Two important pieces of information from Facebook –
First, Facebook has rolled out a new commenting system in an attempt to be the go-to tool for commenting on blog posts. This is a publisher-side feature, meaning blog administrators need to make the change. This is an important move from Facebook to further establish their presence on every website and increase their factor to the future of search ranking. The benefit to users is that they’ll most likely be able to comment on any blog without the hassle of logging in, the con is that it gives Facebook more information on you and might require users to create an account in order to comment.
Second, and most likely a concern to users, is that Facebook has announced they will be moving forward with a questionable move that impacts privacy. Facebook has announced that they will share users home addresses and phone numbers with external sites. This is certainly a big move, but one that users can control. Before the information is distributed, users will need to approve the information distributed to the site. Facebook has since contacted the Huffington Post with the following statement;
Despite some rumors, there’s no way for other websites to access a user’s address or phone number from Facebook. For people that may find this option useful in the future, we’re considering ways to let them share this information (for example to use an online shopping site without always having to re-type their address). People will always be in control of what Facebook information they share with apps and websites.
If nothing else, this should be a reminder that Facebook users should pay attention to their privacy settings and know how to use them. I’ve written a couple blog posts on how to manage your Facebook privacy. It may seem like a pain, but in the long run managing your online profile is a crucial skill.
