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Twitter Being Attacked By Hackers

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Many Twitter fans this week have been upset about their favorite microblogging site being offline several times, which is unusual for the third-largest social networking site in the world. Recently, unknown hackers have sent attacks to the site, succeeding in impeding the service and angering their many customers.

These attacks, called DDOS attacks, are common on the internet and often targeted to large, well-known websites. A hacker typically uses a system of computers to repeatedly send excessive requests to the website, overloading the server and clogging up precious bandwidth. The server is then forced to shut down and unable to handle the requests of its legitimate users. There are many reasons why a hacker would want to take down a website, but one thing remains clear: the Internet is a dangerous place.

These attacks once again raise the issue of security among social networking websites. If one person is able to take down an entire website, then it seems possible for him or her to infiltrate the server and steal personal information of all its clients. Many users have lost trust about the security of their personal information on such websites and avoided providing information that these services need to function. While other social networking sites such as Facebook have also been attacked, Twitter has been relatively unprepared for a security threat and stirred concern among its users.

Despite these attacks, many experts insist that personal information is safe on sites such as Twitter.com. While sending a DDOS attack may be alarmingly easy for a hacker to do, it is much more difficult and uncommon for a website’s information to fall into the wrong hands. Even Twitter is well-prepared for such an attack and will respond if necessary to keep information safe and protect the identity of its customers. Twitter’s site has since recovered from its attack and sends a message to all its users: Tweet away!

Wikipedia Approaches 3 Million Article Mark

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:11:00 +0000

One of the most popular websites in the world, Wikipedia, is close to breaking the barrier of an unprecedented three million articles in its database. This landmark deserves a look at the history of this revolutionary project that has come a long way since its start in January 2001.

The goal of the site was to form a comprehensive encyclopedia that would gain its information from the public; everyone from the top scientist in Harvard down to the simple man in Oklahoma would be allowed to contribute. The creators believed that every person had some valuable information that he or she could share with the encyclopedia, making it better than the ones that were written by a team of a few scientists and historians. Wikipedia started out slowly, reaching one million articles in five years, but it soon gained popularity and added its second set of one million articles 12 months later. Articles covering obscure topics began appearing, as the few people who held such knowledge could easily contribute to the growing encyclopedia.

Times have changed since the 2 millionth article, however. This event happened nearly two years ago, and the Wikipedia’s pace seems to be slowing down. One Californian scientist and his team discovered that the contributions of everyday people, of which Wikipedia has depended on and become famous for, is starting to fade away. The site is becoming more controlled by experts in their field, and the edits of everyday citizens are more likely to be reverted. This is a bit of a double-edged sword, as it excludes much of the original knowledge by others, yet it also preserves some of the integrity and accuracy of the articles. Many debate whether Wikipedia should continue this path or open more to the public, and this is something that only time will tell.

Facebook Lite Simplifies Experience for Users

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:21:00 +0000

Facebook has been a popular social networking site loaded with features for users to enjoy. While these feature have propelled Facebook to popularity, they cause long loading times for some clients who have slow internet connections or simply get in the way of those who do not want all these features. In response to this, Facebook has reportedly been testing a new "lite" version of the site, which is similar to their current "mobile" version designed for phones.

This new Facebook brings it back to its roots before all the added features: users can write on each other’s walls, accept friend requests, and post pictures of their friends for others to see. It does remove the numerous third-party applications which are prevalent among the normal Facebook and which some people find rather intrusive to their experience. While many people may enjoy taking the various quizzes or playing the games, they often clutter people’s news feeds and send unnecessary notifications for those who do not bother with these apps. The new Facebook lite especially reaches out to those in third-world countries who lack broadband access and do not want to wait for a bunch of applications and advertisements to load simply to check who wrote on their wall.

This move follows those of Myspace and Twitter, both of which attempt to simplify social networking by stripping down unnecessary features and focusing on those that count. Myspace has released a lite version of their site, while Twitter strips all except for the ability to post 140-character statuses. This trend signifies a divide in the social networking community, with some who embrace many features and those who only want the basics.

Facebook Acquires FriendFeed

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:19:00 +0000

Facebook has recently announced that it is acquiring Friendfeed, a service that attempts to unify several different social networking services into one. It aggregates news feeds from many different websites, including Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Digg, Flickr, Gmail statuses, Youtube, and much more. The wide variety of supported services is great for many users as it can suit the blogger, the social networker, the news follower, or even the simple email user. This service makes it convenient for those who use multiple social networking sites and constantly have to check multiple feeds to catch up on the news of their friends. Users can also provide feedback to one another (e.g. with comments, "likes," etc.) directly from Friendfeed’s site, throwing away the need to log in and out of many different accounts when communicating with different friends. According to their website, Friendfeed’s goal is to make content on the Web more relevant to their users by using current social networking accounts as a tool for gathering information about their users.

