Users should remove their home addresses and phone numbers from their Facebook accounts, according to a security expert.

Graham Cluley said Facebook now gives third parties access to that information and developers of applications get access to the contact information of users who install their apps.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

“These permissions must be explicitly granted to your application by the user via our standard permissions dialogs. Please note that these permissions only provide access to a user’s address and mobile phone number, not their friend’s addresses or mobile phone numbers,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Facebook’s Jeff Bowen as saying.

However, Sophos security expert Cluley, has raised doubts over the move.

“You have to ask yourself – is Facebook putting the safety of its 500+ million users as a top priority with this move?” he said.

“It won’t take long for scammers to take advantage of this new facility, to use for their own criminal ends.”

Cluley advised that users should take personal info such as home addresses and mobile numbers off their pages.

Cluley said, “You can imagine, for instance, that bad guys could set up a rogue app that collects mobile phone numbers and then uses that information for the purposes of SMS spamming or sells on the data to cold-calling companies.”

Tags: facebook, security expert, SMS spamming

The YouTube video explains the importance of social media and how social media can be utilized to promote a modern day business. The video highlights the utilization of Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and LinkedIn in promoting business.

Tags: Blogs, facebook, importance of social media, social media, twitter, YouTube video

An intensifying rivalry between Google Inc and Facebook has started after Google decided to block Facebook and other Web services from accessing its users’ information.

Google will not allow other services to automatically import email contact data of its users for their own purposes unless the information flows both ways.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Facebook, with more than 500 million users, relies on email services such as Google’s Gmail to help new users find friends already on the network. When a person joins, they are asked to import their Gmail contact list into the social network service. Facebook then tells the user which email contacts are also on the social network.

In a statement, Google said websites such as Facebook “leave users in a data dead end.” Facebook did not immediately provide a comment on Friday.

While Google framed the move as an attempt to protect its users’ ability to retain control of their personal data on the Internet, analysts said the move underscored the battle between Google, the world’s largest search engine, and Facebook, the dominant Internet social network.

“The fundamental power dynamic on the Web today is this emerging conflict between Facebook and Google,” said Gartner analyst Ray Valdes. “Google needs to evolve to become a big player in the social Web and it hasn’t been able to do that.”

“If people do search within Facebook, if they do email within Facebook, if they do instant messaging within Facebook, all of these will chip away at Google’s properties.”

Google recently accused Facebook of siphoning up Google contact data, without allowing for the automatic import & export of Facebook users’ information.

Tags: email contact data, email services, facebook, Gmail, Google, Google contact data, Internet social network, social network, social network service, social Web

WWE’s new U.S. champion, Bret Hart “Hitman”, published a blog on his Facebook page terming the unexpected U.S. Title victory on Monday’s Raw as “one last great moment” for him and his fans.

Bret remarked that he is still in a state of disbelief after being crowned United States Champion for the fifth time.

From PWTorch.com:

The tone of Hart‘s blog suggested what seems obvious that Hart was given a “feel good moment” in Canada and he will be holding the U.S. Title belt only for a short while.

It’s an interesting turn of events. Going back to last week, Hart said on his Facebook page that he didn’t even know he was booked for a U.S. Title match until his son, Blade, told him about the announcement on last week’s Raw.

“I’m truly grateful for this moment to be here in Toronto celebrating one of the craziest weeks of my thousand-year old career,” Hart said. “I can’t wait to tell Kyra (his new granddaughter) that her grandpa just won the United States championship in front of the world with Natalya, David Hart Smith, and Tyson Kidd cheering me on along with the rest of the Air Canada Centre.”

Bret quipped, “I go to sleep tonight believing in my heart that this was one last great little moment for my fans all over the world.”

Tags: blog, Bret Hart, facebook, WWE

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, and Twitter have not only managed to attract more users but have also becoming marketing paradises for businesses that want more value for their spent money on marketing. This is simply because social networking is used and followed by almost 76 percent of world’s potential customer community and this is the reason why businesses are not shying when it comes to the idea of business promotion through these networking sites.

The fact that marketing via social networking sites is much cheaper yet more effective than finding better ways each day and left with no clues (offline marketing) suggests that online marketing, especially social networking, is one thing that cannot be left behind among the arsenal and quiver of a business striving to taste more of success.

If you have a close look at some of the most successful businesses in the last few years, especially the last two years, you can easily make out that these businesses have flourished mainly because of their distinctive and large social networking presence. Mind you, not all of these successful businesses were big businesses. Almost 59 percent of these businesses were small businesses that were previously struggling to find a way but now big businesses are trying to replicate their astonishing performances, thanks to the power of social networking.

If you want to put your business right there on the top, social networking sites are sites where you must be looking at.

Tags: business promotion, facebook, marketing paradises, marketing via social networking sites, mass-scale marketing, networking sites, online marketing, orkut, Social Networking, social networking sites, twitter

Personal Blogging has touched every nerve in today’s times. From young children to old people and from teenagers to office-goers, personal blogging has reached almost every modern-day home.

What was once a luxury and a time-pass has now changed to a necessity and essential form of communication. In today’s times, personal blogging is considered as an exceptional option for to share and gain information on varied subjects such as history, personal beliefs, ideology, personal experiences, and almost everything.

One of the greatest benefits of personal blogging is that it can be accessed by one and all for no cost and from any place of the world, with just an Internet Connection. Views can be transmitted to people of similar interests with just a few clicks. In today’s times, forums and personal blogs have been helping potential and “suspicious” customers about reliability of a business. Latest happenings are shared on the web and they are responded to immediate personal reactions from bloggers from all parts of the world in no time.

In addition to personal blogging sites, social networking sites have also been able to live up to expectations of their users. With popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn reaching home of every web enthusiast, things have changed once and for all, for the better. With many more eminent names like these, the modern day web-oriented individual has so much to choose from, with each of the available options before him capable of keeping him informed and interested.

Tags: benefits of personal blogging sites, facebook, linkedin, myspace, orkut, Personal Blogging, social networking sites, twitter

In today’s Internet-dominated world, social networking portals have a big say. The names of Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, and Digg are popular with people of ages and gender.

While one can see an 85-year old in Los Angeles connecting to his family in Canada via Facebook, one can also see an 8-year old getting connected to his friends with Facebook in the same city. This, in itself, tells the simplicity and ease of usage of one of the most popular forms of instant social communication.

Let us now read some basic facts Facebook to gain a complete insight into this popular social networking website.

On Facebook, people from every part of the world and with varied interests can meet people with similar interests without paying any joining fee. One can get connected to networks that are organized by city, school, college, workplace, and countries to interact with other people. Facebook Users have the facility of sending endless messages to friends, relatives, and known ones at any time and from any place of convenience.

Facebook was ranked number one during a February 2009 Compete.com study when it came to the most used social networking website by worldwide monthly active users. Today, more than ten million active Facebook login every morning, afternoon, evening, and night to connect with their friends, colleagues, relatives, and family members. And what was once a distant dream is now a possibility. All thanks to Facebook!

Tags: digg, facebook, orkut, Social Networking, twitter