Quirky business card company MOO.com has teamed up with everyone's favourite social network to create a new kind of business card, which aims to bring together our online profiles and our offline networking habits, as well as celebrate the controversial launch of the new Facebook timeline.
The cards can be designed and customised by each user and you can feature any Facebook photo on the front and a favourite quote or saying on the reverse (is that sweet or just very very cheesy?).
Richard Moross, CEO and Founder of MOO.com, explains that this new collaboration is much more than getting your hands on a shiny new business card:
"It's clear that consumer habits of sharing business and personal information are evolving, and the lines between online social networking and offline business networking are not just blurring, but vanishing.
"This integration places MOO and Facebook at the leading edge of this new trend: seamlessly turning your dynamic online presence into a beautifully designed, high quality offline 'social' business card. We're very excited about this new and unique way to share your contact details, and other profile information, with friends in the real world."
We'd argue that the line between our online and offline personas disappeared a long time ago and the new cards seem a bit like a ploy to get us all embrace to the new Facebook timeline with open arms, but if it means we get our hands on some (potentially free) Moo.com merchandise, then we're not complaining.
Visit MOO - Facebook Cards to get yours and find out more, the first 200,000 people who sign up get 50 for free! Quick! QUICK!
It's no surprise that every time Facebook changes a feature, introduces a new layout or tweaks privacy settings that a large number of users get very angry. After all, many of us use the social network everyday and these new features are irritating, time consuming to get our heads around and most importantly, human beings just don't seem to like change. Ever.
So, Facebook's recent (pretty significant) overhaul of profiles, which sees them being replaced by timelines, has caused an uproar among disgruntled users who just want things back to the way they were in the good ol' days.
Many of these users have formed timeline hating groups and they're actively commenting on every blog post they can find to do with the new features to show their disgust. However, some are also turning to bogus services, which promise to remove the timeline and all mentions of it for good, but at a price. According to All Facebook, there are more than 16 timeline-related scams circulating at the moment that could be forcing users to download content, invite friends, watch videos and download malicious files.
The problem seems to be that nowhere on Facebook's help pages or blog does it say that once you've activated the timeline you can't revert back to the old profile, which is presumably why so many people are actively looking to these kinds of bogus solutions.
As far as we know there's been no official word from Facebook about whether the new timeline will become mandatory for everyone in the next few months. At the moment it's optional and users have seven days to review it and make sure they really want it before they're stuck with it for good.
Here at Shiny Shiny we like the new layout and think the timeline is interesting, looks better and allows us to stalk our friends with ease. However, that may just be because we know standing up to Facebook's decisions rarely results in any of us getting what we really want, so it's best to just embrace the changes.
Last week Facebook officially rolled out its new Timeline feature to all of its users, allowing them to opt in, sort through their content and then publish the lovely little stories of their lives once they're ready for the world to see them.
At the same time, the official Facebook blog announced that the new Timeline features would be coming to Facebook's mobile site, m.facebook.com as well as Android devices. However, Apple fans have had to wait a few more days, as only tonight has the Facebook app been updated to give iPhone users shiny new Timeline functionality too. Of course you still need to have published your Timeline from the web version of Facebook, but once that's activated you can now enjoy the slicker, prettier and much more revealing Timeline look on your phone as well.
Although an iPhone update for the Facebook app has been released this evening, there's no news on when iPad users can see it too, but we imagine it'll be on its way in the next few days.
As more and more users explore Facebook's new timeline feature we're seeing lots of our friends lament about how many of their photos and updates were taken or written under the influence of alcohol. So take a look back through your timeline now, in how many were you a little bit drunk? Honestly?
Well if you're anything like the rest of the UK more than three quarters of those photos you see there were taken on a drunken night out. We don't know whether that means we're fun-loving and jolly or just sad and unhealthy?
These results come from a study carried out by personalised photo book website MyMemory.com, which also found that 56% of those polled admitted that some of the photos weren't of innocent and jolly drunken fun, but could get them into actual trouble at work. Ouch. Let's hope that these users are busy removing photos from their timeline now so Facebook doesn't end up just becoming a personal scrapbook of debauchery.
