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Mobile Facebook users hit 150 million

July 15, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Facebook has about 150 million mobile users, up from just 100 million in April, and is counting on cell phones as the key platform for the future, according to the social-networking giant’s head of mobile products, Eric Tseng.

“Mobile is fast becoming our growth lever,” Tseng told attendees at the MobileBeat 2010 conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had pegged the number of mobile users at 100 million at the f8 developer conference in late April. Facebook has about 500 million members overall.

Over the next six months, Facebook’s mobile platforms will “catch up” with its PC browser-based interface. Among other things, the company will soon update the application programming interfaces for its Android and iPhone apps, Tseng said. The company is also working to expand its “social graph,” which extends features of Facebook onto other sites, to take advantage of mobile use. For example, a lunchtime promotion for a nearby restaurant might become more effective if it incorporated ratings by a mobile user’s Facebook friends, he said.

But mobile may be even more important beyond the smartphone-heavy developed countries, according to Tseng. In many poorer countries, mobile devices are the first on-ramp to the Internet for most consumers, and Facebook is developing ways for them to become members and use the social network without ever starting up a PC.

Working with Indian carrier Airtel, Facebook set up a mobile-only user experience in which the carrier’s subscribers can join Facebook on a phone. The company is even experimenting with serving subscribers that don’t have data plans, running a trial in which one carrier is allowing subscribers to browse the stripped-down, text-only 0.facebook.com mobile service free of charge. This has drawn users into Facebook while also getting them into the mobile data world, Tseng said.

In what may be good news for Facebook users, Tseng said the company has no interest right now in putting ads on mobile Facebook, because it’s still focused on expanding mobile use. However, it would be fairly straightforward technically to do so, he added.

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Facebook considers simplifying complicated privacy settings

May 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, May 20 (ANI): Social networking site Facebook has been noting the complaints about its privacy settings being too complex and is considering simplifying them.

It has decided to take up the matter after criticism of its privacy policy came from US senators, the European Union and civil liberty groups.

The site also stated that it was listening to the message from users that it has “made things too complex”.

“We’re working on responding to these concerns,” the BBC quoted a spokeswoman as saying.

“Watch this space,” she added.

At the end of last year Facebook changed its default privacy settings, allowing profile information to be shared with the wider web, unless users specifically opted out.

Last month it moved a step further, opening up Facebook data to third-party websites, described by founder Mark Zuckerberg as a move towards “a web where the default is social”.

While Facebook sold the idea as a way to offer a more personalised surfing experience, critics were concerned that users were losing control over their information.

It prompted a letter from the European Commission saying changes to its privacy settings were “unacceptable”.

The move caused outrage among some users, who have organised a “Quit Facebook” day, scheduled for May 31. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: bbc, civil liberty groups, European Commission, European Union, facebook, London, Losing Control, mark zuckerberg, Move Towards, outrage, Privacy Policy, privacy settings, profile, senators, social networking site, spokeswoman, third party

Hollywood film to portray Facebook boss as ‘ruthless, untrustworthy sex maniac’

May 16, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, May 16 (ANI): Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is to be portrayed in a Hollywood film as a ruthless and untrustworthy sex maniac, it has emerged.

Adapted from The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, the 40m-pound black comedy is called The Social Network.

The film is a highly dramatised version told in flashbacks recalled in the drama of a court hearing. The film is set for release in October.

February 4, 2004 when Zuckerberg, then 19, is seen to be dumped in a Harvard bar by his girlfriend, Erica.

She tells him he will “go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a tech geek”. The reality, she says, is rather more upsetting: “I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole.”

Following the snub, Zuckerberg goes back to his college dormitory where, in a drunken fever, he writes the computer code turning Harvard’s annual collection of student photographs and biographies into a website where he and his male friends rank Harvard women as barnyard animals. Thirty minutes after “Thefacebook” goes live, it is so popular that it crashes Harvard’s computer network, reports The Times.

The film shows how Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, also 26, drops out of college and moves to Silicon Valley in California where he builds Facebook with Sean Parker, co-founder of the music piracy site Napster, played in the film by Justin Timberlake, 29.

After Zuckerberg left Harvard his personal life spun out of control, with Parker helping him indulge his fantasies with a stream of “groupies”, the film claims.

Critics who have seen the draft script for the film say it portrays Zuckerberg as a “borderline-autistic conniver”. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: aaron sorkin, Barnyard Animals, black comedy, Bottom Of My Heart, College Dormitory, Conniver, Draft Script, Girlfriend Erica, Harvard Women, Hollywood Film, Jesse Eisenberg, male friends, mark zuckerberg, music piracy, napster, Parker Co, Sex Maniac, Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley In California, Student Photographs

Sanjay Gupta named WEF’s Young Global Leader

March 8, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON: Sanjay Gupta, an Indian-American senior executive, has been chosen by the World Economic Forum for its 2010 class of Young Global Leaders.

