Yes, we know: Facebook is free and always will be. But Eduardo Ustaran, head of the privacy and information law group at European law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, which specializes in technology and intellectual property, warns that proposed changes in European Union data-protection laws may force the hand of the social network, as well as other free, ad-supported online services, such as Gmail.
You don’t need to be an expert Web designer or engineer to create an engaging Facebook application. A new program from Norway — iFrapp — allows those who manage Facebook pages to create apps via a quick and easy process.
According to reports, Facebook Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson will relocate from New York to London for six months in an effort to find a replacement for VP and Managing Director for Europe, the Mideast, and Africa Joanna Shields, who announced in October that she was leaving the social network to join Tech City Investment Organisation.
Facebook has lent its support to a child Internet safety pact signed Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the European Commission. The two organizations agreed to continue to make the Internet a safer place for young people — a cause Facebook believes in, too.
At one point during Facebook’s third-quarter earnings conference call, Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman mentioned that Europe has been a challenge for the social network. Based on the financial results released by the company Tuesday, Ebersman’s comment was an understatement.
Facebook said an outage Thursday in European countries including Denmark, France, Norway, and Italy was a DNS issue, and the social network was not the victim of hacking by Anonymous.
Despite the emergence of Facebook and other social networks as valuable sales, marketing, and communications tools for businesses, a recent study of 550 chief information officers, IT directors and managers, and network managers in Europe found that 67 percent of them still block Facebook.
Social statistics tracker ComScore recently released the latest Power of Like report, this one examining how Europeans use Facebook and other social media sites. The paper notes that in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, 32 percent of users’ Facebook time is spent on the news feed page.
Online reputation-management company Secure.me examined some 1 million Facebook profiles to determine sharing habits and how they compared between the U.S. and Europe.
Facebook is relying on some good, old-fashioned incentives to boost sales of Facebook Credits in Europe.