The study also found that we're a little bit sneaky too, with 65% of respondents admitting they'd deliberately tagged an embarrassing photo of their friends and a huge 93% admitting they've had to go on a huge untagging spree in the past.
These results may show that as a nation we tend to drink a little too much, but let's remember that the only times people tend to get snap happy with their cameras is during a big event or night out. Or at least that's what we keep telling ourselves...
If you're finding tonnes of drunken and embarrassing photos but do want Facebook's new timeline, then dedicate a bit of time this weekend to going through and deleting anything incriminating. To do this just go to the dodgy photo or update, click on the little pencil in the top right hand corner and then choose to either "remove from timeline" or "delete post". There we go, all evidence of that time you jumped on top of a statue in your underwear has been removed from history, now where's the clever little memory erase pen from Men In Black to get rid of it from your friends' memories too?
The study polled 1,781 Britons aged 18 and over with a presence on Facebook.
Facebook's long awaited new timeline feature, which turns your normal profile into a long history of every silly update and drunken photo you've ever uploaded, is now available to everyone according to the official Facebook blog.
We first heard about the timeline back in September at Facebook's f8 developers conference, and since then a select few pretended to be developers to get their hands on it early (not us, no, we'd never do that...) and lucky New Zealanders officially got in on the action first. But today any Facebook user can go ahead and activate the timeline by clicking on the prompt they should see on the main dashboard.
Once you've activated the timeline the girl from The Ring calls you and tells you that you've got seven days. No that's a complete lie, once you've activated the timeline Facebook gives you seven days to review all the stupid stuff you've done before everyone can flick back through your life and see it. So get rid of those embarrassing photos of your ex and your ranting updates in your own time over the next week then (and only then) should you publish it for your friends to see.
The Facebook blog gives you a detailed rundown about the whole process, including how to hide and delete any incriminating/silly/intoxicated content.
Some of you may think this is old and boring news, but others may be shocked to hear that you don't just have one inbox on Facebook, you have two, one called Messages and one called Other.
You're only alerted with an email or a notification when a friend sends you a message, it pops straight into your Messages inbox and you usually read it next time you log-in. However, people that aren't your friends can message you too and their communications with you go into the Other inbox.
Other sits right below the regular inbox, so chances are if you spend a lot of your time on Facebook you'll have had a play around with it before, but lots of people are getting very frustrated that they weren't officially told about the sneaky Other inbox, as they've been missing out on all kinds of important messages. Although, I personally find that quite hard to believe. My Other inbox for some reason contains messages from events that I'm going to, as well as messages from random weirdos who have found me through pages that I've liked. Nice.
Whether it's a folder for spam and creeps or contains a few hidden gems, we thought we'd let you know about the Other secret inbox so you can go check for yourself. From what we can see there's no way to change your notifications so you get an email when an Other message arrives, so be sure to keep checking back.
Back in September at Facebook's f8 developers conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced a whole host of new changes to everyone's favourite social network, including apps, different verbs other than like and oh yeah TIMELINES. So where are they Zuckerberg? Huh?
For anyone that's forgotten what timelines are, they're going to be the clever little things that replace our profiles and look like Tumblr-ish stories of our whole lives with a line down the middle, content at each side and a big cover photo at the top. You may have heard lots of people talking about them already because if you're super impatient (yes that's us) you can fool Facebook into thinking you're a developer and get one early - Mashable showed us how to get our hands on a timeline a few months ago.
However, if you're not willing to go down that route there hasn't been any mention of when they're going to be rolled out to everyone. Well, until today. All Things D reported this morning that Facebook will today roll out its new timeline, BUT only to the people of New Zealand for the time being. Great news if you're a New Zealander, not so great news if you're based anywhere else and want to show off your new timeline features to all of your friends.
It makes sense that Facebook would try a country specific trial to begin with, maybe to iron out any issues or just gauge how well it's being received on a smaller scale. But come on Facebook, you promised us the timeline months ago now, why not consider it an early Christmas present?
Over the weekend Mashable wrote about a new Facebook ad campaign called "Unexpected Babies" from Olla Condoms, which basically aims to send friend requests to Facebook users from their unborn sons. Yeah, we're not sure what to think about it yet either...
