Ask Debra Perrine

Facebook Says No To Friend Connect

2008-05-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

Is this a privacy issue or is it something else? You decide.

Facebook Disconnects Google Friend Connect

Facebook says it denied Google Friend Connect access to Facebook user data for failing to respect its privacy requirements.

By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek
May 16, 2008 09:00 AM

Facebook isn't feeling very social toward Google (NSDQ: GOOG). The social networking site on Thursday broke up with Google Friend Connect -- the search company's system for adding social features to any Web site. It denied Friend Connect access to Facebook user data for failing to respect its privacy requirements.

"We've found that [Friend Connect] redistributes user information from Facebook to other developers without users' knowledge, which doesn't respect the privacy standards our users have come to expect and is a violation of our Terms of Service," said Facebook engineer Charlie Cheever in a blog post. "Just as we've been forced to do for other applications that redistribute data in a way users might not expect or understand, we've had to suspend Friend Connect's access to Facebook user information until it comes into compliance."

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Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, disputes Cheever's contention that privacy is the issue. "We really think that the broad issue here is 'do users have control of their data?'" he said. "And we think that Friend Connect gives users control of their data. Obviously we're disappointed that Facebook doesn't want to let its users access their friends on Friend Connect. We really think this is an issue of user control."

Privacy, Kraus said, isn't the problem. "Google stores no social graph data from any of the social networks," he insisted. "None. ... What Google stores is just a Friend Connect ID, which is just a number, and whatever security token that the social network gives us back. That's all. We don't store credentials, we don't store profile data."

Kraus added that at the recent developer event where Friend Connect was introduced, officials from business social networking site LinkedIn expressed approval of the way Friend Connect respected user privacy.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request to explain what Facebook user information Google Friend Connect allegedly redistributes.

"Google lives and dies on protecting users' privacy," Kraus added. "We believes [Friend Connect] is good for users in terms of control and extremely protective of user' privacy."

Research firm IDC also sees control as the issue. "Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), and Google are fighting to reign as this central account for Web users," analyst Caroline Dangson said in a research note published on Monday.

Dangson cast the fight as an effort by Google to de-emphasize the user-centric, site-centric vision of online interaction that has emerged around social networking sites in favor of a more dispersed, modular model that benefits from Google as its center of gravity.

"Google Friend Connect puts Google in the middle of the social graph by mediating the relationship between people's content (their blogs, etc.) and their friends -- a smart but also a bit devious as a competitive move," she wrote.

Kraus insists Friend Connect benefits social networks and their users. "It makes those relationships you establish on social networks more useful on more places," he said. "And if the user so chooses, it makes the activity streams, or updates streams -- whatever you want to call them -- richer within those social networks."

Social Networks

2008-04-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

There are many social networks out there and they all play a big role on the internet. Social networks are used for a variety of reasons, whether it be to keep in touch with friends and family, or to build a huge network of people that share common goals. Whatever your reasons in joining a social network, you have plenty to choose from.

The best way to find out more about social networks is to visit Blogs and Social Networks. Stephanie Haile goes into detail about some of the more popular social networks. She also has a radio show with her daughter Stevie, at Blog Talk Radio also called Blogs And Social Networks. You will want to go listen to their shows, as they provide a lot of information about the different networks and how to use them. Enjoy!

Google Me The Movie

2008-04-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Did you get a chance to hear Jim Killeen of Google Me The Movie being interviewed by Jim Cobb at Google Me Talk Radio last night? If you didn't, you can go to Google Me Talk Radio and listen now. It was a great interview and Jim Killeen talked about some things he couldn't put in the movie. If haven't seen the movie or ordered your DVD you can go to Google Me The Movie and take care of that now. Jim Killeen did an outstanding job, the movie was great!

Google Me Talk Radio Jim Killeen

2008-04-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

Jim Killeens adventure through the search engines of GOOGLE to the
far corners of the Earth have given him a knowledge one can only
obtain throughout the journey.

