b(eing) todd

TechCrunch said it's going to "replace a major chunk of Google." The Wall Street Journal called it a "direct competitor" to Google. CNN reports that Yelp's stock is down following the announcement. We, on the other hand, don't think any of this is really related.

Don't get me wrong: Facebook's new search looks very cool, and it's definitely a useful feature for a number of things. But is it going to replace Google, or be the first site someone goes to when they want to search for a new restaurant or band? That seems unlikely. Here's why.

 

 

FriendShuffle is a delightfully simple service just launched tonight. Log in with Facebook Connect and it will create a web-framed slideshow of the pages "Liked" by your friends on Facebook. Shuffle through, discover new content recommended by trusted sources with similar interests (your friends) and Like some of it yourself.

It's a great example of how simply putting a new interface on top of an established API can lead to hours of fun. This is the best interface I've seen yet for enjoying the links your Facebook friends have shared. It's like StumbleUpon but the algorithm is social, not behavioral.

How to unhide people and applications from your Facebook feed

By: Kevin Palmer on 11/16/2009

This weekend I had a friend of mine who was using Facebook on a computer that wasn’t his. He thought that he was logged in to his account and hid some people from his feed and hid some applications that he considers annoying. A few seconds after doing this he realized that he wasn’t logged into his account. I got a message asking me to help him figure out how to unhide people and applications. After writing out the directions on how to do it I realized this was a cheap and easy blogpost… er… I mean valuable content that I should share. (Joking aside there was some conflicting information on how to do this, so I figured it made sense to post it.)

How to unhide people from your Facebook feed

1) From your start page make sure you have “live feed” selected.

2) Scroll to the bottom of the page. At the end of all your feeds select the “edit options” link.

3) On the right hand side there will be a box with the people you have selected to hide from your feed. Click the “x” next to their name to allow them to show up in your feed again.

You have now enabled that person to show up in your “live feed”. If you want them in your “news feed” you need to follow the next few steps.

4) From your start page make sure you have “news feed” selected.

5) Scroll to the bottom of the page. At the end of all your feeds select the “edit options” link.

6) In this box you will be able to add people to your news feed, applications, and fan pages that you had previously blocked.

Now you can right the wrongs that you have committed in fits of rage against your friends who talk about farmville way too much.

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Facebook statistics show that it has 250 million active users each with an average 120 friends. More than 1 billion photos are uploaded every month by its users, over 70% of whom use applications like games and quizzes in Facebook. Unfortunately, most users don’t know the implications of entering personal information, making friends, and playing games on Facebook.

This guide will show what you can (and cannot) do to safeguard your Facebook privacy.

Ive written a few blog posts (http://btrandolph.com/2009/06/facebook-friend-lists-and-privacy-settings-redux/) on creating and using friend lsts in facebook to control what people see on your profile. as more people are opening the facebook lives to non-family and friends, it can make a big difference! this post offers some additional tips, esp on photo albums.