The Brazilian agency behind the idea, Age Isobar, took a male user's name and created a new profile adding Jr. on the end. They then sent the user a friend request and if he chooses to visit the profile he sees an Olla Condoms advertisement and a link to the brand's website.
Since then the blogosphere has been talking about and analysing the campaign, with many admiring it and many others slamming it.
So is "Unexpected Babies" a stroke of creative genius, a little bit creepy or just spam that's probably violating a lot of Facebook's terms of service?
Well firstly you can't deny it's a pretty clever and unique campaign, which many have suggested has been used to raise the profile of the agency and the brand behind it rather than actually scare users into using condoms in future. Chris Matyszczyk of Cnet explains that many Brazilian ad agencies are known for creating ad campaigns that rarely run but are solely used as award submissions. We're not sure whether that's the case here or not, but there's been no word from anyone who's seen the friend requests "in the wild" just yet.
Others have suggested the ads are a little creepy and could really shock the users in question. However, I'm pretty sure once they realise it's an ad and not some sign from a Facebook fortune teller that they'll be more amused than scared.
The thing that presents the biggest problem for a campaign of this nature is the fact that Facebook has many clauses in its terms of service that mean it could probably never happen on a large scale. Facebook is strict about fake profiles and acting to delete those using a nickname or a completely made up person altogether. Although we imagine a few slip through the net for various reasons, a large campaign which takes lots of current names and adds Jr. on the end would presumably be picked up by the Facebook police pretty quickly.
So whether you love it or hate it, let's applaud the "Unexpected Babies" campaign for being a little bit different but not get too angry as Facebook is bound to put an end to it before it even begins.
Shopcade is a new Facebook application, which allows users to shop and then share their recommendations among their networks.
The Shopcade model certainly makes sense, a recent study by YouGov found that more than half of UK social media users aged between the ages of 18 and 54 are influenced by their friends and family online before they make a purchasing decision. Ahh we're such sheep, aren't we?!
So based on the fact we're heavily influenced by our online networks, Shopcade allows users to browse more than 40 million products and then create their own personalised Shopcades full of product recommendations. Users can then browse recommendations, see what their friends like, view recent trends and then buy what they like the look of.
But wait, Shopcade isn't just about helping people out and being nice and considerate out of the goodness of your heart, if your friends buy the items you've recommended, you'll get a percentage of the sale. Sure this gives people an incentive to use Shopcade and I'm sure most people wouldn't mind that their mate gets a bit of cash if they genuinely want the product. But, we worry that adding commission into the scheme could make people spam their friends, recommend a lot of things they don't care about or just be a general nuisance.
However, you could argue that at least Shopcade is puting the power into the hands of consumers as apposed to big brands. Nathalie Gaveau, founder and CEO of Shopcade.com, said:
"Shopcade leverages the power of Facebook to the benefit of consumers and brands alike. It turns the 'social network' into the 'social shopping network' allowing 800 million socially-connected people to shop, share and be rewarded all in one place. Rather than brands dictating what people should buy, Shopcade empowers people to share products that actually matter with each other. Now the customers are in control."
Whether people use Shopcade for good or just try to bully their friends into buying products, it's a very interesting model, which combines online shopping and social media in a way that puts normal customers at the core. Just remember to use it nicely, otherwise even your nearest and dearest will be forced to unfriend.
Facebook has teamed up with HTC to build a new smartphone, which has the addictive social network at the core of its offering, according to a report on All Things D.
The phone, with the code-name Buffy (yes, allegedly named after the famous vampire slayer), could run on a new version of Google's Android, which includes lots of Facebook integration and HTML5 support, among lots of other interesting new features.
Although not talking about the phone explicitly, a Facebook spokesperson told All Things D:
"Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social. We're working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world."
A few months ago, when I first switched over to the new Facebook timeline, I noticed that the crazy social network wanted me to take over-sharing to a whole new level and update my friends of my illnesses, new tattoos and house moves. This all makes sense in Facebook's attempt to turn our timelines (remember they won't be profiles anymore soon) into just that, detailed, linear accounts of our lives.
