Facebook Roundup: DC, Fellowships, Sandberg, Video, Places, Messaging and Lookout

Facebook Makes DC Communications Hire - As we previously wrote, Facebook was looking to fill an Associate Manager for Policy Communications. Politico reports that Brooke Oberwetter was selected for the position, will begin in January and work under Andrew Noyes. She previously worked for the Competitive Enterprise Institute and USTelecom Association. Facebook Second in Video Traffic - A report from Brightcove, Inc. and TubeMogul, Inc. found that Facebook is behind only Google in the number of video referrals. Facebook accounted for 9.6% of all referrals. Facebook Expands Ph.D Fellowship Program - As we reported earlier this year, Facebook created a fellowship program for Ph.D candidates. This week the company announced it was expanding the program to include more areas of research: Computational advertising, fault tolerance and human-computer interaction, for example. This program will also be open international students studying in the U.S. and a total of five slots will be made available. Applications are due at the end of February. Facebook’s COO Sandberg Speaks on Women in Tech - Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg gave a speech at TED on why less women reach the top of their professions and gives some advice to that end. Japan Facebook Users Post Blood Type - Facebook users in Japan may post their blood type, according to an interesting global map by Time magazine. This is the only regional variation of Facebook. The map also notes that Facebook is set to hit 1 billion users in August of 2012. Facebook Analyzes U.S. Status Updates - The Facebook Data team wrote an interesting blog this week about what the content in U.S. users’ status updates is, how it impacts Likes and comments and how positivity and negativity affect these outcomes. Overall it seems that positive updates received more feedback, popular topics include music and sports and younger people swear more and write of more negative emotions. Facebook to Use HBase For Messaging System - Facebook needed a new way to handle the large amount of data that would come in with its new messaging system and finally decided to go with HBase. Facebook Places on Billboard in Times Square - Facebook’s Places is running an ad in conjunction with the Times Square Alliance to promote check-ins for the dropping of the ball on New Year’s Eve. Facebook IPO Could Boost California Economy - In an interesting post, Bloomberg’s Paul Kedrosky notes that California’s economy is set up such that when personal incomes rise, the economy does well. Meaning that, as Facebook readies to go public, the capital gains associated with stock option-related tax revenues could help the state’s $18 billion deficit. Lookout Raises $19.5M - Smartphone security company Lookout just raised $19.5 million in Series C funding, brining its total to $36 million. This round was led by Index Ventures, with Accel Partners and Khosla Ventures. The Gifts Project Raises $1M - The Gifts Project, an Israeli startup allowing groups of people to purchase a gift for someone, raised $1 million this week in a round led by Gemini Israel Funds. The startup previously took seed investment from Dr. Yossi Vardi. Facebook-Like Tumblr Theme - Gabrielle Wee created a Tumblr theme that looks like a Facebook profile.

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Facebook Roundup: DC, Fellowships, Sandberg, Video, Places, Messaging and Lookout

Sara Inés Calderón

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Sara Inés Calderón