New ‘Facebook Terms and Policies Hub’ Answers Your Policy Questions

New ‘Facebook Terms and Policies Hub’ Answers Your Policy Questions
11/05/2012 by Sonia Paul on Mashable

Facebook, infamous for its changing policies and confusion among users about what they’re getting themselves into when they use the world’s largest social network, has finally aggregated all its terms and policies under the same roof.

That roof — Facebook.com/policies — contains, in the words of Facebook, “Everything you need to know, all in one place.” The Facebook Terms and Policies Hub, as it’s called, is clear and easy to navigate, with headlined links and sub-headlines. However, all of these links actually lead to a lot of information.

Clicking on the three big links — Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Data Use Policy and Community Standards — leads you to details about privacy, account security and how your information is shared. It also links to information about Facebook’s position on just about everything controversial on the Internet, and by extension, on Facebook. Violence, bullying, hate speech, nudity and intellectual property are just a few of the issues on which Facebook has a firm stance.

The policies portal also has links regarding ads and sponsored stories, credits, pages, platform payment terms, promotions and branding resources.



A spokesperson for Facebook released the following statement regarding the new hub:

“This week, we began rolling out the Facebook Terms and Policies Hub, a central resource for all of our policies. Our hope is that this new resource will make our policies more transparent and accessible for the people who use Facebook by offering easy access to answers to specific policy questions ranging from platform to ads to content.”

With the range of policy questions aggregated under the Facebook policies hub, it’s a reminder of just how expansive the world’s largest social network is — and how important it is for users to keep up with Facebook as it continues to expand. Facebook privacy has always been a contentious issue among users, but the inclusion of topics like sponsored stories and page information under the same “policies” roof emphasizes something important: There are many different sides of Facebook. It’s not just a social network — it’s a business.

Are you satisfied with Facebook’s new terms and policies hub? Sound off in the comments.


Source: Mashable

Hoodie gate: Facebook CEO's attire a sign of 'immaturity'?

Hoodie gate: Facebook CEO's attire a sign of 'immaturity'?
Financial analyst criticizes Zuckerberg for wearing a 'hoodie' at IPO road show presentation
By Sharon Gaudin, Computerworld |  Business, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg

May 09, 2012, 9:23 PM — Of all the things discussed and analyzed surrounding Facebook's upcoming initial public offering, perhaps the most surprising -- or just plain funniest -- is co-founder Mark Zuckerberg's hoodie.

Facebook launched a pre-IPO roadshow this week, meeting with investors in New York, Boston and other cities to pitch the company's stock to potential investors.

Zuckerberg was on hand to talk to investors at the first roadshow stop in New York on Monday.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, wearing his classic hoodie sweatshirt, leaves New York City's Sheraton Hotel on Monday after making an appearance at the social network's IPO roadshow. (Photo: Reuters / Eduardo Munoz)

The young CEO was criticized by some attendees for showing up to speak to some of the country's most influential and buttoned-down investors in jeans and a so-called "hoodie" sweatshirt. It was definitely not the suit and tie that the financial types are used to seeing corporate executives wear.

In a videotaped interview with Bloomberg News, Michael Pachter, managing director with Wedbush Securities, said Zuckerberg's decision to wear his "signature hoodie ... is actually showing investors he doesn't care very much."

"He's going to be him and he's going to do what he's always done. I think that's a mark of immaturity," Pachter added. "He's got to show [investors] the respect that they deserve because he's asking them for their money."

He said that Zuckerberg's seeming lack of respect for the process tells him that the CEO might not be perfectly suited for the CEO post in a company that's expected to complete one of the biggest IPOs in tech history.

"He most certainly is a genius and he really has done something that no one else could do," said Pachter. "I think he is well suited to be the chief product officer, the chief user experience officer ... to decide every feature that goes in. I'm not sure he's the right guy to run a corporation and to answer to shareholders."

Zuckerberg didn't attend Facebook's presentation to financial analysts in Boston on Tuesday.

Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group, said Zuckerberg's absence from the Boston meeting shouldn't hurt the firm's IPO. The company's reputation, he said, is strong enough to sell itself.

He did suggest, though, that Zuckerberg should try to act more respectful to the people he hopes will fund his company.

"Some Wall Street types are muttering about Zuckerberg's attire being disrespectful and immature, and they could be right," he said.

"It could be taken as studied indifference, arrogance, or that he simply didn't think about what he was putting on. He was there to sell Facebook as a company and the first rule of sales is that you don't give your prospective customers any reason to be uncomfortable before you start selling them," Olds added.

Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, said that on the other hand, Zuckerberg could be getting the respect of other potential investors by not pandering to his audience.

"Zuckerberg is the 'mad scientist' of Facebook and the last thing anyone needs is him suiting up and faking it," Moorhead said. "Facebook wants to be all about being real, hip, young and cool. And suits just aren't. Zuckerberg's hoodie is about as famous as Steve Jobs's black turtleneck and blue jeans. It would be ill-advised to change for a financial roadshow."

Brad Shimmin, an analyst at CurrentAnalysis, said there's a standard uniform when it comes to the financial world. And old-school suit-and-tie types may not look so kindly on the wonder kid who balks the system and doesn't dress in a manner they think is mature and respectful.

"For better or worse, that's his decision. What matters is how investors respond to that decision," said Shimmin.

"If a police officer shows up to work in shorts and a t-shirt, she will likely risk losing the respect otherwise gained from the uniform. It is the same with the leader of a globally important brand such as Facebook. It doesn't make him any less professional or capable, except perhaps in the eyes of those he wishes to influence," Shimmin added.



