Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
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The Internet has not only made the world a much smaller place, bringing us all together under one unifying cloud, it’s also changed the idea of friendship. What would once have been nothing but acquaintances are now listed as “friends” on social networks around the Web, and on Facebook in particular.
For this week’s Viva Tutorials poll, Yaara is asking whether social media is taking over your life. Go and vote now, you know you want to. Meanwhile, a few days ago Mark posted an infographic about Facebookalitis (or Internet Addiction Disorder to give the condition its full title). To put it bluntly, social media is taking over the lives of many people, and it’s time to find out whether you’re one of those people.
This is all about Facebook, though I’m sure we’ll take an in-depth look at other social networks in time. Whether you love it, hate it, or just mildly appreciate it, Facebook is the daddy of them all. With over 1 billion users (most real, some fake), one-sixth of the world’s population is now on Facebook. But how many of that 1 billion plus are you friends with?
Please don’t just post a number. Instead, tell us a little about what your Facebook friends list comprises. Are they mostly family and real friends that you also know offline? Or is there a higher percentage of people on your Facebook friends list who you know exclusively online; people who you have never met in real life and probably wouldn’t recognize were you ever to do so?
I’ll start the ball rolling by revealing I have 80 Facebook friends at the present time. Of which around 70 percent are online buddies who I have befriended over the years of working on the InterWebs. I keep a close eye on my Facebook friends list and add and delete people as they come in and out of my life. Now it’s your turn…
All comments will be digested to form conclusions in a follow-up post next week where we will detail what You Told Us. One reader will be chosen for the coveted ‘Comment Of The Week’, getting their name up in lights, the respect of other readers, and 150 Viva Tutorials points to use for Rewards or Giveaways (as long as they are registered when making said comment). What more motivation than that do you need to respond?
We Ask You is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of Viva Tutorials readers. The questions asked are usually open-ended and likely to start a conversation. Some are opinion-based, while others see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps to fellow Viva Tutorials Readers. This column is nothing without you, as Viva Tutorials is nothing without you.
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Do You Have Many Friend On Facebook - We Ask You
The Internet has not only made the world a much smaller place, bringing us all together under one unifying cloud, it’s also changed the idea of friendship. What would once have been nothing but acquaintances are now listed as “friends” on social networks around the Web, and on Facebook in particular.For this week’s Viva Tutorials poll, Yaara is asking whether social media is taking over your life. Go and vote now, you know you want to. Meanwhile, a few days ago Mark posted an infographic about Facebookalitis (or Internet Addiction Disorder to give the condition its full title). To put it bluntly, social media is taking over the lives of many people, and it’s time to find out whether you’re one of those people.
This Week’s Question…
How Many Facebook Friends Do You Have?
This is all about Facebook, though I’m sure we’ll take an in-depth look at other social networks in time. Whether you love it, hate it, or just mildly appreciate it, Facebook is the daddy of them all. With over 1 billion users (most real, some fake), one-sixth of the world’s population is now on Facebook. But how many of that 1 billion plus are you friends with?
Please don’t just post a number. Instead, tell us a little about what your Facebook friends list comprises. Are they mostly family and real friends that you also know offline? Or is there a higher percentage of people on your Facebook friends list who you know exclusively online; people who you have never met in real life and probably wouldn’t recognize were you ever to do so?
I’ll start the ball rolling by revealing I have 80 Facebook friends at the present time. Of which around 70 percent are online buddies who I have befriended over the years of working on the InterWebs. I keep a close eye on my Facebook friends list and add and delete people as they come in and out of my life. Now it’s your turn…
Drawing Conclusions
All comments will be digested to form conclusions in a follow-up post next week where we will detail what You Told Us. One reader will be chosen for the coveted ‘Comment Of The Week’, getting their name up in lights, the respect of other readers, and 150 Viva Tutorials points to use for Rewards or Giveaways (as long as they are registered when making said comment). What more motivation than that do you need to respond?
We Ask You is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of Viva Tutorials readers. The questions asked are usually open-ended and likely to start a conversation. Some are opinion-based, while others see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps to fellow Viva Tutorials Readers. This column is nothing without you, as Viva Tutorials is nothing without you.
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In the age of the Internet, privacy is a luxury and you have to constantly be on your heels to maintain it. Facebook makes it particularly hard for users to guard their personal data. Despite many changes, Facebook privacy settings remain complicated. Moreover, past updates have unexpectedly made previously private information available to the public.
Well, no stranger needs to know your email address, phone number, or see your family pictures. In this article I show how you can check what the public can see of you on Facebook. I also explain how you can control which of your information is visible.
Do you think your profile is all locked up and the public cannot see anything they shouldn’t? Well, how about we check it out, just to be sure!
Go to your Facebook Timeline, i.e. the page that is shown when you click your own name on Facebook. While you are logged in, you will of course see everything. In the top right of your profile summary that heads the Timeline, you should see a Settings icon next to the Activity Log button. Click Settings and select View As…
This reveals what your Facebook Timeline looks like to a complete stranger. You can also test the view for specific people, by entering their names in the respective field in the top left.
The Timeline is one thing, but what you should really check is your About page. So while viewing your Timeline from the public’s perspective, click About in the bottom left of the header. This is where Facebook potentially reveals your contact information, your employer, your education, where you live etc.
Something else you should check is what other parts of your Facebook profile are available to strangers by clicking the About button in the top left. This could include your friends list, your photos, your likes, subscriptions, events you are attending, your notes, and music.
So did you spot anything you didn’t want the public to see?
For most content, Facebook makes privacy control fairly easy.
