Facebook

Facebook is committed to bringing you a safe experience on the Internet, and today we are announcing several new features to help protect you while online.   Partnership with Web of Trust   First, we're happy to announce a partnership with Web of Trust.... Web of Trust is a free safe surfing tool that tells you which websites you can trust based on the ratings supplied by other Web of Trust community members. Facebook already has a system that automatically scans links to determine whether the websites associated with those links are spammy or contain malware.     This partnership will help us improve our system by providing additional bad links, and in the coming months, we expect to massively increase our coverage even more by working with other industry leaders. You can become a part of this commmunity too by using the Web of Trust add-on, and leaving your own ratings.   Clickjacking protection   Spammers sometimes take advantage of a vulnerability in the web browser to try to trick people into clicking on links they might not want to click on. This is called clickjacking, and it’s done by overlaying the link with something more enticing, like a phony offer.   We have built defenses to detect clickjacking of the Facebook Like button and to block links to known clickjacking pages. Recently, we improved our systems to also alert people if we think they’re being tricked. Now, when we detect something suspicious, we’ll ask you to confirm your like before posting a story to your profile and your friends’ News Feeds.   If you have already clicked on a link resulting in an addition to your "Likes and Interests" section of your profile, you can edit your "Likes and Interests" field by clicking "Edit My Profile" underneath your profile picture. Then, select "Likes and Interests" from the left column menu.   Self-XSS Protection   Spammers take advantage of another browser weakness by asking people to copy and paste malicious code into their address bar, which then causes the browser to take actions on those people’s behalf, including posting status updates with phony links and sending spam messages to all friends.     We have been working hard to improve our systems that detect and block these types of attacks, as well as to educate people on what is causing their accounts to send spam. Now, when  our systems detect that someone has pasted malicious code into the address bar, we will show a challenge to confirm that the person meant to do this as well as provide information on why it’s a bad idea.     We are also working with the major browser companies to fix the underlying issue that allows spammers to do this. Internet Explorer 9 has already put some protections in place, and we are talking with others about providing similar protections.   Login Approvals   Finally, our newest advanced security feature, Login Approvals, is now available to everyone who uses Facebook. This is a two factor authentication system that we first announced last month. If you choose to use it, whenever you log in to Facebook from a new or unrecognized device, we’ll require that you also enter a code we send to your mobile phone via text message.     If we see a login attempt from a device you haven’t saved, you'll be notified upon your next login and asked to verify the attempt. . If you don’t recognize this login, you'll be able to change your password with the knowledge that while some one else may have known your login credentials, he or she was unable to access your account or cause any harm.     Find out more about Login Approvals over at Facebook Engineering Page.   We hope you’ll follow these tips and use the protections we have provided. To learn more about how to keep your information safe on Facebook and across the internet, please visit the Facebook Security Page.   Clement Genzmer, security engineer, is searching and destroying malicious links.   Have you or your friends been affected by this scam? Visit our Help Center to learn more. Mostra'n més...

Starting today, people have the ability to tag Pages in their photos on Facebook in the same way they can tag their friends. Photo tagging for Facebook Pages enables people to share richer stories with friends about the things they interact with in th...e real-world, such as businesses, brands, celebrities, and musicians.   A Page can be tagged anywhere that someone can view a photo in the photo viewer. These photos will appear on the Photos tab on the Page, and not on the Wall. In addition, a Page can be tagged by anyone on Facebook, not just people who have Liked your Page.     For now, only Pages within the Brands & Products or People categories brands, can be tagged in photos. We're looking to expand this functionality to more Page categories over time.   To tag a single photo you are viewing:Click the photo you wish to tag and select "Tag This Photo" below the photo.Type the name of the people or product Page you wish to tag.Repeat this process for every Page in the photo that you would like to tag.Click "Done Tagging" in the bottom left corner.   The privacy of the photo is always respected when a Page is tagged in a photo. If a photo post is published to “everyone,” then it can appear publicly on the Photos tab of the Page and the Page admins can see it. If it’s just published for someone’s friends, only their friends will be able to see that photo. Page Admins can always choose to disable tagged photos from appearing on the Photos tab by going into Edit Page > Posting Options > and unchecking “Users can add photos”.   Learn more about photo tagging for Pages here.Mostra'n més...

