Web 2.1

Always the punctual adopter, I joined Facebook around the end of 2007. Since then I've observed many tweaks to Facebook's features, but not until recently when I set up a second account for work, did I really take notice of certain changes, especially those that relate to privacy and sharing of data.

If you don't already know that I'm a huge cynic, then you will do shortly. I'm going to lay out my observations as factually as I can, but they will be tainted with my usual dose of suspicion, fear and resentment. Below is a list of feature creep that I've observed, but there is an underlying point. If you don't want to read the list, just skip to the bit at the end.

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I've noticed a lot of Facebook privacy creep recently. I intend to go into more detail in my next post, but this week saw a new Facebook feature worth a special mention because some are commenting that it breaks Facebook's privacy model. I ran my own test to see for myself that [-Spoiler warning-] it does a bit, but not as much as you might have feared. Read on and decide for yourself whether they are breaking their privacy assurances.

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Two things happened today that inspired me to write this post tonight.

1. A brief back-and-forth on Twitter with @kaigani where I outlandishly claimed that Facebook Connect is a phishing scam waiting to happen
2. The warning of another Twitter scam that typically exploits the layman's inability to spot a fake URL.

Facebook and Twitter both offer authentication services arguably known as "single sign-on". Facebook Connect is a proprietary system, and Twitter offers a system based on the OAuth standard. These services do something quite marvellous – They allow you to authenticate with a another website without the third party ever seeing your password. What's makes it even more handy is that you're probably already signed in to these popular services, so you may not need to enter your password at all. The problem is when you do.

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I've been forcing myself to Twitter this week. That's Twitter as verb and a proper noun of course. I say force, because frankly the first time I tried it I didn't really see the point. But I figured 3 million people can't be wrong, so I've agreed to not only give it some more time, but try and use it properly. Yes, that's right I was clearly using it wrongly – at least that's what I'm told by more avid twits than myself, and actually it's this that interests me most – the idea that you can use a site wrongly. (more…)

Over the previous three weeks I was working with my old pals at Greenroom Digital, who were producing a Facebook application for their client Paramount Pictures. The app's release coincided with Paramount's release of South Park Season 6 on DVD. You won't be surprised to see that the application is crude and puerile, and you may [as I do] reluctantly find it pretty amusing in places.

You can see the South Park Down and Dirty application in action here. This link is my public Down and Dirty profile and does not require you to add the app, although you can add it here in the usual fashion.

Pick up Campaign or some such publication and no doubt you'll be able to read all about the strategy, the creative, the design, even the metrics. Less likely you'll read about the technical execution, which is where I come in…

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My brother Andy and I just launched a new Facebook application called Second Impression. He describes it more eloquently and amusingly that I can on his own blog. I built the app according to his design and concept as well as advising on the Facebook platform in general. The first release was completed in about two days, which is quite possibly a record for me.

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