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Facebook

Turn Google+ Into Facebook

by Ian Scott on July 1, 2011

The social networking wars have dialed it up to 11 this week, with Google unleashing its highly anticipated (and highly leaked) Google+ social initiative upon the world on Tuesday — to not a bad response, to be honest. So it’s not that surprising that today Facebook countered the + hubbub with its own ‘we’ve got something awesome’ unveiling planned for next week. You crazy kids!

The resemblance between the two social networks is uncanny — my Tweet-length opinion is that Google+ is like Facebook with a more usable, streamlined Photos and Groups interface (and that might be enough to win). Only time will tell.

In the meantime, for those of you who have the decidedly middle class problem of social network fatigue, there is a solution. Thanks to the unlimited creativity of  humans, you can now actually make your Google+ look like Facebook, with the Google+ : Facebook Stylish extension or this CSS code.

(Via TechCrunch.)

Tagged as: Facebook, Google

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Meet Your Newest Social Network Google+

by Ian Scott on June 29, 2011

After long speculation, Google is officially introducing the company’s Facebook rival today, named Google+. It has a number of unique features to the service. Plus, there is no sign up required for anyone with an active Google account. But is this really the Facebook killer we have been waiting for?

Google+ has five different points of emphasis. The first is Circles, which lets you drag and drop friends into specific groups. Similar to Facebook friend lists, yes, but a lot of the sharing revolves around which groups the user decides to share certain bits of information to.

Building upon Circles is Hangouts, which is really just Google’s fancy term for group video chat. In the stream, users can see who is ‘hanging out’ and decide to join a hangout and participate in a large video conference. Hangouts may consist of random friends or specific Circles of friends.

Sparks is the third point of emphasis, and it stems more from Google search than it does from the social aspects of Google+. In a nutshell, it is a mini search engine. The service encourages the user to search for things of interest and save them in a list. Instead of a standard list of results, Sparks presents different articles or videos the user can watch, read, or share. And using the list of interests, the results for each are accessible again at any time.

Finally, we have two mobile features, available on the Android Market immediately and coming to the App Store soon. Instant Upload plays up the fact that it is a tedious process to upload multiple photos from a smart phone. This feature will automatically upload any photos and videos a user captures and store them in a private album in Google+ for sharing upon the user’s own discretion. Huddle, simply put, is Google’s answer to iMessage. It combines text messaging and chatting into one and allows for group chatting from within the app. Circles plays a big role in this as well.

Those five main features are the stars of the show here. Aside from them, Google+ does provide some more familiar features. A stream shows real-time updates from friends and a hub for sharing statuses, photos, videos, and links. Plus, each user gets an individual profile. The normal bar at the top of each Google product turns black when Google+ is active, and acts as full navigation for the services, profiles, and notifications.

The Google+ project is currently available by invitation-only, but over time Google will roll it out to everyone. So — the question you have been waiting for — is this going to take down Facebook? I think for sure that it has more potential than any other competitor thus far. However, since Facebook reportedly now has 750 million active users, winning the battle will be an extremely long and painful challenge. Google+ is either going to fly or die.

(Via Skatter Tech.)

Tagged as: Facebook, Google, Social Network

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Facebook for iPhone updated with new notification UI, bug fixes

by Ian Scott on December 19, 2010

Facebook has yet again released an update for their iPhone and iPod touch application, this time with some long overdue UI improvements as well as bug fixes.

  • Improved reliability in chat and messages
  • Improved notifications UI
  • Fixed memory usage
  • Fixed some crashes
  • Walls you cannot post on no longer show the text field at the top
  • Restore ability to post as a page that you admin
  • Fixed group photos
  • Various Places improvements

Having just downloaded this update and played around with it for a few minutes I will say the new notifications UI is long overdue and provides a much cleaner and easier to use interface. Hopefully this update will also fix many of the issues users have been hoping to see fixed for a while now.

So go ahead and grab your updated Facebook app and let us know what you think of the improvements and as always if you have any issues we want to hear about those as well.

Facebook for iPhone updated with new notification UI, bug fixes is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

(Via The iPhone Blog.)