Gupta, a second-generation Indian-American, is the senior vice president and advisor to the executive chairman of Abraxis BioScience, a leading pharmaceutical and health-care innovator based in the US with offices throughout the world.

Commenting on his selection, Gupta stated: “I am deeply honoured to be a member of the 2010 class of Young Global Leaders (YGL) and I look forward to working with the YGL community around the world to advance a host of innovative and socially-beneficial initiatives.”

“We are delighted that Sanjay has been recognised for his past and ongoing contributions to social progress through his innovative thinking, vision, and leadership,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, executive chairman of Abraxis BioScience.

“We look forward to supporting his commitment to improving society and the ideals of the Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum.”

The honour, bestowed each year by the forum, recognises and acknowledges between 100 and 200 outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.

Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, tennis player Roger Federer, and the co-founder of Twitter, Evan Williams, are among those selected this year.

Recipients in prior years include the co-founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and television journalist Anderson Cooper.

Prior to joining Abraxis, Gupta served as the director of social enterprise at Intel Corporation. He has also served as the chief financial officer and director of strategy for Dossia, a social-enterprise sponsored by Intel, Wal-Mart, Pitney-Bowes, AT&T, Sanofi-Aventis, Cardinal Health, Vanguard Health, Abraxis BioScience, Applied Materials, and BP America.

Gupta was previously managing director and founder of Realstrategy, a boutique strategy consulting firm based in the US, and was also a partner at Geo Health Partners, an investment partnership which focussed on health care investments domestically and internationally.

Gupta was educated at the University of Oxford, where he earned his MBA and was a member of Merton College. He studied Philosophy at Georgetown University and also studied Bioethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics.

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Facebook crosses 300m users mark, cites rapid growth in profits

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 16 (ANI): Facebook has announced that it has crossed a benchmark of 300 million active monthly users from across the world and also started raking in profits ahead of schedule.

Founder of the world’s largest social networking site Mark Zuckerberg said the company had not expected to begin reaping financial benefits until sometime next year.

“This is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term,” The BBC quoted Zuckerberg as saying in a blog post.

“We are succeeding at building Facebook in a sustainable way. We are just getting started on our goal of connecting everyone.

“We face a lot of fun and important challenges that require rethinking the current systems for enabling information flow across the web,” he added.

Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s vice president of engineering, also said: “Passing these milestones to me means we can continue to fund our development and our innovation and be self sustaining as we grow this network.

“We think 300m is a just a step on the way to get as much of the entire world on the social network communicating with the friends and family and the people they want to communicate with.”

Nick O’Neill of AllFacebook.com added: “That Facebook is able to continue this growth and build a “cash flow positive” business is an impressive feat.

“If the company can cover the cost of scaling to 1 billion users and still manage to break even, there’s no doubt that the company will have a great opportunity to rake in billions.”

The news that the company had crossed the two benchmarks was made at TechCrunch 50 in San Francisco. (ANI)

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David Fincher to direct Facebook: The Movie?

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 25 (ANI): ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ director David Fincher is in talks to helm Facebook: The Movie, according to reports.

The Columbia Pictures film will focus on Mark Zuckerberg, who launched the social networking site in 2004 after creating it as a tool for Harvard university students.

Zuckerberg, 25, is “the youngest billionaire on earth and possibly the youngest self-made billionaire ever,” according to Forbes magazine.

Aaron Sorkin, writer of hit television series ‘The West Wing’, has penned the script of the film, provisionally titled ‘The Social Network’, reports the Telegraph.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fincher is in advanced negotiations to direct the film.

The history of Facebook is a controversial one and the film is likely to shed light on the rift between Zuckerberg and a group of Harvard classmates who claimed he stole the idea from them.

The movie is set to begin production later this year. (ANI)

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Facebook gets celebrity-centred makeover

March 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, March 5 (ANI): Keeping a track of celebrities and causes just got easier – all thanks to Facebook.

The popular social networking site has made changes to its services, which would soon make it simple to keep track of famous stars.

Facebook has announced that members can view the new home page design from March 11, which include increased friend limit and a rephrasing of the status update question.

The site’s 175 million users would be able to follow profile pages of celebrities, organisations and causes while remaining updated about their friends.

