That’s that then… Instagram bought by Facebook

Yesterday, Instagram announced that they had been bought by Facebook. Though they indicated that it would be “business as usual” for Instagram, do we really think that this is going to happen.

And so it begins... #fote11Generally whenever Apple, Google or Facebook buy another company that runs a particular service, they run it for a year or so and then either integrate aspects of it into their service or not… and then shut it down.

You never know Facebook may continue to run Instagram as a separate service, however I think after a year it will probably cease to exist…

Google took Jaiku and Picnik, two excellent services, deprecated their functionality and integrated aspects into Google+ (probably Buzz and Wave too) however both services are now shut down.

Apple took Siri and integrated it into iOS and made it 4S only whereas before it worked with the 4 and 3GS.

13 #366photosTwitter bought out Tweetie and then created the Twitter app out of it.

Facebook bought Gowalla and integrated it into Facebook and then shut down the service.

I would be very surprised to see Instagram operating as it currently does after a year, if at all.

I do like Instagram, and I see it much more of a social app than a photographic app, there are many apps out there that do a significantly better job at image editing. However they lack the social aspect that you find in Instagram.

Ah well, one shouldn’t really think that things like this don’t happen and it does more often than I like, but that’s life I think.

Learners use Facebook to record evidence of work experience

Learners on the Preparing For Employment Programme (PREP) at Tyne Metropolitan College are using Facebook, the popular social networking website, to help them keep a diary while attending a work experience placement. The diary is used as evidence for this unit, which is part of the Certificate in Employability and Personal Development. Facebook also helps the tutor to keep in touch and be more involved with the learners while they are away from the College.

Read more.

There are e-safety issues with using Facebook in this way, however with adequate guidelines in place for both staff and students, and under the assumption that students will check Facebook more often than college provided tools, this will remind then of the curriculum need to keep a diary.

Personally I would prefer using Posterous which can either be used with e-mail, on the web, or using mobile apps, as it would be a little easier for learners to post photographs and video to an online diary. From a privacy perspective, in my opinion it is easier to lock down Posterous than it is Facebook streams.

National Unfriend Day

November 17th is National Unfriend Day.

Are all the people you are “friends” with on Facebook actually your friend?

Is it really important to know that the person you sat next to in A Level Economics had a coffee at their local Starbucks?

November 17th is National Unfriend Day, time to ensure that only your friends are your friends on Facebook.

What NOT To Post On Facebook: Things You Shouldn’t Tell Your Facebook Friends

Huffington Post has posted a series of Facebook safety tips.

Who’s watching your moves on Facebook? Employers, stalkers, federal agents, and even insurance companies have been known to scan Facebook profiles for information. Just as troubling are reports of Facebook account hackers, who put users at risk for identity fraud. Even if you safeguard personal information with a “Friends Only” setting, there is a chance you’ve friended someone whom you barely know or have never met.

Read more.

Not on Facebook? Facebook still knows you

Rory Cellan-Jones has written an insightful blog piece on how Facebook knows more about you than you know and even if you have never been on Facebook.

If you hate the idea of social networking and have never been on Facebook, then Facebook knows nothing about you. Correct? So how come when you set up a profile on the social network for the first time, it can suggest friends for you?

This echoes some of the stuff I have been talking about how I am concerned is that my privacy is affected by what other people post about me… in other words no matter how careful I am, other people are posting information and photographs about me all over the web.

Now part of that is because it is my job, if I give a presentation at a big conference, that will be online.

However when someone posts photos of when I was 14 on Facebook I have no control over those photos nor who sees them!

Facebook unveils ‘groups’ feature and user controls

BBC News reports on new features on Facebook.

Facebook has introduced a raft of features aimed at giving users more control over their personal data.

A groups feature will allow users to specify circles of friends with whom they want to share different data.

For the first time, users will also be able to download all the data they have uploaded onto the site.

Read more

Ministry of Defence warns service personnel over Facebook Places

Daily Telegraph reports on security issues over Facebook Places.

Security officials have warned members of the armed forces that geo-location services, such as Facebook Places, could be used by terrorists to track potential targets.

There are real security issues as far as the MoD are concerned, but I wonder if many learners have actually thought about the implications of “shouting” where they are all the time.

Facebook launch ‘Zero’ site for mobile phones

BBC News reports on Facebook Zero

The world’s biggest social network has revealed details of a stripped-down, text-only version of its mobile site called Facebook Zero.

The low-bandwidth site is aimed at people viewing Facebook on their mobile and will launch “in the coming weeks”.

Facebook is very popular with learners and though various Apps have been released for the iPhone and Android, this version of the Facebook site will work on any mobile device that can access the internet.