Let’s start with your About page. Return to this page in your normal logged in view. Notice there is an Edit button in the top right of every box. An exception is your history because it only aggregates available information. Click Edit for an item you want to change, then click the little symbols next to each entry to control who can see this information. You can choose from a few default options, including Friends or Only Me . You can also make the information available to custom lists of friends. Don’t forget to hit Save every time you change a setting.
Next, we will look at Photos. You can control the privacy for each photo individually. This is good to know because you cannot control the privacy level for the Profile Pictures album. To change its visibility, open a photo and click the Edit button on the right. Now you can change the description, location, date, and select who can see the photo. Click the Done Editingbutton to save your changes.
Fortunately, you can easily change the visibility of your custom photo albums. You will find the menu icon to change who can see an album, next to the number of photos in the respective album.
If you do not want others to see photos you were tagged in, review the 3 Things You Need To Know About Photo Tagging In Facebook to find out how to control tags.
Finally, to control what else people can see of you, including photos you were tagged in, let’s look at your overall Privacy Settings. In the top right of your profile, click the little arrow and select Privacy Settings. This page allows you to customize privacy settings ranging from who can find and contact you on Facebook (How You Connect) and who can see posts you have been tagged in to social ads.
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How To Hide Your Personal Information On Facebook
In the age of the Internet, privacy is a luxury and you have to constantly be on your heels to maintain it. Facebook makes it particularly hard for users to guard their personal data. Despite many changes, Facebook privacy settings remain complicated. Moreover, past updates have unexpectedly made previously private information available to the public.Well, no stranger needs to know your email address, phone number, or see your family pictures. In this article I show how you can check what the public can see of you on Facebook. I also explain how you can control which of your information is visible.
What Information Can The Public See?
Do you think your profile is all locked up and the public cannot see anything they shouldn’t? Well, how about we check it out, just to be sure!
Go to your Facebook Timeline, i.e. the page that is shown when you click your own name on Facebook. While you are logged in, you will of course see everything. In the top right of your profile summary that heads the Timeline, you should see a Settings icon next to the Activity Log button. Click Settings and select View As…
This reveals what your Facebook Timeline looks like to a complete stranger. You can also test the view for specific people, by entering their names in the respective field in the top left.
The Timeline is one thing, but what you should really check is your About page. So while viewing your Timeline from the public’s perspective, click About in the bottom left of the header. This is where Facebook potentially reveals your contact information, your employer, your education, where you live etc.
Something else you should check is what other parts of your Facebook profile are available to strangers by clicking the About button in the top left. This could include your friends list, your photos, your likes, subscriptions, events you are attending, your notes, and music.
So did you spot anything you didn’t want the public to see?
How Can I Remove Items From Public View?
For most content, Facebook makes privacy control fairly easy.
Let’s start with your About page. Return to this page in your normal logged in view. Notice there is an Edit button in the top right of every box. An exception is your history because it only aggregates available information. Click Edit for an item you want to change, then click the little symbols next to each entry to control who can see this information. You can choose from a few default options, including Friends or Only Me . You can also make the information available to custom lists of friends. Don’t forget to hit Save every time you change a setting.
Next, we will look at Photos. You can control the privacy for each photo individually. This is good to know because you cannot control the privacy level for the Profile Pictures album. To change its visibility, open a photo and click the Edit button on the right. Now you can change the description, location, date, and select who can see the photo. Click the Done Editingbutton to save your changes.
Fortunately, you can easily change the visibility of your custom photo albums. You will find the menu icon to change who can see an album, next to the number of photos in the respective album.
If you do not want others to see photos you were tagged in, review the 3 Things You Need To Know About Photo Tagging In Facebook to find out how to control tags.
Finally, to control what else people can see of you, including photos you were tagged in, let’s look at your overall Privacy Settings. In the top right of your profile, click the little arrow and select Privacy Settings. This page allows you to customize privacy settings ranging from who can find and contact you on Facebook (How You Connect) and who can see posts you have been tagged in to social ads.
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Facebook has basically made a business out of knowing as much as they can possibly find out about everyone. So, tracking your behaviour online and offline makes perfect sense to them. However, it might not seem that rosy to you. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a little privacy.
There are many ways Facebook is tracking you and it’s worth knowing how to block this tracking where possible and how to opt out when required. Sadly, it’s getting more and more complicated as time goes by. Here are the main ways Facebook keeps tabs on you and the best ways to stop them.
Facebook Connect is the proper way of describing how you log into various sites around the web using your Facebook login. Obviously, Facebook will be learning certain things about your web habits if you use Facebook Connect, so it’s best not to use it if you’re worried about how much Facebook knows about you. Each time you log into a site using Facebook Connect you essentially add that site’s app in Facebook. If you need more information on getting rid of Facebook applications,
Facebook and many other social networks will often try to track you online by using cookies. It can even happen when you’re not logged into the site! However, it’s possible to block this tracking using several useful browser tools, such as Do Not Track Plus, Ghostery and Disconnect as noted in this article: How To Block Facebook And Other Social Networks From Tracking You Online.
Facebook has recently teamed up with a U.S. data collection agency called Datalogix in order to track consumer buying habits offline and online, then match them to Facebook data via email addresses. It seems to be a process designed to give advertisers better feedback on actual sales, but it does seem to push the boundaries of most people’s privacy expectations. Privacy groups are in fact against this process, but it’s too early to say whether they will manage to stop this form of tracking altogether.
There are a couple of things you can do to eliminate this sort of tracking. Firstly, you could ensure that you use a different email address and phone number for Facebook than the one you use for online purchases or retailers doing market research. Secondly, you can opt out from third-party tracking.
To opt-out of Datalogix tracking completely, which will cover the Facebook tracking among other things, head to their privacy page. Under the “Choice” heading, there’s an opt-out link for all Datalogix services which brings up the following form.