However, today it seems things have got even creepier, as you can tell your friends about all kinds of events, which are probably a little too personal, sensitive and in many ways irritating in our eyes.
Here are a few that just seem a bit wrong for all kinds of reasons:
Living > Add a roommate
Living > Add a vehicle
Family and relationships > Ended relationship
Family and relationships > Lost a loved one
Health and wellness > Changed eating habits
Health and wellness > Lost weight
Health and wellness > Got glasses
Health and wellness > Had surgery
Health and wellness > Diagnosed with an illness
But why does it seem so strange to share this kind of news on Facebook?
After all, if you already write lots of updates, tweet regularly or have a personal blog, chances are you'll be telling people about many of these things anyway.
Well, we think it's two-fold, firstly some of these "life events" could get irritating. How many times will diet and exercise fanatics want to tell you they've lost a few lbs? What about changing eating habits and getting glasses too? BORING.
Secondly (and the thing we have the biggest issue with), the act of pressing a button to document some of the more huge and upsetting events just seems, well, plain wrong.
So do you think we're being overly sensitive about Facebook again, or does the idea of alerting your friends, old schoolmates and work colleagues about the fact you're giving up carbs for a few weeks appeal to you?
This week sees Google+ launch its long awaited brand and business pages, rumour has it Instagram may be adding video sharing, how Tweet life and Klout scores are connected, romantic relationships in a social media world, Drinkify and Burberry continues its digital content endeavours.
Google+ launches brand and business pages After waiting for what seems like forever (in digital time) Google has finally unveiled its Google+ Pages for brands and businesses, and they're... not so different from the personal ones. Having got over the initial disappointment, we've had a play around and checked out some of the brands, like Burberry, that have already extended social initiatives to include Google+. With the launch Google hopes that brands will now share the vast amount of content they are churning out to create a richer experience for its users, and in turn making people use the service on a more regular basis. Google has also introduced an official Google+ Pages guide.
Key points of Google+ Pages You can +1 a Page to show support or add them to your Circles
No Google+ Page can follow you until you follow them
Google+ Pages will unfollow you automatically if you unfollow them
You can find Google+ Pages in Google+ Search
Burberry attempts 'mass customisation' as it truly establishes itself as a media-content company Social media forward brand, Burberry is making its first attempt to let people design and purchase their own, personalised version of the company's iconic trench coat. With prices expected to start at $1,800 to $8,800, Burberry Bespoke will see almost 12 million combination, ensuring unique designs are obtainable. If you can't afford the real thing, you can still create a design and share it on Twitter and Facebook.
Instagram to introduce video sharing? We love Instagram (so much that we've run an Instagram photo competition with our sister company) and apparently the photo sharing iPhone app is now looking to introduce video sharing according to The Next Web. As these rumours excite us iPhone users, it seems like Android users will have to wait a while still to take part in the photo and possibly soon video sharing fun as there is no news on an Android app.
Tweets by users with high Klout scores last up to 67 times longer We're on the fence with Klout and what it has to say about your influence, but apparently a fleeting tweet may last up to 67 times longer if it was tweeted by a user with a high Klout score compared to other users. The results are presented in this infographic and interestingly tweets from users with a Klout score less than 40 actually have an identical half-life to those with a score between 70 to 75, which compares well with other studies on the half-life of sharing writes Mashable.
Romance and social media Personally, romantic relationships and social media intrigues me as it is always interesting to see how people flirt, communicate and possibly break-up for everyone connected to them to see. Lab42 have taken the pulse on today's relationship seekers as well as established loves and conducted a survey this October, asking 500 social network users over 18 some fairly personal questions about meeting people, cheating, communication and more.
If you're looking for love, only 11% said 'physical attractiveness' was the most important trait their significant other should possess (no need to panic too much about your avatar then...), with 23% opting for 'other' (political views, religion, career oriented, financially stability and taste in music). Other findings show that an astonishing 75% believed there is ONE true soulmate for every person, and Facebook appears to be the preferred way to find out more about someone you're interested in with 57% of the singles asked saying they would Facebook friend someone after meeting them.