So why would Facebook want to acquire Friendfeed? The answer is that it opens up opportunities for innovations in the social networking industry. The idea of Friendfeed was already novel, and Facebook has noticed some intriguing features that it wanted to incorporate. For example, Facebook has recently launched a new version of its site that mimics Friendfeed’s structure of a central news feed that combines all the stories about a user’s friends. Now that Facebook has finally acquired Friendfeed, the teams from both companies are able to work together and improve the industry with new ideas.

Social Networking Becoming The Only Social Thing?

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 03:17:00 +0000

Social networking is slowly becoming exactly what ever parent has ever feared it would become, an all consuming thing that prevents their child from doing anything else. Though this may seem a little exaggerated, the truth of the statement is not lost. A recent survey done shows that more than half of Facebook and Myspace users say they can’t live without their social networking website. This large number of obsessive people is actually just skimming the surface of all the people who spend hours and hours on social networking sites. This just brings up the issue of whether social networking sites are really destroying the social lives of its users.

Social networking sites all work on the same principle: create a profile and then expand the number of people you know, usually in the form of friends. There is something very alluring about achieving a large number of friends on a social networking site. In fact, it is not uncommon for one person to have thousands of friends on Facebook. Whether a person knows every single one of those thousands of people, or even knows how to pronounce their names, is a completely different issue. But it does satisfy a very primal part of each and every person to have that sort of connection. Perhaps it’s because everyone is seeking that place where they can feel ultimately important to lots of people. Perhaps it’s just being able to show off the large number of friends. Whatever the reason, there is a universal drive amongst social networking users to obtain large number of friends, one of the reasons why so many people are obsessed with social networking.

Another reason for the possessiveness of social networking is because it is real-time. This may seem like a curious statement but it is quite true. Think about it, because everything happens on a social network in real-time, the user must keep checking the website to assure that he or she doesn’t miss something important. Unlike the mail, which comes at certain designated times, Facebook pages can be updated at any given time. There is an odd, but unspoken need for people to respond immediately to comments or wall posts. Thus, the user becomes encaptured to the need for continual page refreshing in order to see the comments and posts immediately after they are made.

With the growing obsession with social networking, real social networks may be harmed. If a person is only concerned with his or her online network, they will inevitably spend less effort on their real life networks. This can be very harmful because people are naturally social creatures. However, the social connections that an online website provides will not be able to satisfy the inner desires of human nature, no matter how many friends you have on Facebook. Real voices and real people are needed to truly be socially satisfied. So keep that in mind when using social networks. Social networks are a good way to build existing relationships but should not be the only means of making connections.

Has Facebook Succeeded Myspace?

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:12:00 +0000

Everything in the world is driven around competition, and social networking is no different. Social networking is a place for friends to easily communicate with one another and even meet new ones in the process, and there have always been the two giants of Facebook and Myspace battling for control over the people. Recently, however, Facebook has grown exponentially in popularity, recruiting thousands or new members every day. Some are beginning to say that Myspace has been defeated by Facebook, as it falls behind in number of users.

Myspace started in August 2003, before Facebook existed on the internet. It was based off Friendster, a website launched in 2002 that pioneered the concept of social networking websites. It became popular very quickly, helped by the fact that it had a smooth launch and that it recruited members from a previous social networking website, eUniverse. Before long, every teenage and his or her friend had signed up on Myspace to set up their profiles and write to others online.

While Myspace is extraordinarily successful, there have been several questions raised about the dangers of forming a profile and chatting on the website. Cyber bullying and the presence of predators have scarred the reputation of Myspace, scaring many would-be visitors from signing up. Facebook appeared in February 2004, initially appealing only to college students and promoting themselves as a safer alternative to the now-dangerous Myspace.

Facebook grew more slowly at first due to its restricted audience, but it soon opened up to the general public and passed Myspace in number of unique visitors in April 2008, making it the most popular social networking site in the world. While Facebook provides significantly less customization than Myspace, it is also in turn safer and cleaner, making it more appealing to users. It also provides features such as "tagging" photos, and expands on most of the features that Myspace already provides. Myspace’s growth has suffered, and falling behind Facebook has forced it to lay off 1/3 of its employees in early 2009.

While it may seem the Myspace is down, it is not out. It still holds a strength among bands because it allows HTML customization of pages. This makes it convenient for starting bands to post advertisements of their upcoming shows, etc. Myspace has also provided Myspace Music, allowing musicians to upload MP3 music files and allow visitors to listen to their songs.