Computers are now a focus of our daily lives rather than an
addition to the tasks we perform each day. Strictly checking our
occasional emails has become a thing of the past. Bringing the
computers out of the den and into the main living area of the home
for researching information, watching videos and sometimes
gathering advice on the many websites available through the
world-wide web. GOOGLE has produced the greatest impression and has
enabled web users to connect, seek, and ultimately locate each
other.

GOOGLE Me The Movie, Jim Killeen, and Blog Talk Radio are merging
together for a one night event on GOOGLE Me Talk Radio! Thursday
night April 24th at 8pm ET. This will be an exciting evening with
the host of GOOGLE Me Talk Radio, Jim Cobb and The GOOGLE Me Man
with the plan, Jim Killeen. Be sure to spend some time at
http://www.GoogleMeTalkRadio.com for the entertaining evening. This will be an event you will not want to miss. Hope to see you there.

Article Writing

2008-04-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

Writing articles is a great way to generate traffic to your website. Other reasons for article writing are increased search engine rankings, builds link popularity, helps to establish you as an expert in your field (so long as you do your research and write a good article), will get returning visitors to your site.

Now that you know the why, let's begin with the how. First choose your topic and make sure that you research the subject. Also do a keyword search for some phrases than you can use in your article, but don't overuse them. Make an outline for your article. You need a headline (title) that is catchy and will make people want to read it, then the introduction where you say a little of what the article is about. Next comes the body where you discuss in detail all the points you outlined in the introduction. Make sure each point has it's own paragraph, usually about 5 lines long. Finally the conclusion, where you give a summary of the body of your article and get the reader to take action.

That's it. That is how to write an article. There are many places where you can place your article for free. One thing that you need to know is that most places like articles that are 500 to 800 words long. If your article is longer than that, try making two articles out of it. Now go write an article! :)

Blogging

2008-04-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would say this but here I go, blogging is fun!! When I was in class with MY VM Team and the coach said we were going to learn blogging, I just thought Oh No!, this is something I don't want to do. But I gave it a chance and I really like doing it. Now it is your turn to learn how to get your own blog started.

Instead of me telling you how to get your blog started, I am going to send you to a person that we at My VM Team call the Blogging Queen. Stephanie has done such a great job at blogging and teaching us how to do it, I know your blog will be great if you just follow her steps. She has everything laid at for you using videos. All you have to do is click here to get started. You will have to click on older post once you get there because she has been very busy posting! Now go and have fun!

Advertising Tips

2008-04-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

Do you have a website or blog that you want to drive traffic to? There are many places to advertise your business on the web, some free and some paid. Right now let's concentrate on the free sites. :)

Classified ads are a good way to get started and there are a lot of free sites you can use. With classifieds you need a headline (title) that is catchy, but truthful. Don't say something like "You Can Make $1000.00 Tonight!, cause that is not true. Then you need the body where you write about your website or product. You don't want to tell them everything in your ad. I like to keep it kind of vague so they will click through to my site. You want to make them curious so that they want to know more. Here is a list of a few free classified sites.

US Free Classifieds
adoos
Adpost

I have also had good luck with safelist even though they can be a pain because of all the email that you receive. Most of them are credit based, so you need to read emails to get the credits. What I do is look at all the subject lines, keep the ones that look interesting and delete the rest of them. Here are a few that have worked for me.

Free Safelist Mailer
Active Safelist
List Joe

The most important thing to remember about advertising is to be consistent. It is something that has to be done on a daily basis. I hope this helps you to do more advertising. Next time I will be going over writing articles, blogging, and social networks.

What Do You Choose?

2008-04-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Everyone has choices to make that will affect their lives. I choose to be successful, so I chose My VM Team to guide me down that path. What choices will you make today?

Multiple Streams Of Income

2008-04-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

In today's world of rising prices, companies downsizing, and other businesses closing, it is a necessity to have more than one stream of income. You know that old saying, don't put all your eggs in one basket? That definitely applies to your income. If you have only one income, what would happen if you lost it for whatever reason? Now if you had multiple streams of incomes, if something were to happen to one of them, you would still have others to concentrate on.