Drinkify will tell you what to drink while listening to your favourite music We're all for things that can make our lives easier, and to have the hassle of deciding which drink to have when listening to Little Dragon, Casiokids or even Metallica can be such a pain - not really as the answer must surely Gin at all times! New site Drinkify aims to make your music experience a bit different, teaming up your musical taste to the best beverage along with a recipe on how to prepare it. Not sure about the blood and cough syrup mixture for Cradle of Filth though...
Disney and YouTube signs video content deal According to The New York Times, Disney and YouTube are set to announce a content deal worth between $10 to $15 million, which will see YouTube invest millions on an original video series produced by Disney and distributed exclusively through a brand new co-branded channel on YouTube and Disney.com.
US Starbucks launches augmented reality app for Christmas season Avid coffee fans will know that when the red cups hit Starbucks Christmas is just around the corner (I love the eggnog latte, but I'll let the discussion about the quality of the coffee take place elsewhere), and this holiday season Starbucks is launching its first augmented reality app - Starbucks Cup Magic - that will let customers animate their coffee cups with their smartphones. Unfortunately for us European dwellers, the app will only be available in the US, but check out this video on how it works.
Adidas launches the world's first social football boots Football clubs are becoming more aware of the importance of social media, and the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United are both breaking new ground in the social and digital sphere. So it was only a matter of time before brands that cater for one of the most popular sports in the world got on the bandwagon big time. Adidas has now revealed a new design that could change the playing field completely. With an on-board computer that stores data, the new boots measure speed, distance travelled and top speed. As soon as the game has stopped, the data is transmitted wirelessly to your phone, tablet or computer ready to be analysed. With top players having their own football boots sponsorships it will be interesting to see how this will impact clubs who will no doubt be eager to discover in more detail how their players are performing.
Glamour gains 50,000 'Likes' by marrying Facebook and 2D barcodes The September issue of Glamour magazine got over 50,000 Facebook Likes for advertisers by including 2D barcodes in the adverts. The codes could be found throughout the magazine and was put there to see if codes invoking Facebook would spur more readers to action. Results show a high level of interaction, proving that readers do enjoy a more interactive magazine experience.
This week sees that the number of visits to online video sites in the UK has increased by 36% since September 2010, four new social media magazines launch, the optimum length of a Facebook post, watch Florence + the Machine new album launch gig online for £3.99, Google makes changes to Reader and are brands 'over-reliant' on Facebook?
Visits to online video sites has increased by 36% in UK since 2010 New stats from Experian Hitwise show that visits to online video sites grew by over a third in the UK over the past year, with over 785 million visits to sites like YouTube in September. From 2010 to 2011 traffic increased by 36%, truly demonstrating the increasing popularity of online video. If anything this shows the importance of incorporating video into brand campaigns.
How consumers interact with brands on social media [infographic] A pan-European study has found that one third of Facebook and Twitter users in the UK follow brands, which apparently is more than twice the percentage of other markets on the continent, writes Wall Blog. Other stats include:
- Twitter has the highest sharing rate of branded messages and content (18%)
- Consumers want brands active in social media channels to be 'informative', 'entertaining' and 'interactive'
Social media magazines hit the shelves At a time when most magazines and newspapers are gravitating towards tablet apps, digital editions it is interesting to learn that GSG World Media is publishing four new monthly magazines dedicated to Twitter, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn. The freshly pressed magazines are 'aimed at helping business owners harness the power of the social sphere' and come at $7.95 each. But if you'd rather keep things digital, they are also available for free via a digital subscription. Is this the way forward: Offer print editions at premium prices and give the content away for free digitally? Not the best business model is it...
Does size matter when it comes to Facebook updates? Apparently so. Publishing platform Vitrue has looked at over 11,000 posts made by the 150 largest Pages on Facebook to see if there is an optimum length on Facebook posts when it comes to engagement. Taking the Likes and comments and dividing them by the number of fans they ended up with an engagement rate as a percentage. The result: the longer the post gets, the more the engagement rate decreases... So what is the optimum number of characters? Well the study didn't say but ensure to keep Facebook posts as concise as possible while still fully communicating what you want.
