Unlikely Words » facebook

Don Draper presents Facebook Timeline

aaron cohen — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:41:29 +0000

Brilliant. I mean, worth watching just for the 'Carousel' scene.

Via Urlesque / Brooklyn Mutt

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Why? Because you’re a cow. Now shut up and consume your content.

aaron cohen — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:16:32 +0000

Kent Brewster's on Facebook's design changes, or rather people complaining about them. Shades of, "If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold," but a little more in your face. Props for posting it directly to FB, too.

Dear people who whine about interface changes on Facebook:

Unless you are paying money to advertise on Facebook, you are not a Facebook customer. As far as Facebook is concerned, you're not even a human being. You are one of an infinite herd of cows. Facebook (and its faithful ranch-hand Zynga) spreads a thick layer of content for you every morning, you chew it up all day, and they milk you for your lovely creamy clicks every night.

Sure, you might have been calved on the nearby Yahoo or MySpace farms, and you might someday slip under the pasture fence to the greener grass of Google+, but in the end ... you're a cow. Moo all you want about how Facebook went and moved the damn salt lick again; they're not going to listen.

Why? Because you're a cow. Now shut up and consume your content.

Via Joshua Nguyen / Dens

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Random Facebook pages showing up in my feed

aaron cohen — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:07:16 +0000

The other day, I noticed a few items in my Facebook stream that I hadn't "Liked". I figured it was a glitch of some sort. Then it happened again today. I went and looked at my pages and there 10 or so pages I was subscribed to I'd never seen before and would never subscribe to. For instance, I found myself a fan of Phil Fischer, a Christian musician that just completed The Tea Party Song and is asking his fans for $113K so he can get it played on Christian radio. I emailed him to ask if he knew how I had ended up liking his page, and will update when I hear back. If you check his Facebook page, this seems to have happened to other people as well.

I couldn't find much else online about this happening to other people, except for this post on Facebook support. If this happened to you or you see any other info about it, let me know because I'm curious.

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A life in updates

aaron cohen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:21:06 +0000

Yesterday, I wrote about the lack of smartphone/internet/Facebook use by the main characters in contemporary movies and books (I may not have mentioned internet or Facebook or movies, but I meant to). In a discussion that followed, Nick mentioned the idea of a story told entirely in Facebook updates. Almost as if on queue, this video from Maxime Luere. An entire story told through status updates. Well done, too.

Via TDW.

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Facebook is Google

aaron cohen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:04:47 +0000

In an article about Google's recent surprise company-wide raise and bonus this about Facebook's staff.

Of the more than 1,900 Facebook employees with resumes on LinkedIn, 300 -- around 15% of Facebook's staff -- list Google as a past employer.

Is that a lot? Because it sounds like a lot to me. Also, the person that leaked the raise/bonus info to Business Insider got fired. They presumably will not be receiving a raise or a bonus. Unless they go work for Facebook.

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You Know What’s Cool?

aaron cohen — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:23:45 +0000

You Know What's Cool? Is it this? I don't know. It seems like it might not.

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10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account

aaron cohen — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:14:38 +0000

You name your post 10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account and not am I going to click, I'm probably going to link to it, too! Click through for back up to all the bullet points. #9 is pretty important, and #4 and #1 are funny. Does anyone know what % of internet users AOL had at it's peak and how that compares to the 400 Million accounts Facebook has right now?

10. Facebook's Terms Of Service are completely one-sided.
9. Facebook's CEO has a documented history of unethical behavior.
8. Facebook has flat out declared war on privacy.
7. Facebook is pulling a classic bait-and-switch.
6. Facebook is a bully.
5. Even your private data is shared with applications.
4. Facebook is not technically competent enough to be trusted.
3. Facebook makes it incredibly difficult to truly delete your account.
2. Facebook doesn't (really) support the Open Web.
1. The Facebook application itself sucks.

