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Facebook Isn’t So Safe Anymore

Facebook compared to MySpace has a pretty squeaky clean reputation, but when Facebook has over 150 million users to date, then security becomes a much bigger concern. This latest post on TechCrunch details a few things that allowed Facebook to get to this point, and what it needs to do to change it.

When Facebook initially launched, users needed an .edu address in order to login, but now highschool students can create Facebook accounts and even the general public. Each group still belongs to a certain network, but it is still possible to overcome these challenges. MySpace has a pair of human eyes viewing every single picture that is uploaded to the site, to make sure that nothing inappropriate gets put up. Facebook relies on its users to flag inappropriate content. This is one thing that Facebook will have to improve as the number of registered users increase by the day.

Even with rules and regulations put into place, is it possible to stop every single threat? What have businesses done to ensure that their content does not get into the wrong hands?

Thiago

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2 comments:

Scott Dodds said...

Good article, Thiago! You're right, as Facebook grows they will face new security challenges.

But I wonder if paid employees monitoring the site a la My Space is really scalable. I really like the path Facebook is taking by getting their members to police the site themselves. As we've seen in Lithium's customer communities, no community scales without engaging their members to help moderate the content.

Also, unlike My Space, Facebook has been more focused on the social connections than the personalization of content. As such, members are better positioned to affect what content they see and what they don't.

Thiago said...

Thanks for the comment! I agree that while MySpace allows its users to customize its skins and tunes, Facebook has essentially removed any flashy customization in order to stay true to social networking.

It will be interesting to watch over the next couple of months what privacy and security issues will be set in place by the Attorney General.