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Online Social Networks and E-Commerce - MIT Computer Science ...

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Clarence Lee <strong>and</strong> Shirley Fung<br />

Facebook communications come in many forms. The most rudimentary method of communication comes<br />

in the form of Facebook messages that each members can send to each other. Groups can also create mass<br />

mailings to send to the members of the group. Event hosts can also send messages to the invitees of the<br />

event. These messages are analogous to email. Privacy protection on email communications (less than or<br />

equal to 180 days old) are covered under the United States Code Title 18 for Crimes <strong>and</strong> Criminal<br />

Procedure. But emails that are over 180 days old are not protected under current law.<br />

Wall posts, where users can post messages on the profile of another user, group, or event, are a common<br />

form of communications on Facebook. However, it is unclear whether this type of public announcement<br />

posting is analogous to email. In addition, meta-data such as the time <strong>and</strong> date that the message was sent,<br />

the two parties involved in the transaction as well as the profile picture of the sender are all stored. The<br />

Wall-to-Wall feature, a wall communication log between you <strong>and</strong> another user, also stores the<br />

communication history between you that particular party up to the point in which you created your<br />

account.<br />

Another major features used on Facebook is the Notes feature. This feature is similar to a Weblog in that<br />

the note can be broadcasted to many users at once. Whenever a user writes a note, he can choose whether<br />

this note will be broadcasted to other users’ newsfeeds.<br />

Status<br />

Facebook users can also post a messages describing what he/she is at a certain moment in time. These<br />

statuses are broadcasted to their network of friends. Users are free to say whatever they want in the form:<br />

[Name] is [fill in your status here]. Facebook keeps track of these statuses over time.<br />

Facebook Applications<br />

In June 2007, Facebook.com officially launched the Facebook Developers Platform. This opened up<br />

Facebook to third-party developers to create applications for on Facebook. A Facebook application is a<br />

software solution that can be integrated within the Facebook environment. By allowing commercial <strong>and</strong><br />

freelance software developers, Facebook has opened up its coveted user communities to various<br />

advertisers <strong>and</strong> businesses.<br />

As of November 15, 2007, there are 8,234 Facebook applications. In addition, the variety of applications<br />

types on Facebook is astounding. There are applications ranging from a "Christmas Tree" application that<br />

allows you to build a Christmas tree to be put on your profile to the Marketplace that allows you to sell<br />

<strong>and</strong> buy things off Facebook.<br />

Despite all the advantages this influx of applications brings, Facebook applications open up issues of<br />

inconsistency in the way user information is stored. Every time a user adds an application, the user is<br />

required to grant the application access to your profile information. The problem is that the st<strong>and</strong>ard of<br />

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