Tagged as: Facebook, iPhone

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The New Facebook Messages

by Ian Scott on November 16, 2010

Facebook has launched what it calls the ‘Modern Messaging System,’ a product that integrates e-mail, IM and texting in a unified inbox. Team Mashable has been playing around with the new product, and we’ve put together a quick screenshot walkthrough to help you make sense of what the new Facebook Messages product is all about.

At a press event in San Francisco earlier today, Mark Zuckerberg revealed ‘Project Titan,’ the codename for an overhauled version of the company’s messaging product. Long in need of an upgrade, Facebook has finally given it a facelift and a ton of new features. Its central thesis is that messaging should be simple and unified, which is why it integrates IM, chat, SMS and e-mail into one inbox. Users can send e-mails from an @facebook.com address and text their friends from the same interface.

The revamped Facebook Messages will be rolled out to the social network’s 500+ million users in the next few months. Initial access has only be given to a small group of Facebook employees and beta testers. In the meantime, we have a step-by-step picture guide to the social network’s revamped messaging feature.

Check out our gallery below, and let us know what you think of the new Facebook Messages in the comments.

Screenshots: The New Facebook Messages

Facebook Messages Splash Screen

The first thing you’ll see is that there’s a new version of Facebook Messages. Clicking on the pop-up takes you to this splash page, which explains the benefits and gives you a giant ‘Upgrade’ button to press.

@facebook.com E-mail

If you press the upgrade button, you’re immediately taken to the new Messages inbox. You will receive this notification, asking you whether you’d like to activate your @facebook.com e-mail address.

The Facebook Inbox

This is the new Facebook inbox. It’s a lot like the old one, although it does a better job of showing you who sent the last message in a conversation. It also shows you when you’ve received an attachment and is cleaner overall.

Facebook Messages Invites

This is the Invites page for Facebook Messages. The new product is invite-only, so to get access you have to have a friend invite you. I only got two invites, both of which I have given out already.

The ‘Other Messages’ Inbox

This is the ‘Other Messages’ inbox, mostly meant for messages sent to you by specific events or Facebook Pages.

Archiving a Message

This is what happens when you try to archive a message for the first time. Facebook wants you to archive your messages so you can refer to them two, five, or 50 years from now. Deleting messages has to be done from within the message itself.

Receiving a Message

This is the interface for receiving a single message. I got this message from Mashable Reporter Samuel Axon, who e-mailed my @facebook.com e-mail address.

Texting in Facebook Messages

If you check the mobile icon box, you send a friend a text message. In this case, my friend doesn’t have SMS activated, so I can request that he turn it on. In most cases this will just send Samuel a text message.

Sending a Facebook Message

This shows off the messaging and ‘quick reply’ features of the new Messages interface. Quick Messaging simply means you only have to hit ‘enter’ to send a message.

(Via Mashable!.)

Tagged as: Facebook, Facebook Messages, Screenshots

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How to Sell Products via Your Facebook Page

October 26, 2010

Ever wished you could directly sell your products and services from within Facebook? If so, this post is for you. I decided to dig in and research the current landscape thoroughly, both to better understand the lay of the land and to save you the research hassle. It was only a matter of time before [...]

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Now Anyone at Your Cafe Can Hijack Your Facebook Account

October 25, 2010

A new Firefox extension lets anyone sharing an open wireless network at your neighborhood café or workplace easily access your Facebook, Twitter and myriad other online accounts. It’s a terrifying tool designed to highlight a longstanding problem. More » (Via Gawker.) Enjoyed this article?WebsiteWordPress themes!

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Facebook Photos gets drag and drop functionality

October 21, 2010

Facebook has announced another round of tweaks to Facebook Photos, offering drag and drop functionality to the service. According to Facebook the ability to drag and drop picture folders on the screen has been the number one wish from its users, so like the veritable genie in a bottle, Facebook has made this wish come [...]

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Bing ‘Likes’ Facebook in Delivering Social Search Results

October 13, 2010

Microsoft’s Bing search engine has deepened its relationship with social network Facebook to deliver search results that are more personalized by integrating with the network’s Like feature. According to Microsoft, people turn to their networks of friends and family for advice, and the integration is a natural evolution of advice giving and sharing. The features [...]

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