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Facebook Analogy

aaron cohen — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:21:15 +0000

You know why Facebook doesn't care about your privacy? You know how if you're a credit card customer that pays off your bills every month the credit card company can't make any money off of you? If you lock up your activity on Facebook, you close your circle tight, and Facebook can't use your information to help them beat Google. Why should they care about your privacy?

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Facebook Doesn’t Care About Your Privacy

aaron cohen — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:03:13 +0000

Hahahaha. The motherfuckers at Facebook are doing it again. You maybe heard about their plan this week to Facebookify the web by making some social sites you're a part of more social. And just like last time, Facebook's default forces you to rely on yourself for your privacy. I don't think most people care. Hell, I don't even think I care. I DO have a pretty strong opinion of how you're supposed to do something on the web, though, and this isn't it.

Want to opt out of instant personalization? Make sure to block the applications:

How do I opt-out of instant personalization?
You can opt-out of instant personalization by disallowing it here. By clicking "No Thanks" on the Facebook notification on partner sites, partners will delete your data. To prevent your friends from sharing any of your information with an instant personalization partner, block the application: Microsoft Docs.com, Pandora, Yelp.

Newsweek Tumblr

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The Future of Facebook

aaron cohen — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:59:28 +0000

I've said it before, but I think in 10 years, it's even odds that people think of Facebook the way they think of AOL now. Since this column is one of the first I've seen to agree, I'm obviously going to link it.

In the world of technology even giants can stumble – or fail. Once upon a time AOL was the reigning online behemoth. At its peak in the 1990s it had 30 million paying subscribers (which at the time was a significant proportion of the online population in the US and Europe) and thought itself big enough to take over Time Warner. There was even a schmaltzy movie – You've Got Mail – based around its email service. Now it's a business-school case study in hubris.

AOL was also a study in corporate strategy from which the Facebook founders learned avidly. Initially they conceived of their service as an AOL-type "walled garden" – which implied trying to keep subscribers inside that controlled space. If one of your Facebook friends sent you a message then you had to be logged in to read it.

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“If You Turn Your Head I Win”

aaron cohen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:31:03 +0000

I LOL'd. This post is as good a place as any to note that the media response to Chat Roulette echos the response to Twitter around this time last year. Basically, they had been so burned by ignoring Myspace, and took too long to understand Facebook, they weren't going to get fooled by Twitter and so they jumped in both feet first. Chat Roulette went from internet sensation to all over the media in record time. I imagine that the next platform to take off will get covered in the traditional media BEFORE it becomes popular online, thus creating an interesting paradox.

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Quick Thoughts on Google Buzz

aaron cohen — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:13:12 +0000

As of this writing, I still don't have Google Buzz on my computer - these thoughts were gleaned from find it enabled on my iPhone. First reaction: Holy crap, I love it.

This app wouldn't have worked 3 years ago, but Facebook and Twitter have been doing heavy lifting, training "Social Media Experts" and technophobes alike how to (over)share. Broadly generalizing here, but a lot of people probably find their Facebook accounts bloated with too many people they don't care enough about. By limiting Google Buzz to the users you communicate most with, Google has made the hard cuts for you.

I wonder if people will share differently than they do on FB or Twitter. What do you think?

Microsoft probably invested millions of dollars and several months to come up with a word they could turn into a verb like 'To Google', but Buzz feels natural right off the bat. For what it's worth, I like 'to Buzz' infinitely more than I like 'to Tweet'.

Since I only saw it on my iPhone, this may change, but it's potential as a mobile app is amazing.

Privacy issues aside, the Buzz Map and the "Nearby" feature of the mobile app are incredibly voyeuristic and addictive. With links to a users Google Profile, it also makes the web a lot more local and personal.

What will Facebook's undoubtedly ham-handed response be? Another move that outrages privacy experts, looks bad, and is hard to use?

When Google exposes my data, somehow I expect it, maybe I'm an apologist. When Facebook does it, people get MAD MAD MAD.

I think Twitter remains relatively useful, but this hurts Facebook a lot.

Also, whither Foursquare?

What do you think?