“This means that you can find out that Oprah is reading a book backstage before a show just as you would see that your friend uploaded new photos from her trip to Europe,” Sky News quoted founder Mark Zuckerberg as saying.

“You can decide you no longer want to get updates from your old friend from high school who you rarely talk to, or you can filter the stream to only see updates about your family members,” he added in a blog post.

The development was speculated to be a move made to keep up with rival microblogging site Twitter that boats of various high profile members including US President Barack Obama, singer Lindsay Lohan.

TechCrunch blogger Erick Schonfeld said: “Facebook is trying to shore itself up as the foundation for a living, rapid-fire web where the line between private messages and public content is blurred,” he wrote.

“Under no circumstances does it want to cede the thought stream of its users to Twitter.” (ANI)

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Facebook gets celebrity-centred makeover

March 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, March 5 (ANI): Keeping a track of celebrities and causes just got easier – all thanks to Facebook.

The popular social networking site has made changes to its services, which would soon make it simple to keep track of famous stars.

Facebook has announced that members can view the new home page design from March 11, which include increased friend limit and a rephrasing of the status update question.

The site’s 175 million users would be able to follow profile pages of celebrities, organisations and causes while remaining updated about their friends.

The development was speculated to be a move made to keep up with rival microblogging site Twitter that boats of various high profile members including US President Barack Obama, singer Lindsay Lohan.

“Under no circumstances does it want to cede the thought stream of its users to Twitter.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Barack Obama, blogger, erick, facebook, famous stars, fire web, Lindsay Lohan, london march, mark zuckerberg, new photos, old friend, public content, rapid fire, reading a book, rephrasing, schonfeld, sky news, social networking site, techcrunch, thought stream

Facebook gets celebrity-centred makeover

March 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, March 5 (ANI): Keeping a track of celebrities and causes just got easier – all thanks to Facebook.

The popular social networking site has made changes to its services, which would soon make it simple to keep track of famous stars.

Facebook has announced that members can view the new home page design from March 11, which include increased friend limit and a rephrasing of the status update question.

The site’s 175 million users would be able to follow profile pages of celebrities, organisations and causes while remaining updated about their friends.

The development was speculated to be a move made to keep up with rival microblogging site Twitter that boats of various high profile members including US President Barack Obama, singer Lindsay Lohan.

“Under no circumstances does it want to cede the thought stream of its users to Twitter.” (ANI)

Facebook allows MNCs to make profits from 150M members’ private data

February 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Feb 2 (ANI): In a bid to create revenue from Facebook’s 150 million members, the founder of the popular social networking site has created one of the world’s largest market research databases.

With the move, Mark Zuckerberg has finally taken a step to cash-in on Facebook, which was once valued at 15 billion dollars.

Facebook will soon allow multinational companies to selectively target its members in order to research the appeal of new products.

Thus, companies could be posing questions to specially selected members based on such intimate details as whether they are single or married and even whether they are gay or straight.

In the past, Facebook has struggled to make money from advertising.

And the company has now been demonstrating the benefits of its new instant polling tool to some of the most influential business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook’s global markets director and sister of founder Mark Zuckerberg, 24, said that multinational companies were impressed by the ability to receive real-time feedback from the site’s millions of users.

“I had tonnes of people saying ‘this could be so incredible for our business’. It takes a very long time to do a focus group, and businesses often don’t have the luxury of time. I think they liked the instant responses,” the Telegraph quoted her as saying.

She added: “Davos is really a key place to launch an instant tool like this. It’s beneficial for everyone to see us as a global community of 150m users. The vast majority are not just college students in the US talking about things in their bedrooms. We are showing how we are a serious and insightful community.”

Facebook stereotyped as a website used by students or schoolchildren, now promotes users as “serious and insightful” adults to advertise its members as a useful demographic for marketers.

According to marketing experts, Facebook’s vast amount of personal information, together with the loyalty of its users, could be worth “untold millions” to companies engaged in market research.

In fact, Facebook has already sold the new polling system, called engagement ads, to CareerBuilder, a global graduate recruitment company, and AT and T, the US telecoms giant, is trialling the system.

A Facebook spokesman said that the company’s advertising department was marketing the new service to thousands of companies worldwide, and was hoping that the polls would go live this spring. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: billion dollars, business leaders, college students, Davos, facebook, feb 2, focus group, global community, global markets, intimate details, london feb, mark zuckerberg, market research databases, marketers, multinational companies, Randi, schoolchildren, social networking site, time feedback, world economic forum

Hollywood film to portray Facebook boss as ‘ruthless, untrustworthy sex maniac’

Facebook gets celebrity-centred makeover

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