You need to enter a small amount of information, but this will ensure that after a 30 day processing period you’re no longer tracked by Datalogix at all. I’m sure most privacy-conscious people would decide that it’s worth it.
Now, the big question is whether Facebook will be teaming up with similar third-party tracking agencies in other countries. If so, we may find ourselves having to opt-out of dozens of agencies across the world.
Should Facebook give us an opt-out for all tracking in the privacy controls? I certainly think so.
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How To Stop Facebook From Tracking Everything You Do [Facebook Weekly Tips]
Facebook has basically made a business out of knowing as much as they can possibly find out about everyone. So, tracking your behaviour online and offline makes perfect sense to them. However, it might not seem that rosy to you. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a little privacy.There are many ways Facebook is tracking you and it’s worth knowing how to block this tracking where possible and how to opt out when required. Sadly, it’s getting more and more complicated as time goes by. Here are the main ways Facebook keeps tabs on you and the best ways to stop them.
Facebook Connect
Facebook Connect is the proper way of describing how you log into various sites around the web using your Facebook login. Obviously, Facebook will be learning certain things about your web habits if you use Facebook Connect, so it’s best not to use it if you’re worried about how much Facebook knows about you. Each time you log into a site using Facebook Connect you essentially add that site’s app in Facebook. If you need more information on getting rid of Facebook applications,
Block Cookie Tracking
Facebook and many other social networks will often try to track you online by using cookies. It can even happen when you’re not logged into the site! However, it’s possible to block this tracking using several useful browser tools, such as Do Not Track Plus, Ghostery and Disconnect as noted in this article: How To Block Facebook And Other Social Networks From Tracking You Online.
Opt-Out Of Data Collection From Third Parties
Facebook has recently teamed up with a U.S. data collection agency called Datalogix in order to track consumer buying habits offline and online, then match them to Facebook data via email addresses. It seems to be a process designed to give advertisers better feedback on actual sales, but it does seem to push the boundaries of most people’s privacy expectations. Privacy groups are in fact against this process, but it’s too early to say whether they will manage to stop this form of tracking altogether.
There are a couple of things you can do to eliminate this sort of tracking. Firstly, you could ensure that you use a different email address and phone number for Facebook than the one you use for online purchases or retailers doing market research. Secondly, you can opt out from third-party tracking.
To opt-out of Datalogix tracking completely, which will cover the Facebook tracking among other things, head to their privacy page. Under the “Choice” heading, there’s an opt-out link for all Datalogix services which brings up the following form.
You need to enter a small amount of information, but this will ensure that after a 30 day processing period you’re no longer tracked by Datalogix at all. I’m sure most privacy-conscious people would decide that it’s worth it.
Now, the big question is whether Facebook will be teaming up with similar third-party tracking agencies in other countries. If so, we may find ourselves having to opt-out of dozens of agencies across the world.
Should Facebook give us an opt-out for all tracking in the privacy controls? I certainly think so.
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How To Post To Facebook & Twitter From The Notification Center In Mountain Lion
If you’re a bit of a social enthusiast, simply posting regular status updates to social networks like Facebook and Twitter can turn out to be a bigger chore than you’d expect. Firing up a web browser and waiting for the website to load, only to post a quick status update is hardly an efficient way of doing things.
Normally, we’d solve this by employing a standalone application. A number of applications are up to the task. However, with Twitter making it ever harder for developers to develop a decent dedicated client, that can be difficult as well. Instead, we could opt to use a feature that’s already available on Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Notification Center.
Similar to its iOS counterpart, the Notification Center (which can be accessed using the right-most icon in your menu bar, or by using a hotkey) is designed to keep track of the multitude of information broadcasted by the assorted applications installed on your computer. Apart from the expected—news about incoming emails, calendar events, and the like—you can also use the Notification Center to interact with Facebook and Twitter. Not only to view status updates from your connections, but to interact with it as well.
Connecting to your Facebook Account
Fire up System Preferences, and head to the Mail, Contacts & Calendars pane. Here, you can integrate Mac OS X with a variety of different services. At the right side of the preferences pane, click the Facebook logo and fill in your account credentials.
You’ll be required to approve a miniature terms of service before proceeding, acknowledging you recognise what connecting with Facebook exactly entails. Among other things, Facebook will integrate with your Mac OS X Contacts and Calendar, updating contact pictures and adding friends’ birthdays to your calendar, and let’s other applications ask for your permission to interact with your Facebook account.
After adding your Facebook account to Mac OS X, you’ll notice that a small, unobtrusive button has appeared at the top of the Notification Center. Click it, and it will unfold to a recognisable Facebook widget that allows you to post simple status updates from the comfort of your desktop.
Connecting to your Twitter Account
There are two simple ways to connect your Twitter account to your Mac. One is to use Safari to log in to Twitter. Mac OS X will then ask you if you’ll allow other applications to request access to your Twitter account. This will add Twitter to the Notification Center as well.
The other way is very similar to how we connect with other accounts. Head to the Mail, Contacts & Calendars pane in the System Preferences application. At the right hand side of the screen, find the Twitter icon and click it.
Enter your Twitter account credentials (including the @-icon prefixing your user name) when prompted and press the sign in button to connect Mac OS X with your Twitter account. Optionally, you can use Twitter to update your Mac OS X contacts as well by pressing the adequately named “Update Contacts…” button in the next screen, but no further action is needed to add Twitter to the notification center.
As with the Facebook integration, the Notification Center now shows a small, unobtrusive button at its head. If you connect with Facebook as well, these two buttons will appear side to side. Clicking it gives you a text-field (with character count, of course) that allows you to post directly to Twitter.
