social networking

While an increasing number of businesses are encouraging their employees to listen to music in the hopes of making them happier and thus increasing production, most U.S. bosses are taking an opposite approach to social networking sites like Twitter ... or Facebook, with more than half of all companies banning them from the workplace. The finding comes from a recent study by Robert Half Technology, an IT company -- appropriate, since most of the time it's a company's local IT rep who's responsible for setting out which sites are okay and which are not for employees to visit on company time. ... (view more)

Google has introduced a new feature called 'Google Profile', which lets users control how their information appears when someone else searches for that person's name via Google's products (such as the Google Search Engine). Using Google Profile, it ... is possible to create a personal page that links to your blog or other profiles and keep family and friends up to date with your contact information and pictures. (Source: google.com) Control Over What Others See According to Google, a profile is simply how you present yourself on Google products to other Google users. You control how you appear on ... (view more)

Critics complain social networking kills privacy , allowing friends and enemies alike to slowly and methodically 'creep' your personal details without you ever having to know. It would seem appropriate, then, that Microsoft's first major foray into ... social networking should be called "Vine," which both uses and attempts to improve upon Facebook and Twitter. Vine works by asking users to download its special dashboard-style application. Once that's installed, a user is prompted to sign into his or her Windows Live account, where they're presented with a map-like interface that provides news and ... (view more)

Denise Finkel is suing Facebook, Inc. and four former classmates of University of Albany student for defamation. Finkel claims that comments intended to embarrass and humiliate her were posted on the popular social networking site. Filed on February ... 24, 2009 in New York Supreme Court, Finkel states her reputation and character were greatly injured by comments posted in a private group implying she has AIDS, uses drugs, and engages in deviant behavior, like bestiality. Denise Finkel was a victim of a growing Internet trend called cyberbullying . She is suing both Facebook for $3 million in ... (view more)

As Facebook readies itself for a complete profile page makeover, hackers are now striking fast and furious with a barrage of attacks aimed at all those associated with the social networking site. The site has been exposed to five different security ... threats in this past week alone, including four new hoax applications that trick members into divulging usernames and passwords. There are a number of reasons why hackers are attracted to social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook. The interconnectedness of millions of people, coupled with pages and pages of personal information, make ... (view more)

A new report finds that British politicians are not doing enough to harness the two-way communications offered by the Internet. While most use emails and have a website, few have their own personal blogs or social networking pages. The survey, ... carried out by research group the Hansard Society, questioned 168 of the 646 members of the British parliament, selected as a representative sample. Only 8% of those questioned did not have a website. However, the proportion who engaged in other forms of online communication was generally inversely proportional to the level of interactivity involved. ... (view more)

Social networking sites that connect millions of users are increasingly the target of creative marketing strategies concocted by independent businesses. Facebook, with its 67million users is amongst the largest potential market available to these ... schemes. Until now, most marketing strategies entailed advertising on social networking sites, either directly or through proxy users. However, Denver-based bSocial Networks has introduced a new marketing strategy that attempts to use Facebook applications to generate sales. The company claims that this is "the first consumer-to-consumer (C2C) ... (view more)

The body which regulates British newspapers is considering guidelines to restrict journalists from using social networking profiles as sources. It follows increasing complaints from people who have become the subject of stories and find details from ... sites such as Facebook included in newspaper articles. Tim Toulin, director of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), said "It's down to the PCC to set the boundaries in a common sense way about what sort of information it is acceptable to re-publish". The PCC is an industry body made up of newspaper editors and independent representatives which ... (view more)

What's a bigger waste of time: Facebook or MySpace? According to one web security company, name recognition could be a problem for the latter. In the world of social networking, MySpace is the reigning royalty. Founded in August, 2003 and based out ... of sunny California, the site celebrated its hundred millionth account creation in August of 2006. Some 300 staff work out of its Beverly Hills headquarters. That kind of established name may not be so positive for MySpace when it comes to web filtering. In a survey released last week, security firm Barracuda Networks Inc. found that 44% of ... (view more)

Most visitors to Infopackets.com are computer and Internet aficionados. Our readers know the web, and seem to generally enjoy it. Chances are, most of you have dabbled in its social networking sphere, posting profiles to Facebook, MySpace, or one of ... the other, lesser-known sites. Now one poll is warning that this activity can backfire, and although it may not mean downloading a Trojan horse or other virus, it could perhaps offer something even more sinister: identity theft. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) Although few readers will be surprised by the crime, some may be shocked by the chances of it ... (view more)