When fifth grade teacher Gil Brown approached retirement in early 2009, he felt like he was losing part of his family. After 35 years of teaching in Redlands, a town just east of Los Angeles, he knew he needed a way to stay in touch with former students a...nd their families. So, shortly before his last class’s graduation, he created a Facebook account. Two years later, almost all of his 550 Facebook friends are former students and his profile has become and innovative model for former classmates to reunite and reminisce.   “When I started I was a true novice,” he says. “Now I know how to navigate around Facebook without being a dork.”   Gil – known as Mr. Brown to his classes – has far surpassed the learning curve. By uploading photo albums from each of his classes - 32 in all - he’s turned his Facebook profile into an interactive yearbook. Each album has hundreds of pictures from class projects, field trips and everyday lessons. Students have flocked to these albums, tagging 10-year-old pictures of each other and chatting in the comments.    Mr. Brown keeps his Facebook connections strong by sending birthday messages to former students at the start of each day. He’ll also send students a message when something reminds him of them, and they do the same.    “I’m a facilitator of their interaction,” he says. “I always recognize a teacher needs to maintain some distance from his kids. I don’t think I would have done it while I was teaching. I can be much more laid-back as their former teacher.”   One former student, David Wright, helped create a Facebook Group for Mr. Brown’s classes. Originally designed to plan a reunion, the Group is now a place where students can reconnect with each other and celebrate their teacher.   “I hope it becomes an interactive place for people who have been positively affected by Mr. Brown to create a community,” David says. “Even though he’s humble, we need to say we love him and appreciate what he’s done for us.”   Mr. Brown makes sure to protect students on his page by controlling his privacy settings so only his friends can view photos, and he only adds people he knows. To this day, his wall is dominated by updates from former students and posts thanking him for the impact he had on their lives.   “It’s great that I can find out what every parent wants for their child—that they’re happy and on track,” he says. "Teaching is like only reading the first chapters of many books.  Connecting through Facebook allows me to find out how the stories end."   David soon hopes to organize a reunion for all of Mr. Brown's former students through his Facebook Group. Have you ever reconnected with a former teacher or professor on Facebook? Tell us your story at http://stories.facebook.com/.     Mostra'n més...

Minutes before 7 p.m. on April 16, Harley Barker stopped by his parents’ house in Gloucester County, Va. on the way home from dinner. When he stepped back outside 15 minutes later, the entire street was in shambles.   Harley had just lived through the now... infamous EF-3 Gloucester County tornado. The twister hit speeds over 136 mph, leaving 163 homes damaged and three residents dead.   “I went outside and could smell the pine trees [that had been ripped in half],” Harley said. “It was perfectly calm outside [except for] car alarms and sirens coming from all directions. It was out of a movie.”   As Harley went door-to-door to check on the neighbors, he used his mobile phone to post updates on Facebook about the tornado’s aftermath. With power and landline phones down, mobile phones were the only way for Gloucester residents to communicate. Instead of watching TV news, they turned to their friends’ updates on Facebook.    “The idea hit me to use a Facebook group as central information hub because a lot of people have the ability to access this and get information,” Harley said.   While Harley was out in the field, his friend Tracy Holt-Stipple began to put the Gloucester Tornado Recovery group together. She had recently moved from one of the houses that was hit and wanted to help her former neighbors.   “I knew their immediate needs and wanted to get them information fast,” Tracy said.   Before connecting with Harley, Tracy had posted every piece of news she could find in hopes that the victims would find help on her personal profile. When she created the Recovery group, it immediately became the No. 1 resource for the victims, volunteers and even the local news.   Local broadcast station WAVY 10 knew that people’s power lines were down, so they used their Facebook page to solicit photos of damage and to ask for tips. The anchors used Facebook on-air and looked to community members’ uploads to direct their coverage of the storm.   When a resident posted a photo of Gloucester’s decimated Page Middle School to WAVY’s Facebook page, they sent a crew out right away.   “It’s like having thousands of reporters in the field,” WAVY Webdesk Editor Tim Moreau said. “It’s great because we can’t be everywhere.”   The Recovery group is currently working to replace the school’s lost resources, such as its youth football gear, with donations. Last Sunday, the group also organized community members to donate, create and deliver Easter baskets to families victimized by the tornado.   “To be able to use [Facebook] as a tool for this type of thing [has] been irreplaceable,” Harley said. “When you see other people putting forth positive effort it creates that ball of energy that just rolls forward.”   As of last weekend, the Facebook Group teamed up with the Gloucester Department of Emergency Services response team and the Community Emergency Response Team to act as an official county resource. Visit the group at http://ow.ly/4K4ML. Has Facebook ever helped you unite your community in an emergency situation? Tell us at http://stories.facebook.com/.   Mostra'n més...