How do you use the Notification Center in Mountain Lion? Let us know in the comments section below the article!
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How To Setup Messages + Facebook Chat In OS X Lion [Quicktip]
Messages is one of the features is offered in the recently announced OS X Mountain Lion, it allows you to integrate Facebook Chat so you can chat with your Facebook friends without using web browsers. But you might need to wait a while for Mountain Lion. Still, there is no reason why you cannot enjoy the fun Messages has to offer before the release.
You may wonder how to set up Facebook Chat on your Mac, which is quite a good idea so you don’t have to always log in to Facebook every time you want to chat with your friends. There is no installer available or provided by Facebook that will allow you to install only its chat on your computer.
That’s where Messages come into play. Messages Beta is a cool messaging client made for Mountain Lion, which will allow you to send messages accross many Apple products, for free. It also allows you to add Facebook Chat so you can directly chat with your Facebook friends. Messages Beta is now available for download, so why wait?
Install Messages Beta
Before you can set up Facebook Chat on your Mac, head over to Messages Beta page to download and then install. When installation is done, you will see the Messages icon on your Mac’s Dock.
Set Up Messages Beta
Now you already have Messages Beta installed on your Computer. Since this is your first time installing, you will be prompted to register with Messages Beta. Click ‘Continue’.
Now to complete the setup process, fill up your Apple ID and password, then click on the ‘Sign In’ button.
That’s it, click ‘Done’ and your Messages Beta is now ready for use.
Set Up Facebook Chat On Messages Beta
While Messages is still open, go to the main menu then ‘Preferences’.
The Preferences window will appear; click on ‘Account’ and then the plus (+) button to add new chat account.
Now there will be a form for you to fill up, use the following information;
- Account Type: Select ‘Jabber‘
- Account Name: Fill with username@chat.facebook.com (don’t forget to replace ‘username’ with your own Facebook username)
- Password: Enter your Facebook password
- Server: Use chat.facebook.com
- Port: 5222
- You can leave both ‘Use SSL’ and ‘Use Kerberos v5…’ unchecked.
Once completed, click ‘Done’ and you are now ready to chat with your Facebook friends. Open your Messanger Beta chat window and you will see your online friends on the list, and ready to chat with you.
Conclusion
With Messages Beta and Facebook Chat integration, you can now chat with your Facebook friends without even logging in to your Facebook account. You can also add Google Talk, Yahoo! and AIM chat, and handle everything using one simple messaging client from your Mac.
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In a span of one year, I turned from a person who never used Twitter before into a heavy Twitter user and manager. The transition has been enlightening, and I’ve learned to appreciate Twitter more and more in the process. Despite understanding Twitter better than ever before, I must admit that I still find my own personal Twitter account boring sometimes. It’s not so much that the content is boring, but the settings in which I have to read my feed and what I can actually do with Twitter.
As with everything else in the world, I’m apparently not the only one to feel this way, and the Web is overflowing with cool Twitter mashups and apps which make Twitter more interesting and useful, and even nicer to look at. Are you looking for new ways to use Twitter? Better ways to read your stream? Continue reading to find some of the best Twitter mashups out there. I promise you won’t be bored after using these!
There are many ways to get things done, but with most of them, you have to manage a standalone to-do list. todoTweet integrates Twitter with your to-do list, so you can automatically add tasks to your list when you Tweet about them. While it might be just a tad spammy to tweet about every little thing you need to do, it’s great when you want to remember things from Twitter conversations, or when you tend to tweet about things you want to buy/do and places you want to go to.
After signing in with your Twitter account, just add the #todo tag to every tweet you want to save to the list, which you can access on todotweet.com. You can add more tags to the tweets to make your list even easier to browse through. You can use todoTweet without tweeting as well, by adding tasks straight from the Web interface.
If you’re just bored of the same old Twitter interface, Tori’s Eye will give you a new look on Twitter. Inspired by papercraft and origami, Tori’s Eye mashes up tweets about your favorite subject with the cute paper birds you can see above. Enter a search query in the box at the bottom, and the paper birds will start carrying in tweets about it. Hove over a bird to read the tweet, and click through to Twitter to find out more.
Tori’s Eye doesn’t really do much, but it sure is pretty to look at. A nice way to relax with some virtual scenery for the real Twitter addicts.
Another visual mashup, Visible Tweets lets you view your Twitter feed in a whole new way. Enter a search query in the search box on the top, and watch as relevant tweets start to appear on the screen. You can now switch to full-screen, and enjoy a colorful, animated Twitter experience. There are three types of animation to choose from, and you can click on interesting links or Twitter users to view them on Twitter.
The beautiful and minimalistic design turns reading tweets into a joy. Even more than it is usually.
An original way for viewing tweets from around the world, TweetingEarth displays a Twitter search of your choosing on a time-zone map. Search for any keyword or hashtag, and TweetingEarth will display the results on the mini Earth, divided by the world’s different time zones. The app shows you where you are in the greater scheme of time by highlighting your time zone, and shows you how many tweets were made about this subject at any given time.
You can click each wedge to read the tweets more comfortably. In the screenshot above, you can see that the subject of chocolate is very popular in the U.S. time zone. Not very surprising!
The Longest Poem In The World is not only the world’s (probably) longest poem, it’s also made entirely out of tweets. The Web app gathers tweets from all over the world, and arranges them in an amusingly rhyming poem. Each line of the poem is one single Twitter update, and each two lines rhyme with each other to create the poem. At this point in time, the poem includes over 1 million verses, and as you browse through them, you’re bound to find some amusing mashups and rhymes. Or in the words of the poem itself: “Raining oh raining…. And I still can’t sleep…; Ha ha Reach out baby, read um and weep”.
