Facebook Analyzes How Relationship Status Impacts Happiness [STATS]

Valentine’s Day, and it apparently had the data team at Facebook thinking: Does being in a relationship (as defined by Facebook relationship status) really make individuals more happy? The results, which are detailed on Facebook’s blog aren’t quite as black and white as you might expect.

Methodology

Facebook already has a methodology for measuring the overall “happiness” of its users. It basically looks at how many positive words people use in their status updates (for English speaking users). This results in the USA Gross National Happiness Index.

For this particular study, Facebook looked at the use of positive and negative words in status messages over the course of one week in January. The data team was then able to filter the results based on sex and relationship status (as defined by Facebook).

The Results

The results aren’t entirely unsurprising: People who are in relationships do seem happier than those who are not in relationships. However, there are some important areas of distinction. For instance, the people that seem the most unhappy are those that either don’t disclose their relationship status or those that are in an open relationship.

An open relationship dwarfs widowers and “it’s complicated” by a pretty significant margin for both men and women. However, those that don’t disclose their relationship at all are about 50% more negative than everyone else.

In the end, while this data is certainly interesting, it’s only scientific insofar as it is a reflection of what people choose to share in their status updates. Obviously, that’s not going to be a strong — or even defining — indicator of how people really feel, regardless of relationship status.

What do you think of this data? Do you find yourself more or less happy when in a relationship as opposed to being single? Let us know!

 

 

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Facebook Agrees With Canada On Privacy Controls

Facebook agreed Thursday to give users more control over the information they share with third-party applications like games and quizzes in response to concerns raised by Canadian privacy officials.

Currently, people who wish to use such third-party software have to agree to share all their data with the application. With the changes, the application developer will have to specify which categories of data the software needs, so users can decide accordingly.

Users will also have to specifically approve any access Facebook applications have to their friends' information. Such access still would be subject to the friend's privacy and application settings.

"Application developers have had virtually unrestricted access to Facebook users' personal information," Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart told reporters Thursday. "The changes Facebook plans to introduce will allow users to control the types of personal information that applications can access."

Although the changes stemmed from Canadian privacy complaints, they will apply to Facebook's 250 million users worldwide.

Last month, Canada's privacy commissioner accused Facebook of disclosing personal information about users to the nearly 1 million third-party developers worldwide who create Facebook applications.

Stoddart's report also said the Web site breaches Canada's privacy law by keeping a user's personal information indefinitely - even after some members close their accounts.

As part of Thursday's agreement, Facebook will provide users with a clearer distinction between deactivating an account and deleting it, along with a better explanation of how its advertising programs work.

"People will be able to enjoy the benefits of social networking without giving up control of their personal information," Stoddart said.

Facebook said the entire process would take up to a year to implement.

Elliot Schrage, vice president of global communications and public policy at Facebook, said the changes set a new standard for the social networking industry.

Privacy has been a central, often thorny issue for Facebook because so many people use it to share personal information with their friends and family. As the 5-year-old social networking service has expanded its user base and added features, its privacy controls have grown increasingly complicated.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company has said it was overhauling its privacy controls in an attempt to simplify its users' ability to control who sees the information they share on the site.

The Canadian privacy commission garnered worldwide attention this summer when Canada became the first country to legally examine Facebook's privacy provisions.

The privacy commissioner launched the probe of Facebook in response to a complaint last year from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa.

With nearly 12 million Canadian Facebook users, Canada is among the world leaders in per capita usage of the site.

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Facebook Lite goes live

Social networking site Facebook unveiled a new downsized version of its Web site to selected test users, but accidentally revealed the 'Facebook Lite edition' to a much larger group than intended.

According to Facebook, the Lite edition is a fast-loading, simplified version of Facebook that enables people to post comments, accept friend requests and look at photos and status updates. Facebook Lite is being tested in India and other countries where new users are flooding to the service. Invitations to take part in a private test of 'Facebook Lite' reached a variety of U.S. bloggers only to have the enclosed links to be available to everyone online.

The screen shots of the new version captured and posted online revealed a Facebook page devoted to fresh comments and updates from friends in a style that could challenge the real-time interplay on Twitter.

Facebook had announced on Monday that it had acquired FriendFeed, a startup which allows members to see what their friends are doing online and share content. FriendFeed has been described as a potential rival to Twitter in its ability to conduct real-time search, an area where Facebook has been seeking to expand.

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Microsoft Had Its Own Version of YouTube?

Is there any industry where Microsoft isn’t competing with bitter rival Google ? Think about it: Bing vs Google Search, Google Docs vs. Microsoft Office (soon to be online), Gmail vs Hotmail, Windows Mobile vs. Android, and let's not forget Windows vs Google Chrome OS.

With all of these high profile battles, you really can’t blame us if we’re saying “meh” to the news that Microsoft is closing Soapbox. Wait, what’s Soapbox you ask? Why, that’s their version of YouTube and part of the far more popular MSN Video Website.

The YouTube clone opened up in early 2007, not long after Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. It just hasn’t gained much traction though – thus why you’ve probably never heard of it. And when you’ve had a product out for over two years and you fail to make any inroads on your much larger competitor, it’s a good time to quit.

But hey, I hear Microsoft’s embarking on a new venture: Retail store. Maybe they’ll have better luck there.

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China shuts down domestic social media

According to sources in Beijing and Shanghai, sites such as Twitter and Facebook have been inaccessible since early July following the mass outbreak of riots in Xinjiang province. But last week, reports surfaced that Chinese microblogging sites such as Fanfou, Digu and Jiwai have also shut down.

“This is the first time there has been a consistent order that censors both Western and Chinese sites,” one Shanghai-based digital analyst said, adding that the cause of the shut downs is unknown.

“Usually you see shut-downs occurring during times surrounding politically sensitive dates, but I don’t think there is any specific event coming up. The last time we really saw this was the time leading up to the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square riots, but that affected access to Western social media websites,” said the source. “This may be part of a larger general movement to clean up content and the Chinese internet.”

“It’s happened to video-sharing sites in China in the past but it really is unusual for domestic sites to be temporary shut down,” added a Beijing source, further pointing out that censored Western sites are “blocked” while mainland sites are “temporarily shut down” and often display maintenance messages when users try to access their URLs.

Sources add that access to microblogging sites including Zuosa and Tencent's Taotao has not been restricted. Video-sharing sites such as Youku and Tudou are not thought to be affected.

Despite the censorship efforts, Chinese netizens have discovered alternative methods of accessing sites such as Twitter. “There are always alternative avenues to be found to access these sites. As soon as someone puts a wall or barricade around them, there’s always a way around it,” said Tim Haynes, general manager of Starcom IP China. “There are a bunch of smart people in China who can do that.”

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Soon You will be able to have a Username on Facebook

In just over one hour, at 9pm PST, Facebook (Facebook reviews) usernames will open up to the public. You will be able to grab a vanity URL for your Facebook profile.

What are Facebook usernames?




Facebook usernames are an attempt to make Facebook profiles and pages easily shareable. Basically, usernames affect your profile’s URL.

Facebook pages also have the option to register usernames, your page has to have over 1000 fans to quality. Otherwise you’ll have to wait until the end of the month to register a custom URL. If you want to protect your trademark, visit this page to register it with Facebook.

Default choices are variation of your full name, but you can choose your own custom username. However, if someone else has taken it before you, you’re out of luck, so register your URL quickly. Usernames can only have numbers, letters, and periods, so no special characters or hyphens. Once you have chosen a username, you cannot change it, so choose wisely. Rushing it could result in a mistake that cannot be fixed.

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