The social media world is buzzing with opinions about the new Myspace now that they have released the new version. Ever since it was announced that Justin Timberlake was one of the new partners involved in reviving the dead social media site, the Internet has been flooded with speculations as to how the newly revamped site will compare with Facebook, Pinterest, Pandora, Songza and, of course, how it compares with the old Myspace.
Justin Timberlake is again bringing sexy back, this time to Myspace. Unveiling the new Myspace on Monday, Justin Timberlake and his two fellow investors, Chris and Tim Vanderhook, premiered a video presentation to company employees. The new design is sleek, graphically pleasing, is easy to use, imports Facebook contacts, and brings together users and their favorite artists. As Tim Vanderhook put it, “In a single sentence, it’s a social network for the creative community to connect to their fans.”
Myspace (yes, they are still around, believe it or not) has settle charges with the Federal Trade Commission over Myspace’s alleged misleading of their users as to how Myspace was handling user personal information. Put plainly, Myspace was sharing the personal information of their users with advertisers, but misleading users about how they were using their personal information.
If you think that because your Facebook or Twitter profile is set to “private” that it means that you can control who will see what you post, think again. In fact, even if you delete what you have posted – in your private account – you can still be forced to let others see it, even after you’ve deleted it. That’s the Court ruling in a recent case involving plaintiff Kathleen Romano, who may have deleted postings, made to her private Facebook and MySpace accounts, which would be beneficial to the defendant, the Steelcase chair company.
Facebook has added a Facebook Panic button application, following an agreement with (read as capitulation to, but we don’t mean that pejoratively) UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). The way that it works, at least in theory, is that it provides an easy way for young people on Facebook (and their parents) to report suspicious activity – by which we mean activity that may be aimed at luring, stalking, or bullying minors – to both Facebook and CEOP.
Last month, with little fanfare, an Arkansas woman lost custody of her infant son due, at least in part, to photos that she posted to her MySpace page. The tale of Robert Lipps, Kathleen Lipps (a/k/a Kathy Lipps), and Baby Lipps all began when Robert Lipps was on deployment, and his pregnant wife Kathy allegedly had an affair with one Troy Whittington. This sordid chapter of their tale ended when Kathy Lipps lost custody of the infant Lipps due to, among other things, her posting pictures of herself, laying in bed with and kissing Troy Whittington, to her MySpace account.
Proving that it really wants to be the hip Internet administration, the WhiteHouse now has a Twitter account, a Facebook page, and a MySpace Page. Check out the Whitehouse Twitter account, Whitehouse Facebook account, and Whitehouse MySpace account here.
Gary Waters is one lucky perp. Already on parole for a burglery rap, he was arrested for gun possession, and went to trial. And then, he was acquitted because of comments that the arresting officer Vaughan Ettienne had made on Facebook and MySpace.
MySpace has admitted that it has found (and purged) as many as 90,000 registered sex offenders using its service over the course of the past two years. That’s more than 40,000 more sexual predators than the number to which MySpace had previously admitted.
The case against Lori Drew, the woman who was involved in the creation of a fake MySpace character that eventually lead to the suicide of troubled teen Megan Meier, who was the target of Drew’s charade, has concluded, and the Internet is in an uproar over the verdict.
MySpace is gearing up to debut a “People You May Know” feature, it has recently been leaked to the Internet Patrol. The Internet Patrol has in its possession an apparently early-released invitation to the MySpace People You May Know feature.
A new worm is raising havoc for Facebook and MySpace users. Called Koobface (and alternatively the Facebook Worm, MySpace Worm, Facebook Virus, or MySpace Virus), the MySpace and Facebook worm posts messages on Facebook and MySpace with links to what it claims to be a video. When the users follow the Koobface MySpace or Facebook worm link, they are told that they need to update their video player, and to “click here”. Of course, what they download isn’t really a video player update, it’s a trojan called “codecsetup.exe” which allows their computer to be taken over and controlled remotely.
The rise in social media sites such as Facebook and Myspace has been a boon for prosecutors, who are finding incriminating pictures on such sites – pictures which have been admitted as evidence in court, and used to increase penalties, sentences, and prison time!