If this is not 21st century poetry, I don’t know what is.
A wise man once said that one image is better than 140 characters. With images slowly taking over social media, Twitter is not getting left behind, and sharing images on Twitter is a pretty popular habit. A cute service called Picsho integrates with Twitter and TwitPic (and other services such as Instagram, Flickr, etc.) to create sharable “Picshos”, or albums, made entirely out of images people shared on Twitter.
All you have to do is choose a hashtag or a keyword, and Picsho will find relevant images for you. You can them tweak your Picsho by deciding which images you’d like to keep, save it, and share it with friends. Aside from sharing, find random images from Twitter is an interesting social experiment in itself.
TwitterAudit is a nice way to find out how many fake followers you have, or to check up on any Twitter user out there. Based on number of tweets, date of last tweet and the ratio of followers to friends, TwitterAudit analyzes all your followers, and comes up with a score for each. The more “real points” a follower gets, the more likely he is to be real. Based on these results, TwitterAudit presents you with three graphs, showing you how your followers fared in its tests. Since tou can enter any Twitter user name to check up on its followers, it’s also a good way to find out if a specific Twitter account is worth following or not.
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7 Cool Twitter Mashups You Can’t Afford To Miss
In a span of one year, I turned from a person who never used Twitter before into a heavy Twitter user and manager. The transition has been enlightening, and I’ve learned to appreciate Twitter more and more in the process. Despite understanding Twitter better than ever before, I must admit that I still find my own personal Twitter account boring sometimes. It’s not so much that the content is boring, but the settings in which I have to read my feed and what I can actually do with Twitter.
As with everything else in the world, I’m apparently not the only one to feel this way, and the Web is overflowing with cool Twitter mashups and apps which make Twitter more interesting and useful, and even nicer to look at. Are you looking for new ways to use Twitter? Better ways to read your stream? Continue reading to find some of the best Twitter mashups out there. I promise you won’t be bored after using these!
todoTweet
There are many ways to get things done, but with most of them, you have to manage a standalone to-do list. todoTweet integrates Twitter with your to-do list, so you can automatically add tasks to your list when you Tweet about them. While it might be just a tad spammy to tweet about every little thing you need to do, it’s great when you want to remember things from Twitter conversations, or when you tend to tweet about things you want to buy/do and places you want to go to.
After signing in with your Twitter account, just add the #todo tag to every tweet you want to save to the list, which you can access on todotweet.com. You can add more tags to the tweets to make your list even easier to browse through. You can use todoTweet without tweeting as well, by adding tasks straight from the Web interface.
Tori’s Eye
If you’re just bored of the same old Twitter interface, Tori’s Eye will give you a new look on Twitter. Inspired by papercraft and origami, Tori’s Eye mashes up tweets about your favorite subject with the cute paper birds you can see above. Enter a search query in the box at the bottom, and the paper birds will start carrying in tweets about it. Hove over a bird to read the tweet, and click through to Twitter to find out more.
Tori’s Eye doesn’t really do much, but it sure is pretty to look at. A nice way to relax with some virtual scenery for the real Twitter addicts.
Visible Tweets
Another visual mashup, Visible Tweets lets you view your Twitter feed in a whole new way. Enter a search query in the search box on the top, and watch as relevant tweets start to appear on the screen. You can now switch to full-screen, and enjoy a colorful, animated Twitter experience. There are three types of animation to choose from, and you can click on interesting links or Twitter users to view them on Twitter.
The beautiful and minimalistic design turns reading tweets into a joy. Even more than it is usually.
TweetingEarth
An original way for viewing tweets from around the world, TweetingEarth displays a Twitter search of your choosing on a time-zone map. Search for any keyword or hashtag, and TweetingEarth will display the results on the mini Earth, divided by the world’s different time zones. The app shows you where you are in the greater scheme of time by highlighting your time zone, and shows you how many tweets were made about this subject at any given time.
You can click each wedge to read the tweets more comfortably. In the screenshot above, you can see that the subject of chocolate is very popular in the U.S. time zone. Not very surprising!
The Longest Poem In The World
The Longest Poem In The World is not only the world’s (probably) longest poem, it’s also made entirely out of tweets. The Web app gathers tweets from all over the world, and arranges them in an amusingly rhyming poem. Each line of the poem is one single Twitter update, and each two lines rhyme with each other to create the poem. At this point in time, the poem includes over 1 million verses, and as you browse through them, you’re bound to find some amusing mashups and rhymes. Or in the words of the poem itself: “Raining oh raining…. And I still can’t sleep…; Ha ha Reach out baby, read um and weep”.
If this is not 21st century poetry, I don’t know what is.
Picsho
A wise man once said that one image is better than 140 characters. With images slowly taking over social media, Twitter is not getting left behind, and sharing images on Twitter is a pretty popular habit. A cute service called Picsho integrates with Twitter and TwitPic (and other services such as Instagram, Flickr, etc.) to create sharable “Picshos”, or albums, made entirely out of images people shared on Twitter.
All you have to do is choose a hashtag or a keyword, and Picsho will find relevant images for you. You can them tweak your Picsho by deciding which images you’d like to keep, save it, and share it with friends. Aside from sharing, find random images from Twitter is an interesting social experiment in itself.
TwitterAudit
TwitterAudit is a nice way to find out how many fake followers you have, or to check up on any Twitter user out there. Based on number of tweets, date of last tweet and the ratio of followers to friends, TwitterAudit analyzes all your followers, and comes up with a score for each. The more “real points” a follower gets, the more likely he is to be real. Based on these results, TwitterAudit presents you with three graphs, showing you how your followers fared in its tests. Since tou can enter any Twitter user name to check up on its followers, it’s also a good way to find out if a specific Twitter account is worth following or not.
