Facebook rolls out new privacy controls

Posted by David Bernstein

If you are a regular Facebook user then you most likely have seen all the constant changes that Facebook makes to their site. You may have also heard of the privacy concerns many Facebook users have had over the years and it’s hard to keep track of what data is private and what data is being shared with friends and other people.

On Wednesday Facebook changed its policies again and added some new tools that will make it easier for members to determine who can view photos, comments and other information about them that shows up on different parts of Facebook. Supposedly you can also request that any inappropriate photos that you may be in be removed from your timeline but not from the source.

There will now be easier ways to manage who can contact you as well as whom you want to block from contacting you. There will also be changes in how third party apps get permission to use your data. And with these new privacy changes come controls that are easier to understand and configure to make many  Facebook users more comfortable using the site.

There was some objection from many Facebook users but not enough for the new changes to go through

Microsoft starts its own social network

Posted by David Bernstein

Everyone knows how popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become so Microsoft figured why not start one of their own. They have been working on a beta version of their site which is called Socl for some time now and had been letting their employees as well as college students try it out since May. Now Microsoft plans on letting everyone else try it out starting this Tuesday.

If you have a current Microsoft or Facebook login then you will be able to log into Socl and start sharing your photos and other media with other Socl users. One thing you will notice on the Socl main page is that it shows content from all users and can be a little much even though it offers categorization by tags.

Microsoft stated in a blog: "Socl is an open social network where people connect around posts and choose to follow people, interests, or both. While you may discover some of your Facebook friends on Socl, you will more likely discover new people or topics you'd like to follow. Of course, you can invite your friends to join you on Socl by sharing posts to Facebook, Twitter or email or simply by sending them an invitation. If you choose to sign in using Facebook, your Facebook friends on Socl will also be easily visible from your People View on your Me Page."

Only time will tell if Socl will ever catch on since most people seem to get what they need out of Facebook and Twitter and generally don’t like to change.