The world's largest social network, Facebook, is going to file for an Initial Public Offering this coming Wednesday, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Citing unnamed sources, the reputable WSJ says a $10 billion share offering would place Facebook's valuation at $100 billion.
A group of engineers has built a bookmarklet that redirects Google's new social search to results that include all social networks—including Twitter, Tumblr, and even MySpace—versus just Google+. Led by Facebook developer Blake Ross, the plugin is called "Don't Be Evil"—Google's now controversial mantra—and is hosted on a website called "Focus on the User," another jab at Google's seemingly corrupt philosophy.
It's clear through the first 60 Timeline apps that Facebook wants you to auto-share absolutely everything. For the fear of those who haven't complied with Facebook's request to activate Timeline, it'll be forced upon you eventually. Some of Timeline's apps include the ever popular Oodle, Yahoo News, Causes, Flixster, The Washington Post Social, Pinterest and more. You can check out what your friends are using by clicking here.
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Many Canadians don't really think brands and social networks mix. According to new data from research firm TNS Canada, 54% of Canadians don't want to engage with brands on social networks. Calling it a "digital wasteland" for businesses, TNS vice president Ron Caughlin says that "winning and maintaining brand loyalty is now harder than ever."
Even so, 44% of consumers agree that they'd consider engaging with a brand recommended by a friend. "The online world presents massive opportunitiy for brands," Ron notes, but "misguided digital strategies are generating mountains of digital waste, making it harder for brands to be heard."
read moreFacebook's ba-jillion dollar IPO looks due in May, according to a report by AllThingsD. Citing "multiple sources," tech reporter Kara Swisher says that "if there are no issues," such as a "turbulent market," then the much-hyped initial public offering of Facebook is slated for the "third week of May." In order for this to happen, AllThingsD notes, Facebook must file its IPO documents within the next month because the Securities and Exchange Commission generally takes a good three months to review.
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Three Facebook users die every minute, leading to millions of worldwide accounts that have deceased owners. Will the account remain as it were, frozen in time? Is that how the person who passed would have preferred it? A new hot topic is posthumous "online reputation management," which looks at how friends and family can retain control of the online legacies of the dead.
“While many people prepare a will to manage what happens to their possessions after their death, most have likely not considered what happens to their digital information,” said Jeff Quipp, the founder of Canadian internet marketing company Search Engine People. “Photos from wild parties might not be the lasting impression a person may wish to leave when they die.”
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Canadian programmers have the opportunity to compete against the world's best for some massive bragging rights and thousands of dollars cash. Facebook has opened registration for its second annual Hacker Cup, the social network's international coding competition. It consists of four online rounds and a final round held at Facebook's headquarters.
The competition begins at the end of this month, with rounds two and three happening in February. 25 competitors will be flown to Facebook's office in Menlo Park, California in March for the final round.
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Mobile, mobile, mobile. If you've read and heard the word so many times this year it now sounds like gibberish, no one can blame you. But the numbers continue to astound.
Most recently, new data from Benedict Evans for Enders Analysis revealed that an incredible 40% of Facebook users use the social network's mobile app—a remarkably high stat, especially considering only about half to two-thirds of Facebook's population even owns a device capable of downloading said app. Facebook has more than 800 million active users, so this translates into approximately 320 million mobile users, and an extremely high penetration among eligible device owners.
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Not long after Twitter decided to put promoted tweets in non-followers' streams, Facebook has now determined it's a tactic worth copying. Probably realizing absolutely no one clicks or even sees the ads on the far right of its interface, Facebook is rolling out in January "Sponsored Stories," which will appear in your news feed like a friend's status update.
Facebook opened up a new layer of social interaction between friends and acquaintances (and enemies, for that matter) when it became ubiquitous. New research from NM Incite reveals the top reasons for both friending and de-friending on Mark Zuckerberg's 800-million-strong platform.
The number one reason someone adds a friend on Facebook comes as no surprise—82% of the time, it's because they know the other person in real life. 60% of the time it involves mutual friends, while only 11% of friend requests come as a result of business networks. Some 7% of users add friends to boost their friend count. The average user has 130 friends.
But why do people remove friends? It doesn't happen often, but when it does, 55% of the time it's due to offensive comments. 41% of the time it involves not knowing the other person well enough—an odd reason as at some point both definitively agreed to be friends. 39% of Facebook users report their "friends" try to sell them something. Only 20% do it because they don't actually interact with that person. 11% defriend as a result of breakups and divorces.
On Facebook, men are more likely to seek professional networking and dating—a questionable mix—while women are all out coupon-hunting and expressing their creativity.
Overall, 89% of people use Facebook for family contact while just 16% do so for dating. 28% try to find a job while well over half give feedback on products and services, be it good or bad (negative and positive feedback is, somewhat surprisingly, split evenly).