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Unknown
Whenever you visit a site with a Like, Tweet or +1 button, you’re actually sharing data with Facebook, Twitter or Google. And that’s not all. There are hundreds of advertising and data collection companies that know quite a bit about your browsing habits. Luckily, no matter what your browser of choice might happen to be, there is a way to stop social networks and advertising companies from tracking your every move on the Web.
Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Google store cookies on your computer, making it possible for them to keep tabs on you on other websites, as long as there’s a button that can send information to that social network, like a Follow, Like or Tweet button, you know that your data is being shared with these sites. You don’t even have to be logged into your social network account for the data transfer to happen.
One of the few reasons you might want to share your data with these companies is to receive suggestions on which tweeps to follow, which pages to like, and so on. Of course, that doesn’t seem like justification enough to many, and rightfully so. Instead of letting these sites collect your data, anonymized as it may be, there are several ways you can block them from accessing your content. The following extensions, presented in no particular order, can give you back a little bit of your well deserved privacy.
Do Not Track Plus (DNT+) is one of the most efficient methods of blocking Facebook and advertisers from tracking you online. Available as a browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer for Mac and PC users, DNT+ sits unobtrusively in your browser and lets you know exactly how many third parties have been blocked from accessing your data.
After you’ve installed DNT+ in your browser, whenever you visit a site, the icon in your browser bar will let you know how how many social networks, ad networks and companies have been blocked. By expanding each section, you can see exactly which of these companies have been blocked. For example, when visiting CNN.com, you can use DNT+ to automatically block Facebook, Nielsen and more. DNT+ also gives you the option to disable the service on any given site, if you so choose.
DNT+ promises to remain free, and currently claims to be blocking over 600 trackers, and automatically updates to catch new trackers. So if your main concern is blocking social networks and advertisers, DNT+ is a great way of doing just that.
Disconnect is a great option if you want to block just one specific social network. It comes with individual extensions to stop Facebook, Twitter or Google from tracking you around the web, while also giving you the option to download one extension for all three. Available for Firefox, Chrome and Safari, the extension will let you know if Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and Yahoo are tracking you on any given site, and will stop them from storing a cookie on your computer.
Collusion for Chrome and Safari is a second tool available from the same team that brought us Disconnect, while Firefox users can use Mozilla’s own original version. The extension will let you know which ad networks are tracking you through this site, and maps out the sites that are accessing your data in an interesting visual way. Collusion is very useful for those who really want to understand how your data is being used, and to view connections and commonalities between all the different sites they visit.
Available for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer, Ghostery is a great option for those of you who are looking for a bit of additional information beyond just who or what you’re blocking.
Like Disconnect and DNT+, the extension sits unobtrusively in your browser bar and will let you know how many companies have been blocked when you’re visiting any given page. In addition to letting you know which companies have been blocked, by clicking on any of the links, you can launch a Ghostery page which tells you a little bit more about the company. You can find out what kind of data they collect, how they share that data, and how long they keep it.
Ghostery is an excellent option for those of you who are looking to have more control over who you share your data with and how, and like DNT+ allows you to selectively unblock certain sites. If you want to just simply block it all, you may not find yourself making use of these features.
Continue Reading »
How To Block Facebook And Other Social Networks From Tracking You Online
Whenever you visit a site with a Like, Tweet or +1 button, you’re actually sharing data with Facebook, Twitter or Google. And that’s not all. There are hundreds of advertising and data collection companies that know quite a bit about your browsing habits. Luckily, no matter what your browser of choice might happen to be, there is a way to stop social networks and advertising companies from tracking your every move on the Web.Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Google store cookies on your computer, making it possible for them to keep tabs on you on other websites, as long as there’s a button that can send information to that social network, like a Follow, Like or Tweet button, you know that your data is being shared with these sites. You don’t even have to be logged into your social network account for the data transfer to happen.
One of the few reasons you might want to share your data with these companies is to receive suggestions on which tweeps to follow, which pages to like, and so on. Of course, that doesn’t seem like justification enough to many, and rightfully so. Instead of letting these sites collect your data, anonymized as it may be, there are several ways you can block them from accessing your content. The following extensions, presented in no particular order, can give you back a little bit of your well deserved privacy.
Do Not Track Plus
Do Not Track Plus (DNT+) is one of the most efficient methods of blocking Facebook and advertisers from tracking you online. Available as a browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer for Mac and PC users, DNT+ sits unobtrusively in your browser and lets you know exactly how many third parties have been blocked from accessing your data.
After you’ve installed DNT+ in your browser, whenever you visit a site, the icon in your browser bar will let you know how how many social networks, ad networks and companies have been blocked. By expanding each section, you can see exactly which of these companies have been blocked. For example, when visiting CNN.com, you can use DNT+ to automatically block Facebook, Nielsen and more. DNT+ also gives you the option to disable the service on any given site, if you so choose.
DNT+ promises to remain free, and currently claims to be blocking over 600 trackers, and automatically updates to catch new trackers. So if your main concern is blocking social networks and advertisers, DNT+ is a great way of doing just that.
Disconnect
Disconnect is a great option if you want to block just one specific social network. It comes with individual extensions to stop Facebook, Twitter or Google from tracking you around the web, while also giving you the option to download one extension for all three. Available for Firefox, Chrome and Safari, the extension will let you know if Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and Yahoo are tracking you on any given site, and will stop them from storing a cookie on your computer.
Collusion for Chrome and Safari is a second tool available from the same team that brought us Disconnect, while Firefox users can use Mozilla’s own original version. The extension will let you know which ad networks are tracking you through this site, and maps out the sites that are accessing your data in an interesting visual way. Collusion is very useful for those who really want to understand how your data is being used, and to view connections and commonalities between all the different sites they visit.
