In today’s Quick Hits, we discuss Facebook Places, how it’s impossible to block Mark Zuckerberg, and how a cop and a teacher are in hot water over Facebook.

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WSJ: Facebook Places Causes New Privacy Concerns

The Wall Street Journal has an update on Facebook privacy concerns in the wake of the company’s new location-based networking feature, Facebook Places. As usual, the issue revolves around the level of control Facebook gives users to manage checking-in to Places. According to the article, “Many privacy groups said they were pleased that Facebook had limited Places to voluntary check-ins–rather than constant real-time tracking of users’ locations–and also that the service set defaults for much of the shared information to be limited to a user’s circle of friends.Still, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, one of the groups briefed by Facebook about the product before its launch, said Facebook didn’t give users adequate controls.”

Why Do You People “Check-in” to Their Homes?

In a column for the Washington Post, Rob Pergoraro talks about Facebook Places and how he can’t understand why some of his friends who are otherwise aware of privacy issues have decided to publicly share their own homes’ locations. Pergoraro ponders about the purpose of such a check-in and asks his readers what they get out of checking in from home.

You Can’t Block Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook

Facebook has taken great pains to provide easy-to-use privacy controls to its users. So why does the website make it impossible to block Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg? According to a Mashable report, if you attempt to blog Facebook man-in-charge, “you’ll get an error message that says, ‘General Block failed error: Block failed.’” The report speculates that the failure could be “a bug or an intentional inside joke.” In either case, it’s something that Zuckerberg doesn’t need bad publicity over, especially since he’s got a highly-fictionalized major motion picture about his life hitting the big screen soon.

Mass. Trooper Under Investigation Over Facebook Photos

A Massachusetts state trooper is under investigation after three photos appeared on Facebook showing the officer posing with underage women. There is a bottle of alcohol in the background of the picture and the officer is in full uniform, implying that the officer was in the midst of arresting the underage individuals when he agreed to pose for the photos. There is no word yet on whether the officer will be punished for his egregious lapse in professional judgment, but this story is a sober reminder that one’s online reputation is constantly at risk even in “real-life” situations.

School Administrator Fired After Criticizing Parents on Facebook

Additional Facebook foolishness comes our way via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In an article discussing how social networking can be risky for teachers, the AJC article mentions the story of a 30-year veteran Massachusetts school administrator who was forced to resign last week after posting on her Facebook page that the parents at her school were “‘arrogant” and “snobby” and that she was, “so not looking forward to another year at Cohasset Schools.” The administrator acknowledged her mistake and said, ““I take full responsibility for my stupidity and I hope it serves as an example to kids that they need to be very, very vigilant about their privacy.”

Reputation.com CEO and Harvard Alum ’00, J.D. ’05, Michael Fertik is featured in this month’s issue of Harvard Magazine. The article explores how Fertik conceived of Reputation.com during his clerkship after Harvard and also reviews his recent book, Wild West 2.0.

“With a new company and new book, Michael Fertik ’00, J.D. ’05, is out to protect Internet users from having their reputations destroyed. The founder of Reputation.com, and author, with David Thompson, of Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Online Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier (AMACOM), Fertik believes this an area that requires, if not regulation, then the use of caution and awareness. While clerking for Chief Judge Danny J. Boggs ’65 of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Louisville, Kentucky, he says, he started “hearing in the press about what we now call ‘cyberbullying.’ I saw that it was a growing trend, and I didn’t like the idea that a momentary mistake in judgment could ruin a young person’s future or at least stay like a lifelong tattoo…Then I realized that adults face the same problems in their lives,” he explains. Although the term “cyberbullying” may be unfamiliar to readers—and Fertik’s book may exaggerate the dangers of this new frontier—even a brief perusal of the table of contents can be unsettling.”

…Read the rest of the article here.

In today’s Quick Hits, we look into what online marketing experts are saying Facebook Places, why Cameron Diaz is the most dangerous celebrity online, who is being targeted in the latest Facebook scam, and what a new study reveals about students who actively use the social network.

In an article about how forthcoming kids today are with revealing private information on the very public internet, Parentdish quoted our very own Michael Fertik. Read the article to learn more about the steps to safeguard privacy for children online.

As the first generation to grow up with the Internet, our kids think nothing of revealing the most intimate details of their lives (and ours) online — with little consideration for the consequences.

Over the years, parents have been warned about dangers kids can face online. But, with the surging popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and easy blogging tools like Tumblr and WordPress, a new threat to our kids’ well-being has emerged: Reputation damage.

Stories abound about high school students being rejected from college and young professionals losing out on — or even losing — jobs as a result of content posted on social networking sites.

“In talking with admission officers, we’ve certainly heard some of the scenarios where students may use social networking negatively — where they post photos of themselves drinking alcohol, or in some sort of setting that they wouldn’t want to present to an admissions officer,” Jeff Olson, vice president of Research at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, tells ParentDish.

…Read the rest of the article here.