it can be for people to be reminded of those who are no longer with them, which is why it's important when someone passes away that their friends or family contact Facebook to request that a profile be memorialized. For instance, just last week, we introduced new types of Suggestions that appear on the right-hand side of the home page and remind people to take actions with friends who need help on Facebook. By memorializing the account of someone who has passed away, people will no longer see that person appear in their Suggestions.

      When an account is memorialized, we also set privacy so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in search. We try to protect the deceased's privacy by removing sensitive information such as contact information and status updates. Memorializing an account also prevents anyone from logging into it in the future, while still enabling friends and family to leave posts on the profile Wall in remembrance.

      If you have a friend or a family member whose profile should be memorialized, please contact us, so their memory can properly live on among their friends on Facebook.

      As time passes, the sting of losing someone you care about also fades but it never goes away. I still visit my friend's memorialized profile to remember the good times we had and share them with our mutual friends.


      Max is weary of eucalyptus trees.

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    • Topics: Memorialized acounts, Suggestions
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    • Keeping Count of Sharing Across the Web
      by Mark Kinsey on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 10:17am

      Three years ago, we launched Facebook Share to make it easy to instantly share content back to Facebook with just a couple clicks of a mouse. From news articles to photos and videos, people now share more than 2 billion pieces of content on Facebook each week, many of which are through Facebook Share. Beginning today, we're making that experience richer by keeping count of the popularity of what people are sharing.

      You now will begin seeing a new version of the Facebook Share button that includes a live counter, which shows the number of times... that a particular article, video or piece of content has been shared.

      For instance, if you come across an interesting news story on The Huffington Post or the latest gadget on Chip Online, you'll be able to watch the number on the counter climb as more people share the item with their friends. This makes it easy to see what is being shared the most.

      The next time you're watching a video of Filippo Inzaghi trying to score on Raul Gonzalez's turf on Real Madrid, you not only can share it instantly with your friends through the Facebook Share button, you also can track the popularity of the video.



      Start conversations with your friends in just a few clicks whenever you see a Facebook Share button, and see their reactions through comments in your News Feed. The Share button enables you to take content from across the Web and share it with your friends on Facebook, where it can be re-shared over and over so the best and most interesting items get noticed by the people you care about.

      Any website can add the new Facebook Share button. Our launch partners don't cover all the sites you use on a daily basis, so if you want to see this list grow then get in touch with your favorite websites, developers, and services, and tell them that you want to see the new Facebook Share button. If you are a developer, you can learn more about how to add the new version of Share to your website on our developer blog. With your help, we can all share more information across the web.


      Mark, a Facebook product manager, is watching the Facebook Share counter climb on Huffington Post articles.

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    • Topics: Share
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    • Watch Your Words: Steps to Preventing Cyberbullying
      by Michelle Robinson Boykins on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 11:19am
      Michelle Boykins is the director of communications and marketing at the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), a U.S.-focused nonprofit devoted to helping people keep themselves, their families and their communities safe from crime. The organization is best known for McGruff the Crime Dog, who has been helping people "take a bite out of crime" for over 25 years. In honor of October being National Crime Prevention Month in the U.S., we asked Michelle to share her thoughts on how to prevent cyberbullying on the web.


      Words can be weapons if... people are not careful about how they use them. They can pierce our hearts and hurt just as much as any punch. Today, as all of us interact and engage with people on the web with greater frequency, we need to be even more aware of how we use our words. We also need to understand how we can respond to others who use harmful words or take abusive actions toward us.

      Cyberbullying is defined as abusive or harassing behavior online, which includes sending or posting text or images that are intended to hurt or embarrass another person. A common misperception of cyberbullying is that it only affects teens. In fact, adults adopt cyberbullying behavior just as easily as young people. The problem transcends age and is due to a lack of respect for another person. Healthy friendships and relationships, at any age, are built on mutual respect, and a person who resorts to cyberbullying or asks you to participate is being disrespectful.

      Already, Facebook allows you to easily report abuse on the site by selecting the "Report" link located near photos, videos, notes or other content you find offensive or inappropriate. This is just one step in discouraging people from behaving poorly online and potentially hurting other people. It's up to you to address cyberbullying if it occurs to you or people around you.

      While October is National Crime Prevention month in the U.S., cyberbullying happens throughout the year. Here are some ways you can prevent and address it if you ever experience a problem.