Copyright © 2012, ITworld

Facebook PAC Gives More Money to Republicans Than to Democrats

Facebook PAC Gives More Money to Republicans Than to Democrats
07/05/2012 by Alex Fitzpatrick on Mashable

Bucking the tide for technology companies, Facebook’s Political Action Committee FB PAC contributed to slightly more Republican politicians than Democrats during the first quarter of 2012.

Republican members of Congress, including Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-Ky.), were on the receiving end of $65,000 from Facebook’s PAC. Congressional Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the other hand, received slightly less: $53,500.

The minor lean to the right is unusual for a technology company, which tend to favor Democrats. For example, Microsoft has contributed $694,284 to Democrats and $477,706 to Republicans via its PAC this year, while Google has given $101,800 to Democrats and $100,000 to Republicans.

A look at technology companies’ contributions to presidential campaigns reveals a wider split. Microsoft has given $289,088 to President Obama’s re-election effort this year, compared to $71,990 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Comcast’s contributions offer a similar example: $157,962 to Obama and $13,750 for Romney.

The traditional logic suggests that Democrats are the more technology-friendly of the two major American political parties, but Facebook’s mostly bipartisan congressional contributions could be interpreted as the early sign of a changing tide.

Facebook also gave to several leading members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, which oversee the U.S. court system. That may reveal some of Facebook’s political strategy, as it routinely finds itself either on attack or defense in the courtroom.

The disclosure forms also revealed the top contributors to Facebook’s PAC: CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, founder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen all chipped in the maximum allowable amount of $5,000.

Does the Democrat-Republican split of Facebook’s PAC surprise you? Sound off in the comments below.




Source: Mashable

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Turn Your Facebook Fan Page Into a Mobile App [VIDEO]

Turn Your Facebook Fan Page Into a Mobile App [VIDEO]
by Emily Price on Mashable

Creating mobile app for your brand can be quite the endeavor. A new product from mobile app builder Cabana attempts to help you cross that hurdle, by creating a mobile app using information from your Facebook fan page.

Called Fan Page Mobilizer, the Facebook app lets the owner of any Facebook fan page take that contact and reformat it into a mobile web app.

The web app pulls information from the fan page, and uses it to power the content you see in the mobile app for your brand.

Getting started with the Facebook app is as easy as identifying what page you would like to turn into a mobile app, then choosing the title for the page, icon image, and start-up screen.

Fan page owners can include any information they want from their page in their mobile app, including wall posts, images, and events.

Essentially just a mobile-friendly version of your traditional fan page, the mobile app is accessed by going to a URL (so you’ll have to pass that out to anyone who might want to take advantage of the app).

Since everything in the app comes from your fan page, updating the app’s content is as easy as updating the fan page on Facebook.

Creating a mobile app for a fan page also doesn’t require you to be the owner of that page. So if you have a brand you like to follow, you can create an app for it on your mobile phone that will update as the actual fan page owner updates the page’s content.

Fan Page Mobilizer currently only works for iOS devices, however, an Android version is reportedly on the way soon. The app builder is free for anyone who likes the Facebook app on Facebook. Otherwise, the cost is $5.

The Evolution of Facebook for Brands

The Evolution of Facebook for Brands

By Jason Weaver On Mashable

Jason Weaver is the CEO of Shoutlet, an enterprise social management software company he founded. He has been involved in social media strategy development since its inception for brands that include Disney, SC Johnson, and eBay. Follow him at @Shoutlet.

Facebook Timeline for businesses is officially here, and companies large and small are anticipating how the new changes will affect their existing Facebook presence. The early data creates a promising picture, with one report suggesting that brands are getting an average 46% more engagement with Timeline. But before we look too far in the future, let’s take a look at the major Facebook milestones that got us to this point.

Brand Pages (2007)

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Facebook has only been around for eight years, but what’s particularly hard to believe is that it was roughly five years ago that the social network opened up Facebook Pages, allowing brands and celebrities to create a profile dedicated to developing and posting original content meant to encourage fan interaction.

The introduction of brand pages is what moved the needle for Facebook, helping them make the transition from a networking platform for college kids to one that included young professionals. Since then, we’ve seen Facebook’s user base grow to more than 845 million monthly active users. Brand pages allowed this audience to build social relationships with a company for the first time ever.

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“Becoming a Fan” (2009)

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Brand pages were one of the first ways consumers could “raise their hand” online. By becoming a fan of a certain company, users said something about themselves to their friends. For brands, this meant developing content and a voice for an entirely new channel, one that taught many of them about what resonated with current and potential customers. This created a shift in how social media was viewed by businesses. It went from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” business tool. Now, we’re seeing companies invest heavily in their social presence due to the incredible value of social fans.

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Contests and Promotions (2009)

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With contests and promotions, updated and expanded in 2009, brands grew their fan bases. A fan’s involvement in a contest or promotion told that fan’s network that they thought a brand was cool, and that others should consider becoming fans, too. For businesses, contests and promotions opened up conversations about fan-driven revenue and the monetary value of a Facebook presence.

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Storefronts and Ads (2010)

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As Facebook became a hub for product sharing, brands started seeing the potential in using it to make money directly from the platform. Facebook commerce was particularly seen as a way to develop a source of additional revenue, but the value wasn’t just in the click-to-conversion. Product popularity was boosted by sharing among networks, and brands began to learn which products were hot among various audience sets.

This year, Facebook unveiled the ads premium model, where marketers will be able to take page posts and turn them into ads. These ads can be targeted to anyone. The combination of ads plus social commerce is a natural way for a brand to bolster certain products. This revolutionary step was the perfect lead into Timeline.

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Facebook Timeline (2012)

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So what does the switch to Facebook Timeline for brands mean now? It means telling brand stories and sharing engaging content takes center stage. Everything from the cover photo to milestones is a part of a brand’s ability to add to its online persona. Instead of disparate posts, Timeline is designed to allow a brand to truly narrate a story, over time.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, -Oxford-