Ghostery
Available for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer, Ghostery is a great option for those of you who are looking for a bit of additional information beyond just who or what you’re blocking.
Like Disconnect and DNT+, the extension sits unobtrusively in your browser bar and will let you know how many companies have been blocked when you’re visiting any given page. In addition to letting you know which companies have been blocked, by clicking on any of the links, you can launch a Ghostery page which tells you a little bit more about the company. You can find out what kind of data they collect, how they share that data, and how long they keep it.
Ghostery is an excellent option for those of you who are looking to have more control over who you share your data with and how, and like DNT+ allows you to selectively unblock certain sites. If you want to just simply block it all, you may not find yourself making use of these features.
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Unknown
You may have heard recently that two gay college students were outed on Facebook because of a public group they were added to. Now, many people are crying out for Facebook to change their ways, but in the meantime there’s plenty you can do to protect yourself and your friends from a similar fate.
Of course, statistically speaking, you’re probably not gay. But that doesn’t mean that you’ve got nothing to hide. Do you want all your acquaintances knowing about your political preferences? Would you feel uncomfortable if your workmates knew which pubs you go to on occasion? Who should know where you stand on some of the bigger moral debates? Which of your Facebook friends should be able to see any and every photo of you that could end up on Facebook? Who should be able to know when you’re not at home? All of these things could easily become public on Facebook if a friend adds you to a public group, tags a photo of you or tags your location.
And what if a well-meaning, yet hopeful friend adds you to a public group in support of something you don’t even support? Worse still, what if someone pranks you and adds you to an offensive public group deliberately? Unless you sort out your privacy settings with these scenarios in mind, you might well be outed one day – And there’s no taking it back.
Now, most sensible Facebook users have taken control of their privacy settings to some extent. Many people have limited who can see their relationship status, religious and political beliefs. You’ve possibly limited your posts and profile to just be viewable by your friends. Maybe you’ve also created custom lists to control things even further when necessary. But, have you stopped to think about all the ways your friends can accidentally share too much of your personal information?
The main ways your friends can out you on Facebook is with location tagging, photo tagging, posting on your wall and adding you to groups or events. So, it’s really important to ensure that only the very closest of your Facebook friends can see the results of these actions. Or better still, if you’re very paranoid you can ensure that it’s not possible to tag you or post on your wall. Here’s how you do it.
Head to your privacy settings, by going to the down arrow in the top-right of Facebook and choosing “Privacy Settings“. Choose “Timeline and Tagging” and adjust your settings for every entry of this section. Limit who can see posts and things you’ve been tagged in to your closest friends, either using the “Close friends” smartlist or some custom-made friends lists.
You can also choose to review tagged posts and photos before they are posted on your timeline. They’ll still be viewable to friends of the person who tagged them, but they won’t appear on your timeline until you approve it, which gives you a little more security.
Despite all this, public events and groups will still be publicly viewable.
As above, head to the “Timeline and Tagging” section of your “Privacy Settings“, but lock every item down to the maximum setting. Ensure none of your friends can post to your timeline, only you will see posts you’re tagged in and everything must be reviewed. This is like triple security.
Sadly, there’s no way to stop your friends from inviting you to public groups, short of de-friending them. Once you’ve been added to these, it’s possible to remove yourself easily enough. However, that’s not ideal.
On the other hand, it appears that Facebook has decided to only put your actual activities in groups into your timeline now, rather than the fact that you’ve been added to the group. I can’t guarantee this is the case, however I tested it with a few groups and saw no evidence of entries on my timeline.
If I had posted in these open groups rather than just leaving them, that post would be publicly viewable and visible on my timeline. Plus, you never know what Facebook will change in the future. So, it’s still worth checking your privacy settings.
With public events, the story is similar. However, you can block your friends from adding you to events if need be. Head to your privacy settings and choose “Manage Blocking” to add people to the list.
As the group-add debacle mentioned before highlights, group administrators with potentially sensitive subject material can and should think about how they can ensure this sort of thing doesn’t happen to their members. Consider making the group a secret group to protect your members’ privacy.
Or, if you are determined to stay more public (such as a closed or open group), ensure administrators need to approve new additions to the group, then contact the potential members before you add them to ensure they are happy to be public or certain that their privacy settings are sufficient. You could point them in the direction of this article so they can be sure.
Continue Reading »
How To Ensure You’re Not Outed On Facebook [Weekly Facebook Tips]
You may have heard recently that two gay college students were outed on Facebook because of a public group they were added to. Now, many people are crying out for Facebook to change their ways, but in the meantime there’s plenty you can do to protect yourself and your friends from a similar fate.
Of course, statistically speaking, you’re probably not gay. But that doesn’t mean that you’ve got nothing to hide. Do you want all your acquaintances knowing about your political preferences? Would you feel uncomfortable if your workmates knew which pubs you go to on occasion? Who should know where you stand on some of the bigger moral debates? Which of your Facebook friends should be able to see any and every photo of you that could end up on Facebook? Who should be able to know when you’re not at home? All of these things could easily become public on Facebook if a friend adds you to a public group, tags a photo of you or tags your location.
And what if a well-meaning, yet hopeful friend adds you to a public group in support of something you don’t even support? Worse still, what if someone pranks you and adds you to an offensive public group deliberately? Unless you sort out your privacy settings with these scenarios in mind, you might well be outed one day – And there’s no taking it back.