      How to Address Cyberbullying
      • Don't pass along cyberbullying messages
      • Block all communication with cyberbullies
      • Set an example and discourage your friends from bullying others
      • Report cyberbullying to a trusted adult
      • Raise awareness of cyberbullying in your community by holding an assembly and sharing these tips
      Whom to Contact
      • Get in touch with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for assistance in blocking cyberbullies
      • Report cyberbullying problems to the local authorities and give them copies of bullying messages you've received
      • If you are in school, speak with other students, teachers, and school administrators about developing rules against cyberbullying
      Suggestions for Parents
      • Set guidelines for your kids' internet activities and talk about how they are spending their time online
      • Talk openly about cyberbullying and why they shouldn't participate in it
      • Discourage your kids from retaliating if they are being bullied online
      • Keep your computer in a high-traffic area of your house so Internet activity is visible
      • Encourage your child's school to adopt rules of conduct on cyberbullying
      In addition to understanding how to protect yourself from cyberbullies, make sure your own behavior won't hurt anyone else. Just because you can't always see the people you interact with online doesn't mean your words or actions won't hurt them. If you wouldn't say or do something in person, don't say or do it online either. By respecting yourself and others, we all can work to keep the web a fun and healthy place to engage and interact.


      Michelle hopes you'll join NCPC's Circle of Respect to discuss respect and civility on the web.
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    • Topics: Guest blog, Parents, Security
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    • Improving Transparency Around Privacy
      by Elliot Schrage on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 12:24pm
      UPDATE on Thursday, Nov. 5: The comment period for the proposed privacy policy is now complete. While the total number of comments did not reach the threshold to hold a vote, we did receive a lot of good feedback. In the coming days, we'll be reading your comments more closely, and we'll keep you informed on our next steps through status updates from the Facebook Site Governance Page. Thank you all for your participation.

      UPDATE on Monday, Nov. 2: The proposed privacy policy now includes the TRUSTe certification seal, which reflects TRUSTe's... approval of the policy. Please comment on the proposed policy here by 12:00 p.m. PST on Nov. 5.


      Starting today, Facebook's privacy policy is available for your review and comment. This is the next step in our ongoing effort to run Facebook in an open and transparent way. In April, we launched a new system of governance for the Facebook site and became the first company to our knowledge that invites users to both comment and vote on proposed changes to its governing policies.

      At the time, we also introduced a new policy document — our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. This document avoids the legal jargon that most sites typically put in their "terms of service." It articulates the mutual relationship and shared obligations between Facebook and its users as clearly and plainly as possible. We received excellent feedback from many of you over the course of a two-week comment period.

      We now are doing the same with our privacy policy. Our primary goals remain transparency and readability, which is why we've used plain language and included numerous examples to help illustrate our points. For example, here is how we explain users' options for modifying or deleting information or content in the current privacy policy on the site:

      When you update information, we usually keep a backup copy of the prior version for a reasonable period of time to enable reversion to the prior version of that information. ...
      ... Even after removal, copies of User Content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other Users have copied or stored your User
      Content. ...
      Access and control over most personal information on Facebook is readily available through the profile editing tools. Facebook users may modify or delete any of their profile information at any time by logging into their account. Information will be updated immediately. Individuals who wish to deactivate their Facebook account may do so on the My Account page. Removed information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of Facebook.


      Here is the clearer and more comprehensive version from the new proposed policy:

      Viewing and editing your profile. You may change or delete your profile information at any time by going to your profile page and clicking "Edit My Profile." Information will be updated immediately. While you cannot delete your date of birth, you can use the setting on the info tab of your profile information page to hide all or part of it from other users. ...

      Deactivating or deleting your account. If you want to stop using your account you may deactivate it or delete it. When you deactivate an account, no user will be able to see it, but it will not be deleted. We save your profile information (friends, photos, interests, etc.) in case you later decide to reactivate your account. Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and in doing so are asking us to maintain their information until they return to Facebook. You will still have the ability to reactivate your account and restore your profile in its entirety. When you delete an account, it is permanently deleted. You should only delete your account if you are certain you never want to reactivate it. You may deactivate your account on your account settings page or delete your account on this help page.

      Limitations on removal. Even after you remove information from your profile or delete your account, copies of that information may remain viewable elsewhere to the extent it has been shared with others, it was otherwise distributed pursuant to your privacy settings, or it was copied or stored by other users. However, your name will no longer be associated with that information on Facebook. (For example, if you post something to another user's profile, and then you delete your account, that post may remain, but be attributed to an "Anonymous Facebook User.") Additionally, we may retain certain information to prevent identity theft and other misconduct even if deletion has been requested.

      Backup copies. Removed and deleted information may persist in backup copies for up to 90 days, but will not be available to others.


      We also have restructured the document — providing key points and easy links to jump to the different sections. We've added sections further explaining our current practices and introducing a new concept around Facebook Ads that we hope you'll take the time to review.

