Facebook Improves Search Capabilities

Recently, Facebook improved its search experience even more by providing a drop-down menu of suggestions for users based on what they’re typing in. This may not seem like a big deal, but it’s an important improvement for the Facebook user experience. While Facebook may have been able to eclipse Google in site visits last week, the website has a long way to go before it can compete seriously with Google on search. That is to say, Facebook can’t compete in pure search. With social search, however, it’s a different story. While Google has waded into the social waters with Google Buzz and other tools, Facebook’s large userbase allows it to search through millions of user profiles, fan pages, Facebook groups, and more, allowing for a more personalized search experience.

Mafia Hitman Tracked Down Through Facebook

An Italian mafia hitman, Pasquale “Scarface” Manfredi, was tracked down by Italian authorities through Facebook. The man was on Italy’s 100 Most Wanted List and is wanted in connection with multiple murders. According to the story, “Manfredi would log on under the Facebook name Georgie. Officers said they believed he received coded orders via the site and also kept in touch with mobsters. Manfredi had more than 200 friends on his Facebook site and police are going through them systematically to see if any others are involved in Mafia activity or are wanted.”

Miley Cyrus Warns Kids About the Dangers of the Web

If you can’t convince your kids that they shouldn’t be sharing their life on Twitter, maybe Disney’s Miley Cyrus can help. Cyrus, who made headlines for removing herself from Twitter many months ago, recently advised kids, “Don’t go on the Internet. It’s dangerous, it’s not fun, it wastes your life and you should be outside playing sports or something.” While the majority of kids won’t be subjected to the same kind of media scrutiny as Cyrus, she has a good point. Overuse of the Internet can be dangerous for kids, or anyone for that matter, and that’s not even going into the reputation risk of sharing too much of your life online.

David Greenfield Recaps Privacy Concerns at SXSW

In a recap of the South by Southwest technology conference, David Greenfield recalls some of the privacy-related issues that came up, particularly concerns around Google, Facebook, and Foursquare.

New York Times Discusses the Problem of Privacy

The general understanding of privacy data is that in small forms it may be difficult to form an accurate image of someone, but if you look at massive data sets, you can begin to draw generalizations, which can then be broken down into specific identifiers. This well-researched and well-written article from the New York Times discusses the problem of privacy online and how seemingly insignificant data, such as movie preferences on Facebook, can be reinterpreted in conjunction with other data to form a “distinctive social signature” of an individual.