One way to generate multiple streams of income is affiliate marketing. You market goods or services for a company getting a percentage of what customers buy through your website. Some of these companies have a 2 tier system where you get an additional stream of income by recruiting affiliates, thereby earning overrides from their sales. You could be an affiliate for more than one company, but it is best if you keep them in the same niche so to be able to tie them altogether.

There are thousands of affiliate programs to choose from. The best thing to do is to pick one that has products or services that you are interested in and that you would use yourself. I for one couldn't sell something that I wouldn't use. You can click here for one that I use myself.
Good luck on building your multiple streams of income. :)

Enough Is Enough

2008-04-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my emails today and saw hundreds of ads promoting businesses. If you belong to any safelist, this is to be expected. I have no problem looking at these ads with the hope of someone looking at mine. What I do have a problem with is all the ads that show someone standing in front of a huge house or in front of their many expensive cars. Look, they say, at everything I paid for in cash with the money I made from the business that I want you to join. Join now and you can have this too! I say, Enough is Enough!

I don't care about the house you live in, the cars you drive, and I really don't want to see a snapshot of your Clickbank account. What I do want is a clear picture of what your business is before I sign up. I want to know how much it is going to cost me every month and what the expectations are. I also want to know if after I sign up if I will ever hear from you again, or if I will be left to find my own way.

I don't think that any of this is too much to ask. These are just some of the questions that you should ask before joining any business. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that these are bad businesses, just that they don't really show what you need to know before signing up.

That's all the ranting I am going to do today. Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.

It's All About Me!

2008-03-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

Normally you wouldn't ever hear me utter the words it's all about me. I usually put myself last after my family and friends, but this time I am putting myself first! You see, I am branding myself, my name, and it's working!

Do you know how exciting it is to type your name in Google, Yahoo or in any of the other search engines and see your name on the top? Not only on the top, but pages all about you! Believe me, it is an awesome feeling. It took some work, sweat, and tears, but it is totally worth it. I am in control of what is being said about me on the internet.

Have you Googled your name? Did you find anything? If not, it's time to start branding you! Go ahead and Google my name - Debra Perrine, to see that I know what I am talking about. If you would like to start branding yourself, click here. If you would like to have this to start your own branding, just click on the globe at the top of the page. For more on branding a great blog to read is Ask Jim Cobb or listen to his talk show Google Me Talk Radio.

The Good Old Days?

2008-03-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

In class the other day, we started talking about how there used to be only three t.v. stations. I don't remember why that was brought up but it made me think about how much different the world is today than it was in the sixties and seventies. Is it better? Or is it worse? I guess only you can answer that question.

When I was growing up we did only have three t.v. stations and one t.v. But that didn't matter because we really weren't allowed to watch much anyway. We certainly didn't watch when we got home from school. That was the time to do homework, then go outside and play until it was time to set the table for dinner. After dinner, my sister and I always had to wash and dry the dishes. Then maybe we could watch t.v for half an hour before bed. But what we watched was always what my dad wanted to watch. On the weekends, we never watched t.v. We were always to busy playing outside. On the weekends and in the summer, my mom usually did not see us until the street lights came on. Then my dad would come out and whistle for us, and we went home. No need for a cell phone.

Nowadays, kids spend hours in front of the t.v or the computer, or playing games on whatever system they have. I remember having to work. Not a real job, but helping my parents whenever they said. You notice I didn't say asked? Like getting rocks to fill the pot holes in our lane ( or driveway if you prefer). It was almost a mile long! Can you imagine how many loads of rocks that used? Ugh! Talk about tired when we were done. Or collecting all the corncobs after the cornfield was harvested and getting all the kernels off. Your hands would ache after that. But you know what? My parents instilled a great attitude toward work in me. As an adult, I have a good work ethic. I take pride in what I do and always do my best. That seems to be missing nowadays. When I worked in retail, not all but quite a few people just didn't care about the job they did. They did as little as possible to be able to collect their check. I blame this on the parents. Kids are given everything they want, when they want it without having to work for it. I have tried to instill the same work ethic I have in my own kids, but only time will tell.