Are brands over-reliant on Facebook? With brands investing millions into developing excellent Facebook pages, could they be at risk of trading in their privacy? A leading analyst at Constellation Research Group - quoted in Marketing Magazine - thinks so and has now warned brands that they are 'over-reliant on Facebook and it will come back and bite them'. An interesting notion, but we'd like to think brands are using Facebook in a way that doesn't put privacy or customer data at risk. However with Facebook's many 'privacy issues' over the past years, it's worth thinking twice about how your brand's customer data is stored. Are brand owned platforms the future?
Google makes changes to Reader Google is definitely working on cleaning up its social/digital footprint. Not long after announcing Google Buzz is to become extinct, they've now revealed that they will be making changes to Google Reader. The service will get a brand new design and be brought closer to Google+. In a few weeks you'll no longer be able to friend, follow or share linked blogs inside of Reader. This will now be integrated into Google+ so if you're an avid user of Reader you best start working on your Circles now!
LinkedIn launches new tool to help you stay in touch with old school friends First and foremost a place to keep your professional connections organised, LinkedIn is launching a new tool called 'Classmates' which aims to help you stay in touch with fellow graduates and alumni. Personally I welcome this as I sometimes feel that my Facebook is crowded with people whose holiday photos I don't necessarily want to see, but who I keep on there because I once went to school with them and it would be a shame to loose contact completely. What do you think?
43% of Londoners use social media to find jobs [infographic] A nifty infographic by LondonLovesJobs shows how Londoners search for a job and how social media is changing this. No surprise that people are using social media in the hunt for the next step on the career ladder, but the research also shows that employers have yet to fully tap into this trend - as are the recruitment teams! Other stats worth nothing:
- 25% of Londoners look for a job on LinkedIn
- Only 14% of job sites and companies advertise or promote openings via social media
- More men than women search for jobs via social media channels - 30% of men use LinkedIn to find a job compared to 18% of women
More mums use Facebook and other social networks than average internet users New figures by eMarketer show that an estimated 23 million US mums are on Facebook this year, using the site at least once a month, representing well over two-thirds of all online mothers in the country. This means that more mothers use Facebook and other social networks each month compared to average internet users. Luckily my mum is not on Facebook - have yet to convert her to Skype - but I do have a few aunts and friends that have offspring of their own.
Toyota launches Facebook game ahead of Tokyo Motor Show sports car debut Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has launched a Facebook game to promote the production model sports car that it plans to debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in December. Dubbed the Social Network Racer the game is now live and will run through 31 December, allowing racers across the globe to 'test-drive' the new car and compete for a super prize: a free trip to Japan. Start your engines!
Personal sharing network Path closing in on 1 million users I tried Path - the mobile app that lets you share images and the personal things with friends - when it first launched a while ago. To be honest, I never used it again. But good news for the company as it is apparently closing in on 1 million users. Path enables you to share the most personal things with a limited number of your nearest and dearest (50 last time I checked), such as first dates, deaths or injury that perhaps might not be sharable on other social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Do you use Path?
We've really scared ourselves over at Shiny Shiny this morning, as we've just linked our Facebook profiles up to the Take This Lollipop website.
After seeing a link on The Next Web claiming we'd be scared (of something to do with Facebook?! Yeah right) we decided to click away and what followed was a very clever, very creepy insight into just how much information we share online.
We don't want to ruin it for you, so try Take This Lollipop yourself now...
According to The Next Web, no one's sure whether it's affiliated with any kind of movie promotion, but wow it'd be effective if it was.
Yes, it's only a website which has hooked itself up to my Facebook account and has dragged in a few photos, but I don't know if it's the fact I watch far too many scary and disturbing movies or the fact I just have a rather nervous disposition but wow it FREAKED ME OUT.
The fact it's finished and has left me with an hour countdown has also left me feeling a little uneasy... 53 minutes and counting...
A cross section of Facebook users were asked what it would take to get them to give up Facebook FOREVER and of course it all boils down to the green stuff.
One in three of those polled by advertising agency McCann London said they'd happily log off for good if it meant they'd get £50K afterwards, which shows just how much value many put on the social network. But wait...
