Facebook Roundup: Debt Collectors, Bugs, Free Speech, Military, Plastic Jungle, Cars and Kids

Lawsuit: Facebook for Debt Collection - A woman in Florida is suing after a debt collector used Facebook to try to collect. This could be a significant case because, currently, Facebook as a debt collecting method is a gray area of the law. Facebook doesn’t like this type of activity and said it appears to violate their policies against, “any kind of threatening, intimidating, or hateful contact from one user to another.” Reports: Accel Sells Part of its Stake in Facebook -- TechCrunch and VentureBeat are reporting that early investor Accel has sold some minority portion of its stake in Facebook, with a possible valuation of around $34 million. Details, like the size of the stake, and where this positions Accel versus other investors, is still not clear. Technology Crossover Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz may be among the stock purchasers. Mark Zuckerberg Gets Animated - Mark Zuckerberg and the saga of Facebook's founding will be retold in an animated film form, adapted from a comic book called "Mark Zuckerberg and the Found." The books will be in stores in December at a cost of $6.99. Facebook Writes UK Govt for Free Speech - Facebook and other tech companies have written an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron and the justice minister asking them to change libel laws to reflect the Internet age. One problem is that, “there is a one-year limit for bringing a defamation claim after an offending remark is published, but every time an online comment is viewed it counts as a new publication and a potential new cause for a defamation lawsuit.” Facebook Accounts Disabled, Being Restored - A bug hit Facebook this week that disabled an untold number of accounts; Facebook says it is in the process of restoring access to those affected, and most seem to have been by this point. U.S. Military Warned About Facebook’s Places - The U.S. Air Force sent an internal memo out recently advising troops to be careful when using Facebook’s location service, Places. Checking into certain places could compromise U.S. forces in war zones. Plastic Jungle Raises $10M - Plastic Jungle raised $10 million this week in a third round of funding led by Jafco Ventures, and bringing the company’s total to $23.4 million, according to VentureBeat. We’ve written previously about Plastic Jungle’s work with Credits more than once. Facebook Sells Cars - Facebook is becoming an ever important part of the auto industry, as reflected by the fact that almost every new release at the L.A. Auto Show was featured on Facebook. More at the link. LivingSocial Invests $5M in Jump On It - LivingSocial invested $5 million to gain a majority stake in the Australian social shopping site Jump On It, according to a press release. The site will incorporate LivingSocial’s Daily Deals, opening up its money saving services to 10 million people in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Oodle Acquires Grouply - Social commerce company Oodle has acquired Grouply, an online hub for social groups; the Grouply platform and its hosted groups will continue to operate on that site, according to a press release. Zuckerberg’s FaceMash Sold for $30K - We previously wrote about Mark Zuckerberg’s original web site, FaceMash, and the fact that it was up for auction. Well, it was sold for $30,000 to an anonymous buyer last month, according to a press release. OpenSocial 1.1 Published - The OpenSocial Foundation published version 1.1 of its specification. Facebook Integration for TSA Body Scans - The Transportation Security Administration announced a Facebook integration for its fully body scans, allowing passengers to share their semi-nude scans with all of the world (actually, this is a joke, but almost too real given everything else the TSA is doing). Vin Diesel, Facebook’s Sexiest Man - People Magazine nominated its sexiest man alive recently, but they took to Facebook to see what the difference would be. Turns out Vin Diesel was named the “Sexiest Man Alive on Facebook,” and according to our PageData service, he has 18.5 million Likes. Kmart, Sears Sell eGift Cards on Facebook - Sears and Kmart have begun to sell egift cards, from $5 to $25, on Facebook. Once purchased they may be delivered either by being posted on the recipient’s Wall or sent to their email. Facebook Influences Teen Relationships - Seventeen Magazine released the details of a survey of 10,000 people aged 16 to 21 to see how Facebook influences romantic relationships. Turns out: 79% friend a crush within a week; 60% check a crush’s profile once a day and 40% more than once a day; 72% say talking online brings real life relationships closer; 10% have been dumped on Facebook; 10% change their status to single; 27% change their connection after a breakup; 73% keep their exes as friends. Kids Under 12 Love Facebook - Smarty Pants published a study this week that found Facebook among the favorite brands of first through sixth graders from a list of 270-plus; Facebook was number 126 for children 6 through 12 and 91 among 9 through 12 year-olds.

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Facebook Roundup: Debt Collectors, Bugs, Free Speech, Military, Plastic Jungle, Cars and Kids

Sara Inés Calderón

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Sara Inés Calderón