Anyway, I really don't know where I am going with this, but it was fun remembering the "old" days. Thanks for letting me take a walk down memory lane!

The Google Me Gang!

2008-03-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

If you notice in the sidebar I have a list of links entitled - The Google Me Gang! These are just a few of a growing group of people that know the power of personal branding. Personal branding is probably one of the most important aspects of building a business whether it is on or off line.

If you are doing business, or planning to, you should know that people would prefer to do business with someone the know, or at least know something about. Personal branding is about getting your name out there on the internet, being visible and easy to find. It is also about controlling what type of content there is about you.

Jim Cobb says "the idea of branding yourself goes far beyond promotion and marketing yourself to others. The bottom line is it comes down to YOU." To learn more on branding, visit Jim Cobb's blog - http://www.askjimcobb.blogspot.com

Google Me Talk Radio

2008-03-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

I just listened to a talk show on the internet called Google Me Talk Radio. The host of the show is Jim Cobb, a wonderful speaker and a coach to those you want to learn marketing skills. The topic was all about Branding Yourself and your Branding Equity. Jim Cobb shared a vast amount of information and answered questions from callers. This is a show that shouldn't be missed if you are serious about doing business.

Social Network Marketing

2008-03-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Does this happen to you? You are on a Social Network and someone wants to add you as their friend. You look at their profile (at least I do) and see that you have things in common, so you say sure, add me! Then BAM you are slammed with tons of info on their opportunity. There is no "hi, how are you", or "thank you for adding me". Nothing. I had one guy that sent about 5 things a day on his business. I think he got kicked off, cause all of a sudden he was just gone. He must have done that to all his contact's and someone reported him.

Now, I'm not saying you can't use the Social Networks to market your business, cause you can. There is way to do it without making people mad and getting you kicked off or ignored. You have to make friends, their has to be an interaction between you and the people on your friends list. Once you get to know them, then sure mention your business, but don't shove it down their throat. This also applies to any of the forums you may be involved with. Don't be one of those pushy salespeople that everyone tries to get away from! :)

On a final note, Social Networks can be a lot of fun. I just try to follow some advice that I got from my parent's while growing up. Treat other people like you want to be treated, and if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

Social Media Marketing

2008-03-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

What exactly is Social Media Marketing? To me it is all about building relationships. You can do this through Internet forums, podcast, blogs, Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, Friendswin, and more. Below is some video's of other thought's on Social Media Marketing.

2008-03-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

Sam Walton said that "the goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary. Well, I think he got part of that right. Walmart's customer service is certainly legendary, but by no stretch of the imagination could you call it the best. I must say that their return policy is certainly more lenient than some of the other retailers, but that is only a very small portion of customer service.

Even though Walmart has low prices, customers are going elsewhere to shop even if it means spending a little more. Why is this? Because they are more concerned about the almighty dollar rather than their customers. I know that they are in business to make money, but without their customers they can't make their sales. This starts a vicious cycle. Your at your local Walmart and are ready to checkout and you come to a complete stop. The lines are long and there is only a few registers open. Now this could be because there were a lot of call-offs that day, and they call for backup cashiers. The backup cashiers never come up because they are working in their departments and don't want to leave cause they will get in trouble if their work is not done. You see a CSM ( Customer Service Manager) and ask about opening more registers. You wait a little while and still no more registers are opened. You ask to speak to a manager. After waiting another half hour you throw your items on the belt of an empty register and walk out. Next week, sales are down in that store. So what does management do? Cuts hours, so less associates, less customer service, more angry customers, and it starts all over again.

This is just a small example of Walmarts bad customer service. There are many way's in which they could improve but will they?