Facebook alters advertising platform

The popular social networking site Facebook has changed its new advertising platform only three weeks after its debut.

This was done in the wake of widespread protests from Facebook members that the site had invaded their privacy. Dubbed Beacon, the ad platform initially was targeted at all users of the site, unless they actively chose the "opt out" option. Now, after the protests, users will have to actively choose an "opt in" option if they wish to be targeted by the advertisements.

Moveon.org Civic Action spokesman Adam Green was quoted by the AFP as saying: "Sites like Facebook are revolutionizing how we communicate with each other and organize around issues together in a 21st century democracy. "Will corporate advertisers get to write the rules of the Internet or will these new social networks protect our basic rights, like privacy? We hope Facebook's decision sets an important precedent for internet users' rights."

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New "Thank You" Web Site Launched

New "thank you" web site launched

As social networking sites become increasingly popular, internet users will soon be able to post messages of gratitude and share their experiences on a new web site. Unveiled this week, Thanks-o-meter.com provides a total of the number of "thank you" messages posted by visitors, as well as offering statistics showing which categories are the most selected.

George Garner, creator of the site, said: "I'd like it to become a catalyst for bringing attention to the positive things happening in our communities." Visitors are also able to write their own stories and attach private messages to their postings.

The growth in popularity of social networking sites was recently illustrated by figures publishhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifed by comScore which showed that in May the number of people in the US using Facebook.com reached 26.6 million. According to the company, this figure represented an 89 per cent increase on the number of unique visitors recorded during the corresponding month last year.

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