Facebook Puts a Happy Face on Latest Numbers

The war between Facebook and MySpace to reel in users continues to heat up, with Facebook reportedly drawing in more than 200 million unique worldwide visitors; more than 1 in 5 people who accessed the Internet in November stopped by the site, according to a report on www.techcrunch.com.

In December, 222 million people visited the site, according to newly released Comscore stats, a nearly 11% month over month growth rate. Twenty-two percent of the entire Internet audience went to Facebook in December.

Facebook now has nearly 100 million more worldwide users than MySpace, which brought in 4 million new users in December to 125 million total. The page view difference is more dramatic - Facebook had 80 billion monthly page views in December v. 43 billion for MySpace. Just six months ago the sites were about the same size.

For more on the story and reaction to it, visit http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/22/facebook-now-nearly-twice-the-size-of-myspace-worldwide/

Online Social Networks Generally Not at Fault

Anyone with children surfing the Internet is no doubt worried about just who may be watching their kids at the same time.

A recent analysis by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force points out that child exploitation on the Internet and elsewhere is a concern, however online social networks, like Facebook and MySpace, are not at fault for the majority of it since most reported cases preceeded their existence.

Other findings from the report include:

* Children are unlikely to be propositioned by adults online unless they are willing participants and are already at risk because of poor home environments, substance abuse or other problems;

* Despite some high-profile cases, "bullying and harassment, generally by peers, are the most frequent threats that minors face," both online and offline.

The task force was formed a year ago by the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, a joint effort of the 50 federal state attorneys general, led by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard.

Finally, the task force evaluated age verification and identity authentication, filtering and auditing, text analysis, and biometrics technology that some feel could help strengthen the security of social networks. Ultimately, the task force discovered that many of the technologies had potential but that nearly all of them work in a way that some might see as invasions of their privacy.

The task force was comprised of organizations—including AOL, Facebook, Google, MySpace and Yahoo!

Commentary: Breast-feeding Takes Hold of Facebook

In today's challenging economy, business professionals must avoid any slip ups at all costs to keep their job.

But what about those women who must feed their children who join them at their place of business?

Although the numbers may not be high, it does exist. More importantly, what about the woman at home who just wants to nurture her child on a regular basis? Would a social networking site have an issue with that? In the case of one California woman, apparently so.

Last summer the social networking site Facebook began removing any photos it deems obscene, including those containing a fully exposed breast, which the site labels as "showing the nipple or areola."

On Dec. 27, approximately 11,000 protesters held a virtual nurse-in by uploading breast-feeding photos onto their Facebook profiles, and 20 or so women showed up at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., to breast-feed there. By Dec. 30, more than 85,000 members had become members of a Facebook group called "Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!"

The group, founded by San Diego mom Kelli Roman, urges Facebook to change its obscenity policy. According to the petition the moms put together, "We expect you to realize that nursing moms everywhere have a right to show pictures of their babies eating, just like bottle-fed babies have a right to be seen. In an effort to appease the closed-minded, you are only serving to be detrimental to babies, women, and society."

Canadian group Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA) began posting on its Web site photos that breast feeders claim were removed from Facebook.

Facebook, in turn, says that its company's guidelines regarding exposed flesh allow many breastfeeding photos. However, Facebook draws the line at a visible nipple or areola. The company also nixes pictures showing the gluteal cleft.

While I go look up the definition of gluteal cleft, I'll check out some of the photos the moms have posted. As I see it, the moms are in the right here. Being a guy, I know better than to argue with a breast-feeding mom.