Information On the Move

Twitter Popularity Higher Than Ever in 2011 [InfoGraphic]

Check out these stats & cool uses of Twitter.  This is a great infographic summarizing Twitter’s popularity and growth over the past 5 years - from SearchEngine Watch (July 2011). http://t.co/SXggc96 via @sewatch

Angry Birds - Succumbing to Temptation

Do you play it? I’ve been exposed and now I’m infected.  A friend showed it to me and had me give the game a try and now I’m hooked.  I’m busily trying to figure out which version I should play on my iPhone and who’s the original developer (I later found this information on Wikipedia- it’s Rovio Mobile)? Suggestions or thoughts?

I had no idea how popular this game is - or at least I made a conscious  effort to be ignorant about it.  I think so many people know and play Angry Birds that I’ve resisted jumping on to that bandwagon for as long as possible.  I’m not a big or frequent gamer but I do enjoy playing some games - either online or on my smartphone.

Here’s an article referencing the popularity of Angry Birds:

NY Times: Angry Birds, Flocking to Cellphones Everywhere

And here’s a great “live” video from T-Mobile (for anyone wondering what the game is about…):

Now that I’m playing it, I can see why so many people are addicted to it. It’s fun and entertaining. If only the birds didn’t look so angry!

20 years of Web Design Evolution

Thanks to Mashable for leading me to this infographic from KISSmetrics (I’ve sourced the article).  Wow!  How things have evolved!   To see this infographic in large format, you can go directly to the KISSmetrics image.

Facebook Privacy - In the News

How many of you have claimed your Facebook username?  Have you even heard of the term??  I had heard of it but never “claimed” one because I was not interested in having a personal Facebook URL or web address.  I did not want (and still don’t!) the world visiting my Facebook “page” and learning about me, my friends, my opinions, my likes, etc.  I’ve always kept my Facebook page for personal interest and not for professional reasons. 

So what is a username exactly?  A username - just as the term implies - is a name you choose that will allow you to have direct access to your Facebook page.   It will appear in the location bar of your browser in this format - http://www.facebook.com/your-chosen-username-here.  By entering this URL, anyone can get to your page - depending on how unlocked your privacy settings are.   You can get general information about usernames and how to set one up from Facebook Help (I’ve linked directly to the Usernames: General Information page).  

So let me qualify now…  I was never interested in claiming one UNTIL I read this article from PC Magazine titled:  Facebook’s Sharing Plans Aren’t Evil by Lance Ulanoff.  Specifically, it was this statement that caught my attention:

Accept that Facebook is a social networking business with an aim to make a lot of money. It is not out to harm you, but is also not necessarily operating in your best interests.

and this example:

I even want you to run a little test to see how much of you is already accessible to anyone in the outside world—including those not on Facebook. Start by typing this URL into your browsing address bar: http://graph.facebook.com/[USERNAME]. Replace [USERNAME] with your user name (no spaces).

The controversy - and why Facebook is in the news again - is that Facebook exposed their users’ home addresses and cell phone numbers to developers and publishers.  If you use a particular developer’s application or have linked your account with publishers of Web sites, these individuals now have access to your private data.  The risk is that they could turn around and sell the information to spammers or use it to commit identity theft.

Facebook made this change by DEFAULT and not by asking for your permission first.  Since there was an outcry about this situation, Facebook has pulled back the release of this feature.  But as the author of the article points out, Facebook is still a business (see quote above) and ultimately, YOU are the one making the choice to put all that personal stuff in there.  Facebook has already said they are going to rework the new feature and relaunch it in a few weeks.  So…if the company chooses to sell your data or let third-party interests use it, then you probably should have read their Terms of Use contract more closely, right?   But, of course, who would have ever thought that Facebook would sell my private information to make money?? 

I decided to get myself a username just to see exactly what personal information was going to be shown.  Individuals had already claimed my first and last name (and various variations) for themselves - no loss to me - so I chose something innocuous.  I performed the test as suggested by the article’s author.  I came back with not much - but of course, I’m writing this after the controversy and AFTER Facebook pulled back the new feature.  Thus, I can’t see how securely locked down my account will be.  But rest assured, I’ll be trying again in the future!

For anyone interested, I recommend the Electronic Frontier Foundation video on how to set your Facebook privacy settings.  You can find it here - embedded in another one of my Tumblr posts.

The “evil” idea brings me back to the time when Microsoft had an Easter Egg embedded in it’s Select 3D Text (OpenGL) screen saver in Windows 4.0.  If you put in the text “Not evil”, the screensaver would show you the developers names.  Windows 4.0 was a giant in its day and many considered Microsoft “evil” because of it’s size and corporate power.  The verdict is obviously your own opinion but is Facebook the new Microsoft of our decade?