I read a post today about the new ability to add comments to the Facebook mini-feed items. This happened on the 25th apparently.

Who noticed? I certainly didn’t!

All very good adding new functions into Facebook but what use if they are so subtle they aren’t noticed and you don’t highlight it anywhere how are people supposed to use them?

Perhaps something in the notification area Facebook?

I like the idea of flash mobs they appeal to my sense of humour especially the randomness of them. There have been a few locally to me in Birmingham but generally speaking they are events for people with too much time on their hands.

At work we’ve toyed with the idea of using flash mobs to promote a company or product but as of yet no clients have gone for it.

However at last there is a real use for flash mobs! A youth project called Ctrl.Alt.Shift(as in “Take control of your World”, “Alter the way it works” and “Shift its future”) intends to develop a group of ‘outspoken agitators’ among 18 - 25 year olds. This is done by using various new technologies such as social media to apply pressure about injustices in the World.

So flash mobs can now have a important purpose - protests that spring from nowhere! I can imagine the effect of hundreds of protesters turning up en-mass at a specified time is very noticeable.

Just a bit of an update with things happening with regards to online regulation and protection. Further to the posts I’ve written about whether social media networks need regulation there have been some additional moves made by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) who govern the age ratings for video content and video games.

It seems the BBFC are to introduce age ratings for downloaded content and games - obviously this is voluntary as the anonymity of the Internet means it’s virtual impossible to uphold. However as I’ve mentioned before parents must take more responsibility for this and at least the tools for them to use to do so are becoming ever more available. If parents’ methods of protecting their children is made as easy as possible you are only going to see them being increasingly adopted.

In addition there is an interesting post about the issue of informed consent posted by dot life. It correctly states that the current situation is a bit of a farce - since when do people read terms and conditions online? However a working group has been appointed to come up with recommendations by the end of the year. Hopefully with several country’s Information Commissioners and firms like Microsoft and Facebook involved there might be interesting results. Perhaps recommendations for online privacy best practices for online companies to aspire too?

AOL have bought Bebo even managing to repel the apparent attempts by Google to get a piece of the action to bolster Orkut.

After my post a couple of days ago about AOL trying to update their brand maybe I was a little premature saying they weren’t causing much of a buzz online. Buying one of the big 3 social media sites is not to be underestimated. However some people are already suggesting that maybe AOL getting involved at this stage in the game might mean that the social media bubble is about to burst.

I can’t see this by any sense of the word. Social media is just being to mature in some areas. Back in February of this year the decline of Facebook users was widely reported as negative. I personally saw this as just a change in user habits. You always get the initial excitement about the latest trend and Facebook was no exception. However the casual user of Facebook could quite happy drop off the network once they get bored that their list of friends are have grown tired of the aimless wall-posts.

The real social users have Facebook as a tool to extend their social lives. I myself don’t logon half as much as I used to - my status can stay the same for days on end. However when I’m planning to meet up or have an event on the cards Facebook is my communication tool of choice. Maybe this is because many of my friends are scattered across the UK rather than being local but all the same it works well for me.

Of course there is the inevitable photos and videos uploaded after the event and for someone who has never been one for collecting photo albums (my entire University life was contained in two rolls of film) I’ve now got far more to look back at - surely not a bad thing?…then again.

So I’m sure the user trends show even more seasonal use of Facebook over time. December was very busy, January very quiet - much like everyone social calendar. Coincidence? Not called social media for nothing. Just time has led to an amplification of this trend.

I don’t think the social media sites are blind to this change in activity either. Facebook are on the verge of a major facelift in the near future. From the screen shots I’ve seen they are trying to make the interface work for all the different types of users that frequent the site - keep those bloody applications separate please!

So no the bubble ain’t for bursting. The question is will AOL make a good go of Bebo or will Bebo go the way of AOLs other online shopping trips?