Among those that were under 35 years old, one in three claimed that they wouldn't quit for any amount of money. No amount at all. Not even MILLIONS. Wow. That's right, a third of those polled wouldn't give up their Facebook addiction, even if it meant a lifetime of cash. Obviously this kind of research does tell us a lot about our attitudes towards Facebook, but I suppose until you're faced with an actual pile of money, it's hard to say what decision you'd REALLY make.
However, it was even more interesting to find that it's not just about stalking photos of exes or creating groups with silly names that keeps this younger generation hooked, as more than half commented that the social network is part of our cultural identity and has a stronger influence on society than the current government.
Everyone jokes about Facebook and says they'd love to live their lives without it or hate certain features of the platform, but really it seems it's become ingrained into not only our personal social lives, but our wider communities too. Deep stuff.
Facebook finally released its official iPad application earlier in the week and so far users seem to be pretty impressed with what it has to offer, such as a focus on chatting, a new slick sidebar and big 'swipe-y' photos.
In the excitement many people also seem to have overlooked the fact that all of the new and exciting changes we're seeing in the Facebook iPad application have also been made to the mobile application too (it's obviously just geared up for a smaller mobile screen), so be sure to upgrade if you haven't already.
We had a play around with the new iPad application and realised just how great the interface looks on the big, multi-touch screen, so here are our first impressions.
Side Menu Bar
One of the things that first strikes you about the iPad application is the dark grey side menu bar on the left of the screen. It contains all kinds of bits and pieces, like pages, groups you've signed up to, messages and apps you've added as well as all of your usual privacy and account settings under the little cog at the bottom.
The great thing about the menu bar is it contains everything you could possibly need, BUT it can so easily be hidden away by hitting the button in the top left hand corner with three horizontal lines across it if you'd rather just browse status updates and save the more complicated bits and pieces for the web version. It also stays static too, so if you want to leave it up while you're whizzing through your news feed it'll stay put.
News Feed
The news feed looks like it does on the web, click on videos and they play instantly, click on photos and they're blown up to the full size of the iPad screen.
Chatting
For me, Facebook Chat is a feature that I only use occasionally which sits at the bottom of my screen and often gets forgotten about. However, with the new iPad application the chat functionality plays a much more central role. It sits as a sidebar on the right of your screen (if you want to be online that is) and looks really integrated into the overall Facebook experience - much more than it does on the web.
If you start chatting with someone it sits at the side as you browse too and the conversation shows up like iPhone text messaging in little bubbles.
Location
When you're browsing through your friends you can click on the 'nearby' option and you're presented with a Google Map full of your friends faces, which is a lovely feature even if it does seem a little bit stalker-ish.
Photos
It seems the app has been specially made to really make the most of photos, allowing you to view them as a big grid, then click on one and it fills your screen and swipe through the rest of the album too.
Profiles
Profiles don't look vastly different (we were half expecting a much more timeline-like interface), but they're kept very simple with the static default photo and various links to photos and info on the left and a continuous feed of information from the user's profile on the right.
Verdict
The interface is slick and intuitive, making it really easy to flick between pages and the different sections of the app. Also, EVERYTHING just looks great on the iPad, doesn't it?! However, for me the most notable feature is Facebook Chat, which feels like a much more prominent part of the experience than ever before.
It'll be really interesting to see whether things get tweaked a little once more and more people trade in a personal profile for a timeline or once we all get used to the news ticker a little more, but we don't expect huge changes to be made only a few months after the initial launch, so only time will tell...
We've been expecting it for some time now. We even got impatient and wrote about four things we'd love it to include. But it seems Facebook has now FINALLY launched its official app for the iPad according to The Facebook Blog.
The blog post about the app explains that it's pretty comprehensive, with a focus on big photos, swiping and pinching your way around the platform and most notably a handy left-hand menu with access to your groups, pages, games and more.
Granted we didn't see some of the BIG changes we were hoping for, like a look more akin to the new Timeline and a dynamic News Ticker. But, there'll probably be a few tweaks over the next few months, especially as regular users ditch their personal profiles in favour of a shiny new Timeline.
Over the past few years we've collected together some of the worst Facebook status update crimes against social networking and humanity.
