This Week in Social

Facebook wants your expected child, Google+ should be fatest growing social network, Old Twitter is dead, Germany wants Facebook's facial recognition features halted, Sports stars using social media and Foursquare self service pages

Facebook gives option to add expected child as family member

 

Facebook members have been able to add other members of their family to their profile for some time but the new option allows the addition of an unborn child. This feature gives parents the option to add a due date and even name the child. Apparently too many parents were creating “illegal” fake profiles for their yet unhatched offspring and setting their age to 13, with this being the legal age to use Facebook.

You can read the story from TechCrunch.

 

Google+ now has 25 millions active users

In just one month, Google+ has captured 25 million visitors, making it the fastest social network to reach such a number. Growing at around 1 million users per day Google+ has outshined Facebook, which took three years to grab 25 million people, and Twitter, which took a little more than 30 months to reach that level.

You can read more on Google+'s rate of growth at Mashable. 

 

The Old Twitter is dead

Back in June, Twitter announced that they would be decommissioning the old platform from 3rd of August. While the new version has been out since last September, users still had permission to use the old version if they chose to, until now. May you RIP Old Twitter.

More about this story can be read at Media Bistro.

 

Germany claims Facebook are breaking EU privacy laws

A German privacy expert has claimed that Facebook's facial recognition software is violating German and European Union laws. Facebook uses individual biometric data that allows users to locate new friends after discovering their identity. The feature 'recognises' faces in photos so that you can connect a face in a photo, shortening the tedious tagging process.

All Facebook continues with a good article about this topic.

 

Sports stars in need of social media training

Joey Barton's public bust-up at Newcastle has resulted in the midfielder being transfer-listed for free. It has highlighted the impact social media can have on a professional athlete's career. After questioning his own club's transfer policy on his personal Twitter page, Newcastle United have issued him with a two week fine. The current Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew, admits he risks being seen as a dictator by his disgruntled players after firing a warning shot at his Twitter-mad squad - a legal letter designed to stamp-out the kind of cyber-ranting that has left Barton's future on Tyneside hanging by a thread.

 

Foursquare pages are now self service

Foursquares business pages are now self service, meaning that brands can now independently update their profile pages on the located based service.The updates make it easier for brands to publish information for consumers such as discount promotions and photos, via their Foursquare pages. For more information please visit Foursquare blog.

 

The Man Without a Face

Below contains a mini film that is play on The Man Without a Face that was created by writers and directors Dan De Lorenzo and Ben Stumpf, promotes the merits of being “untaggable,” which seem to include writing with pens, coming up with words sans Google and understanding why men and women like each other.

Have you still been using the Old Twitter? Would you update your Facebook family with an unborn child? Should sports stars be told not to use social media for their outbursts? Do you feel that your privacy is at risk with Facebook facial recognition? Please leave your comments in the section below...

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