Now, most sensible Facebook users have taken control of their privacy settings to some extent. Many people have limited who can see their relationship status, religious and political beliefs. You’ve possibly limited your posts and profile to just be viewable by your friends. Maybe you’ve also created custom lists to control things even further when necessary. But, have you stopped to think about all the ways your friends can accidentally share too much of your personal information?
The main ways your friends can out you on Facebook is with location tagging, photo tagging, posting on your wall and adding you to groups or events. So, it’s really important to ensure that only the very closest of your Facebook friends can see the results of these actions. Or better still, if you’re very paranoid you can ensure that it’s not possible to tag you or post on your wall. Here’s how you do it.
Limiting Who Sees Results Of Your Friends’ Actions
Head to your privacy settings, by going to the down arrow in the top-right of Facebook and choosing “Privacy Settings“. Choose “Timeline and Tagging” and adjust your settings for every entry of this section. Limit who can see posts and things you’ve been tagged in to your closest friends, either using the “Close friends” smartlist or some custom-made friends lists.
You can also choose to review tagged posts and photos before they are posted on your timeline. They’ll still be viewable to friends of the person who tagged them, but they won’t appear on your timeline until you approve it, which gives you a little more security.
Despite all this, public events and groups will still be publicly viewable.
Limiting What Your Friends Can Do
As above, head to the “Timeline and Tagging” section of your “Privacy Settings“, but lock every item down to the maximum setting. Ensure none of your friends can post to your timeline, only you will see posts you’re tagged in and everything must be reviewed. This is like triple security.
Sadly, there’s no way to stop your friends from inviting you to public groups, short of de-friending them. Once you’ve been added to these, it’s possible to remove yourself easily enough. However, that’s not ideal.
On the other hand, it appears that Facebook has decided to only put your actual activities in groups into your timeline now, rather than the fact that you’ve been added to the group. I can’t guarantee this is the case, however I tested it with a few groups and saw no evidence of entries on my timeline.
If I had posted in these open groups rather than just leaving them, that post would be publicly viewable and visible on my timeline. Plus, you never know what Facebook will change in the future. So, it’s still worth checking your privacy settings.
With public events, the story is similar. However, you can block your friends from adding you to events if need be. Head to your privacy settings and choose “Manage Blocking” to add people to the list.
Tips For Group & Event Administrators
As the group-add debacle mentioned before highlights, group administrators with potentially sensitive subject material can and should think about how they can ensure this sort of thing doesn’t happen to their members. Consider making the group a secret group to protect your members’ privacy.
Or, if you are determined to stay more public (such as a closed or open group), ensure administrators need to approve new additions to the group, then contact the potential members before you add them to ensure they are happy to be public or certain that their privacy settings are sufficient. You could point them in the direction of this article so they can be sure.
0
Unknown
If you’re a bit of a social enthusiast, simply posting regular status updates to social networks like Facebook and Twitter can turn out to be a bigger chore than you’d expect. Firing up a web browser and waiting for the website to load, only to post a quick status update is hardly an efficient way of doing things.
Continue Reading »
How To Post To Facebook & Twitter From The Notification Center In Mountain Lion
If you’re a bit of a social enthusiast, simply posting regular status updates to social networks like Facebook and Twitter can turn out to be a bigger chore than you’d expect. Firing up a web browser and waiting for the website to load, only to post a quick status update is hardly an efficient way of doing things.
Normally, we’d solve this by employing a standalone application. A number of applications are up to the task. However, with Twitter making it ever harder for developers to develop a decent dedicated client, that can be difficult as well. Instead, we could opt to use a feature that’s already available on Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Notification Center.
Similar to its iOS counterpart, the Notification Center (which can be accessed using the right-most icon in your menu bar, or by using a hotkey) is designed to keep track of the multitude of information broadcasted by the assorted applications installed on your computer. Apart from the expected—news about incoming emails, calendar events, and the like—you can also use the Notification Center to interact with Facebook and Twitter. Not only to view status updates from your connections, but to interact with it as well.
Connecting to your Facebook Account
Fire up System Preferences, and head to the Mail, Contacts & Calendars pane. Here, you can integrate Mac OS X with a variety of different services. At the right side of the preferences pane, click the Facebook logo and fill in your account credentials.
You’ll be required to approve a miniature terms of service before proceeding, acknowledging you recognise what connecting with Facebook exactly entails. Among other things, Facebook will integrate with your Mac OS X Contacts and Calendar, updating contact pictures and adding friends’ birthdays to your calendar, and let’s other applications ask for your permission to interact with your Facebook account.
After adding your Facebook account to Mac OS X, you’ll notice that a small, unobtrusive button has appeared at the top of the Notification Center. Click it, and it will unfold to a recognisable Facebook widget that allows you to post simple status updates from the comfort of your desktop.
Connecting to your Twitter Account
There are two simple ways to connect your Twitter account to your Mac. One is to use Safari to log in to Twitter. Mac OS X will then ask you if you’ll allow other applications to request access to your Twitter account. This will add Twitter to the Notification Center as well.
The other way is very similar to how we connect with other accounts. Head to the Mail, Contacts & Calendars pane in the System Preferences application. At the right hand side of the screen, find the Twitter icon and click it.
Enter your Twitter account credentials (including the @-icon prefixing your user name) when prompted and press the sign in button to connect Mac OS X with your Twitter account. Optionally, you can use Twitter to update your Mac OS X contacts as well by pressing the adequately named “Update Contacts…” button in the next screen, but no further action is needed to add Twitter to the notification center.
As with the Facebook integration, the Notification Center now shows a small, unobtrusive button at its head. If you connect with Facebook as well, these two buttons will appear side to side. Clicking it gives you a text-field (with character count, of course) that allows you to post directly to Twitter.
How do you use the Notification Center in Mountain Lion? Let us know in the comments section below the article!
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