      Clarification of Current Practices

      In this revision, we're fulfilling our commitment to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to update our privacy policy to better describe a number of practices. Specifically, we've included sections that further explain the privacy setting you can choose to make your content viewable by everyone, the difference between deactivating and deleting your account and the process of memorializing an account once we've received a report that the account holder is deceased.

      We also have explained in greater detail how Social Ads work on Facebook. Social Ads are sponsored promotions that include relevant information about you and are shown only to your friends. For example, if you become a fan of a Page for your favorite new movie, your friends may see an ad that includes that information.

      Advertising on Facebook

      Over 300 million people around the world now use Facebook. More join every day. To support this growth and continue providing a free service that connects people and lets them share with whomever they choose, we've built a business that allows advertisers to selectively share their messages. Our goal is to make the ads you see on Facebook relevant and interesting. Period. We're constantly working to improve our systems to make sponsored material compatible with people's needs and curiosity.

      As we do this, we remain committed to protecting your privacy. The information we provide to advertisers is "anonymized," meaning that it can't be traced back to you as an individual in any way. For example, we won't tell an advertiser that you clicked on an ad, but we might report that, of the 100 people who clicked on the ad, 63 percent were female.

      Improving the Quality of Facebook's Ads

      In this update, we also have explained how we might use information from other sites to improve the quality of our ads. This information allows advertisers to do what is commonly called "conversion tracking," which helps them measure the effectiveness of their ads and make them more relevant. Most advertisers already do this in other places on the web. Should Facebook provide this, we'll continue to respect your privacy by not sharing your information with advertisers, and we'll anonymize any information we receive.

      In the past, we've provided a redline version of the new policy document we're proposing to make clear what's new. Unfortunately, in this case, the revision is so different from the current policy that this wasn't possible. You can read the proposed update in its entirety and post comments to the Facebook Site Governance Page before the comment period ends at 12:00 p.m. PST on Nov. 5. After the comment period is over, we'll review your feedback and update you on our next steps. We appreciate and strongly encourage your participation in this process.


      Elliot, Facebook's vice president of communications and public policy, thanks all of the privacy experts who informed the drafting of Facebook's proposed privacy policy.
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    • Topics: Advertising, Site governance, Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR), Privacy
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    • Cyber Security Is a Shared Responsibility
      by Michael B Kaiser on Friday, October 30, 2009 at 4:38pm
      Michael Kaiser is the executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a U.S.-focused nonprofit organization that works to keep people secure online. The organization focuses its efforts on cyber security education to provide information and tools for people to take control over preventing cyber crimes and attacks. As October and National Cyber Security Awareness month come to a close, we asked Michael to share his thoughts on precautions people should take online.


      Many people believe they know their way around the digital... world as well as or better than the physical world. Everything from paying bills to phone calls to distant relatives can now be done online. People store some of their most important documents, photos and financial information electronically — and seem to be more organized than ever. Yet while people may be cyber savvy and on the cutting edge of digital culture, they may not be cyber secure.

      It turns out that we are only as protected as the weakest link in our network, so if you don't take precautions, you're not just endangering yourself. You also are impacting your friends and family. For instance, a "cyber criminal" can leave his entire network at risk by using an easily guessed password like the word "password" for his email account. This innocent person inadvertently becomes an enabler of cybercrime by not being cautious.

      With a growing number of people online for a significant portion of every day, it's not surprising that more people are particularly visible and vulnerable targets of cyber criminals. Often, a healthy dose of common sense and knowledge about threats are the first step. Keep these 10 tips in mind as you get on the path to becoming cyber savvy.
      1. Protect your personal information. Know who is going to see it and understand the value of it and why the other party needs it before you share.
      2. Create complex and lengthy passwords that include letters, numbers and symbols. Be sure to change them often, and keep in mind "password1" doesn't make the cut.
      3. Don't use public networks to conduct private business.
      4. Set your security software, operating system and browser to update automatically.
      5. Conduct transactions only on secure sites. Look for "shttp" or "https" in the URL.
      6. Use privacy, safety and other settings on social networks.
      7. Understand threats and learn more at the NCSA website and the Facebook Security Page.
      8. Back up important information regularly to keep your music, photos and work protected.
      9. Physically protect your computer, too. If you wouldn't leave your credit card unattended in a public location, you shouldn't leave your computer either.
      10. Report cyber crimes.

      Remember it is our shared responsibility to stay cyber secure. Keep updated on how you can help yourself, your friends and family by becoming a fan of the Facebook Security Page and the National Cyber Security Alliance Page.


      Michael hopes you'll check out the NCSA cyberskits to learn the do's and don'ts of cyber security.
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  • Topics: Guest blog, Security
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