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Facebook/iPhone Contact Sync

aaron cohen — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:47:00 +0000

The latest update to Facebook's iPhone app offers push updates, which is nice. Also, the ability to sync your iPhone contacts with your Facebook contacts, which sounds nice, but ruh roh, what's this? "Please make sure your friends are comfortable with any use you make of their information." To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn't have minded sending the info to FB, but this warning is so sketchy as to be alarming. FB is now saying that you're not responsible for your privacy, your friends are. How does that make any sense? I wonder if this is an example of FB's last few privacy moves. Overreach inappropriately and then walk it back if there's an uproar. What do you think?

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The Social Media Guru

aaron cohen — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:10:10 +0000

Via Fimoculous, this is the best thing I've seen in a month. Love.

It will be a big video this week.

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Facebook Like Button Humor

aaron cohen — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:09:29 +0000

Every couple months I ask you guys if Facebook humor is still funny and, we never come to a conclusion. So here's 4 Awkward Moments in Facebook "Likes".

Via Twitter.

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Blake Schwarzenbach to Write for Huffington Post?

aaron cohen — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:07:46 +0000

According to Facebook, Blake Schwarzenbach from Thorns of Life, Jets to Brazil, and Jawbreaker will be writing at Huffington Post starting "Monday, July 25". Seeing as how today is the 25th and Monday is the 27th, it's not clear if this is a joke, but I'll definitely be looking for totalaccord@huffingtonpost.com on Monday. I'll post something on the article if it happens. Still no word on the album that was rumored to be releasing on June 30th.

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“Twitter is a media/marketing vehicle disguised as a social network.”

aaron cohen — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:02:43 +0000

Or full quote from this Mediaite.com interview with Bill Simmons: "Facebook is a social network; Twitter is a media/marketing vehicle disguised as a social network." It's interesting to see how hard Bill Simmons has fallen for Twitter because a couple months ago he was bashing it. In general, I think his take on media/journalism is too simplified, but this quote about Twitter is right on.

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Google Reader, Like, Follow, Share

aaron cohen — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:54:19 +0000

4 different people mentioned to me today that I ended up in their Google Reader at some point and they wanted to know why. I had noticed that certain articles I was scanning were "liked" by people I didn't know, which I thought was weird. Obviously, Google made a change. To me it looks like a strike against both Facebook AND Twitter. Not only are you able to connect with and read the articles shared by people you do know (Facebook), but you'll be able to do the same with people you don't know, as well (Twitter). Seems like a good idea to me.

Oh, and you're damn right I'm gonna "share" this, Captain Obvious, you better "like" it.

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Ben Mezrich’s Facebook Book

aaron cohen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:15:55 +0000

Boston Magazine skewers Ben Mezrich's Facebook book, which is supposed to come out in a few weeks. The book, which was optioned as a movie that is being written by Aaron Sorkin, apparently makes a lot of things up, which makes it just like all of Mezrich's other books. (I still haven't figured out what the difference between Bustin Vegas and Bringing Down the House is.)

What I wish someone would write is a book about whether Mark Zuckerberg is the worst CEO ever using many of Facebook's shortsighted and herkyjerky decisions of the last 18 months as evidence. In 10 years, it will be surprising if people don't think about Facebook the way people think about AOL now.

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Unlikely Words » facebook

Don Draper presents Facebook Timeline

Why? Because you’re a cow. Now shut up and consume your content.

Random Facebook pages showing up in my feed

A life in updates

Facebook is Google

You Know What’s Cool?

10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account

Facebook Analogy

Facebook Doesn’t Care About Your Privacy

The Future of Facebook

“If You Turn Your Head I Win”

More Damning Facebook Stories

Quick Thoughts on Google Buzz

Facebook/iPhone Contact Sync

The Social Media Guru

Facebook Like Button Humor

Blake Schwarzenbach to Write for Huffington Post?

“Twitter is a media/marketing vehicle disguised as a social network.”

Google Reader, Like, Follow, Share

Ben Mezrich’s Facebook Book