Facebook has since officially become the most popular social networking site in the world, receiving thousands of new members daily. Myspace has been left in the dust, but it is trying to bounce back by introducing new features and keeping its stronghold with musicians and bands. Can it come back? Perhaps the ill reputation of Myspace may wear off over time, and a revolutionary new feature will be introduced to attract users back to one of the most important pioneers of social networking. Or perhaps Facebook will be hit with a serious issue that will scare people away from their website. Only time will tell which survives.

Possible Dangers of Myspace?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:11:00 +0000

Myspace has become a very popular social networking site, where friends can easily communicate with other friends and even meet new ones in the process. It has become very popular around the world, and is considered the most popular networking site in 2006 with well over 100 million users. With such an amount of users, however, is the risk that there are also a great amount of predators and scammers using Myspace as well. These malicious persons have transformed Myspace into a place of danger, causing security to be an issue when using the website.

Not long after Myspace took hold of its niche in the internet, news channels soon began reporting stories of children being murdered or raped by strangers that they met on Myspace. Often times, these children would believe that they were talking to a person of their own age, when it was really a 45-year-old pedophile on the other side of the chatroom. These innocent children would often give away valuable private information to their predators, not knowing the dangers of letting strangers know where you live. In addition, parents often have little or no knowledge on who their children chat with, making it difficult to protect them against such predators on the internet.

Another popular issue with such networking sites is cyber bullying, when bullies on the internet send threatening or hateful messages to their victims. School bullies could now torment their others through the internet as well as in person, multiplying their effect on people’s lives. Many young teenagers committed suicide due to these acts, raising fear and questions in concerned parents around the world. Those who have not taken such drastic actions are easily scarred by such experiences, affecting them for the rest of their lives. While Myspace has taken action to protect children by restricting their profiles, these children often lie about their age and enter the internet world completely vulnerable.

Another issue of Myspace has been the numerous attacks to retrieve personal information about other people. It is important to remember that Myspace is simply a website; it can be subjected to hacks by attackers, and any stored information can be accessed one way or another. Many innocent users believe that simply setting a profile to private can prevent others from seeing their information, but it is not 100% safe. Bugs in the system can also be used to spam users with advertisements of unrelated products or post fake offers in order to phish users into providing their login information. The usual rules of the internet apply, and it is important to double check the webpage before providing any personal or login information.

Credit should be given to Myspace for taking steps to resolve these problems. Profiles for children are automatically set to private, and external links have a warning from Myspace that they are leaving the website. However, it is still a place that has more danger than many teenagers will believe, and caution must be used when setting up a profile for yourself or your child.

Social Networking Becoming More Than a Teenage Fad?

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Most Americans have had some degree of exposure to the new phenomenon of social networking, whether it be instant messaging for hours in Facebook, or simply hearing of the dangers of Myspace on the news. Until recently, though, the revolution of social networking has mostly been contained to teenagers, with the older adults dismissing it as a simple "fad."

As popular social networking sites continue to grow in popularity, however, it becomes apparent that the older age group cannot stay out of the social networking mania forever. Many important companies, especially news channels, have started using Facebook to communicate with their customers. Even CNN, a very popular news channel on television, has created a page on Facebook in which it broadcasts headlines as the news occurs. This allows not only for people to easily access up-to-the-moment news, but also leave comments and provide their opinions on the latest politician’s scandal. CNN’s page has become very popular in Facebook, with nearly 450 thousand "fans" at the time of this article’s writing. Other major news companies have followed suit, including FOX news, ABC news, NBC Action News, and much more. These television channels have also found Facebook pages to be a great place to promote their newest upcoming show and receive viewers’ comments on that "shocking season finale."

Television channels are not the only ones using social networking to promote themselves, however. Many bands have formed Myspace pages to promote their music, and many politicians have created Twitter feeds to help send their messages to greater audiences.

Aside from being used to communicate with friends, social networking sites have also been used as resumes for both prospective college students and employees alike. Universities have found it convenient to look past the college application essays and simply search the names on Facebook, as it often provides a more complete and truthful description of a person’s personality. Employers can also use social networking sites to keep track of their employees’ actions; there have been many stories of employees getting in trouble because they lied to their bosses and talked about their lies on Myspace. These sites can become powerful tools in understanding a person because they contain not only what the person says or thinks, but also what other people – friends and enemies alike – have to say about the person.

Social networking sites, especially Facebook, have expanded from the teenage group into older generations, as well as corporations and even into universities alike. Last April, CNN did a report studying older people who used Facebook, and it found that there are 1.5 million female users over the age of 55, which is a 550% increase from the month before. Facebook and other sites have continued their exponential growth since, reaching out to new users every day. It is not uncommon in these times for a teenager’s mother to create a Facebook as well, seeing all the opportunities of jumping on the social networking bandwagon. This phenomenon has revolutionized interactions between friends and colleagues, as people can keep track of more friends than ever and instantly communicate with all of them.