The Big NumbersOver a million people in the UK used Facebook statuses to discuss the Royal Wedding in the past 24 hours.During this morning alone some 684,399 status updates referencing the wedding were posted in just 4 hours in the UK – equating to an av...erage of 47 mentions every second. Many people in the UK were so excited they couldn’t sleep, with just under 500 people updating about the pending nuptials per hour ahead of 8amMuch has been said about the US obsession with today’s wedding – and this was reflected in our numbers – with greater numbers of American Facebook users posting updates than those from the UK – 1.953 million to the UK’s 1.004 million. So who were people talking about?David Beckham’s arrival led to a surge in discussion – with 9,000 mentions of his name in just 20 minutes!Just under double the number of people were talking about David Beckham than Victoria BeckhamThe Queen and Prince Philip didn’t even feature in the top list of discussed people – and Prince Andrew was nowhere to be seen. Instead, we saw Harry’s position at number three and fledgling Royal celebrity Pippa Middleton at number 8 Kate’s rebrand into ‘Princess Catherine’ has begun in earnest, with nearly 2,000 people mentioning her new name for the first time after the ceremonyPrince Beatrice’s hat became the subject of a Facebook fan page – ‘Princess Beatrice’s Ridiculous Royal Wedding Hat’ (4000 fans)    US versus UKDespite not featuring in the top ten list in the UK, in the US the Queen was the 14th most discussed topic – with a position in the list similar to that of Victoria Beckham in the UK. Here’s the list for the UK:   1 - Kate Middleton - 131,385 mentions 2 - Prince William - 104,747 mentions 3 - Prince Harry - 64,107 mentions 4 - David Beckham - 22,421 mentions 5 - Victoria Beckham - 12,346 mentions 6 - Elton John - 12,283 mentions 7 - Princess Diana - 11,103 mentions 8 - Pippa Middleton - 8,619 mentions 9 - Prince Charles - 6,791 mentions 10 - Princess Beatrice - 4,439 mentions 11 - Princess Catherine - 1,928 mentions 12 - Princess Eugenie - 1,385 mentions 13 - Guy Ritchie - 290 mentions   And what got people chatting?   The dress...Speculation grew throughout the morning as to the designer of Kate’s dress; with references to Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, and Diana’s dress designer, David Emanuel. 13,120 mentions of Sarah Burton7,863 mentions of Alexander McQueen4,264 mentions of Emanuel ...the hat...Samantha Cameron’s lack of a hat attracted a lot of attention – as she arrived at Westminster Abbey there was some 600 mentions of her total lack of hat... ...and the nose...!Tara Palmer-Tomkinson’s nose attracted a lot of discussion – with 2046 mentions in just 20 minutes!  EltonNational treasure Elton John featured prominently in pictures from the Abbey – leading to over 12,000 mentions of him within status updates.   Where were people talking about the wedding?Thousands of people crowded the streets of London in order to see the event – and lots of them got closer to it by checking in to the key locations along the route using Facebook Places. Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey were most popular – with 4,330 and 2,274 people checking in respectively.   New ways to interact with a Royal Wedding....ITN’s live stream was available on the ITN Facebook Page with live comments - it saw 3.5million streams + peaked at 110,000 viewers online. ITN used Facebook Questions to ask “who is the best dressed” and “where should they go on their honeymoon?” CNN live streamed the event on its website with live commentsABC live streamed the wedding on its Page: as well as creating royal wedding pollsITN, CNN and ABC incorporated live Facebook statistics into their TV broadcasts. Facebook StoriesFacebook Stories, an app that enables people to share their thoughts and views, saw thousands of submissions from more than 30 countries, in more than 20 languageMostra'n més...