View Susi Weaser's original list of crimes featuring the song lyrics, the ask me ask me ask me and the play-by-play. Or Anna's collection of update fails a few years later, featuring the classic giving lots of specifics, announcing tragic news and boasting about your professional accomplishments.
Although all of these crimes are still very, VERY applicable (just have a scan through your news feed if you don't believe us), we felt it was about time to add some of the worst from 2011 into the mix too.
1. The constant pregnancy over-sharer
Admittedly this one is similar to a few of the "oversharing" crimes on our previous lists, but here we're talking specifically about the people who share FAR too much information about their pregnancy. Yes scans are cute (in a way) and we love a smiling little baby as much as the next person, but accounts of morning sickness, weird symptoms and cravings alongside a photo library of "the bump" day-by-day for NINE WHOLE MONTHS should be kept solely between the mum, the dad and maybe the odd elderly female relative.
2. The fitness fanatic
I'm no stranger to exercise, so this next crime isn't born out of a resentment for those that work out. We're also not talking about the casual "I'm off to the gym" update (although no one REALLY wants to see that either). The updates we consider crimes are the ones that share the minutest details about a person's every movement. Are we meant to be impressed? Are we meant to feel inadequate? We just don't know what to do anymore.
Think of the "Lifted 34764958 weights, did 435974576 sit-ups and ran 577385 miles today. IN YOUR FACE. Also running back from the gym, climbing a mountain AND swimming later too" kinds of statuses that are always followed by Runkeeper and Nike+ updates too as proof.
3. The secret chav talker
Why is it that someone you know fairly well in real life who uses normal human words when they speak can turn into a chavilicious stereotype as soon as they update their Facebook status? We're happy with the odd "thnx" and "k" but when did "Wnt 2 twn 2day wz ACEZ n saw ma maytz. PEACE." become the norm?
4. The man hater
I get that some people could be going through some really serious issues, I really do. But the "ALL MEN SHOULD DIE" and "ALL MEN ARE HEARTLESS STUPID PIGS" updates make me a little bit scared. Remember Kathy Bates in Misery? Exactly.
5. The bright side of life quoter
I hold my hands up and admit I've been guilty of this one before. You see a feel good quote and think it's worth sharing with the world to make people feel jolly. But then "life is worth living" after "seize the day" and "dance crazily" appear on your profile and you realise just how sickly sweet/deluded/annoying you really are.
So I think EVERYONE knows that Facebook has been busy making a LOT of changes, we now have a News Ticker, we'll soon all have a Timeline and the social network has taken it upon itself to decide what content you want to read by placing (what it thinks are) "top stories" first on your News Feed.
However, according to Lifehacker there's now a plug-in which not only rearranges your News Feed so that recent posts are at the top and older ones are at the bottom again, but it also removes the blue triangle that marks top stories AND removes the News Ticker too.
We're big believers in accepting change here at Shiny Shiny, but if the News Ticker makes your blood boil and you're sick of missing things because they're not tagged as top stories, then give the Facebook Classic plug-in a whirl.
We've just seen a tweet from @aalaap which suggests that even when you unfriend someone on Facebook they'll still be subscribed to your updates, so we tried it out for ourselves and lo and behold we saw this message:
Granted the person you're unfriending will only still see your public updates which they could well go ahead and subscribe to anyway BUT it seems wrong that if you want someone off your friends list they'll still see the things you write in their news feed. To get rid of them completely you have to REPORT them too, which sounds a little bit extreme if you're just getting a bit sick of their new baby photos.
Really this isn't that shocking at all, but it just shows how strange the whole subscribe dynamic still feels to regular Facebook users who are getting angry about this news on Twitter right now. Yes we see how subscribing is really useful for public figures, but when friends, subscribers, unfriending and unsubscribing mix it's a melting pot of confusion and it's definitely not been made very clear.
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Over the past few years we've collected together some of the worst Facebook status update crimes against social networking and humanity.
So I think EVERYONE knows that Facebook has been busy making a LOT of changes, we now have a News Ticker, we'll soon all have a 
From: CES 2012 - More fitness and health gadgets - Basis, Qualcomm and Striiv