Facebook Dislike Button is Real -- And I Like It!

Interesting article in the Washington Post. Perhaps you heard the news yesterday about a fake Facebook "dislike" button that quickly spread virally across the service. What you may not know is that there really is a legitimate Facebook Dislike Button in the form of an add-on for Firefox. (Thankfully, an Internet Explorer version is imminent as well.)

Developed by FaceMod, the Official Facebook Dislike Button does about what you'd expect: adds a Dislike option right alongside the Like button.

Facebook at Bottom of Customer Satisfaction

A recent consumer index by ForeSee Results, ranks Facebook at the bottom in terms of customer satisfaction of all the major social media sites with just 64 out of 100 points. Google by contract, was at the top with 80 out of 100. Highest, yes, but down seven points from 2009.

I guess I'm a little surprised, but just a little. Facebook tends to be talked about most when it comes to privacy issues and has a fondness for revamping its site. Does that make Facebook vulnerable to defections? It would seem not, as FB is celebrating its 500 millionth user worldwide and seems to have overcome threats of mass exoduses by disgruntled users.

It is a bit ironic that I got wind of this survey from a Google alert, delivered to my AOL account, and that it will be broadcast to many of you through my Twitterfeed link to my Facebook account. And, of course, I haven't been particularly thrilled with the lack of access to customer service reps, but that seems to be a pervasive problem in the online world.

You can see this article on ABC.com for recap of the rankings.

Social Media Inside Companies?

There are some interesting points in this article on Forbes.com. While some companies are banning the use of Facebook and Twitter while on company time, others are using it to communicate within their organizations. That's obviously very different from the inside out model that we're all used to.

So, does it make sense to use a public medium to communicate company goals, information and ethics?

Facebook Hits 500 Million

This is probably no big surprise to anyone, but it still amazes me. Facebook can claim 1/12 of the world's population as users. No doubt, a percentage of these accounts are no longer active, or the users have died (Take a look at the New York Times on July 17 titled Ghosts in the Machine for reference). Still, it's just mind boggling.

The social networking phenomenon is expecting to grab its 500 millionth user this week, according to Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman. With just about a half-billion users, Facebook has become a social networking powerhouse that has helped to transform the way people use the Internet and connect with one another.

"Half a billion users is quite a milestone no matter how you look at it," said Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc. "This obviously makes Facebook the numero uno social network, which is a quite an accomplishment. However, they can't rest on their pixel laurels. Their position guarantees them additional scrutiny in terms of user security, appropriate content and stability."

Rumors have been circulating online that Facebook has some big plans to celebrate its 500 millionth user, but Noyes declined to say what they might be.

Connect the Thoughts

A colleague forwarded an interesting article on the rise of technology that allows companies to mine social media connections. Why? Becuase your friends are 5X more likely to buy the products that you do. AdWeek has done the most comprehensive article on this issue that I've seen so far.

The online social networking universe presents a tempting pool of data for advertisers to use in order to improve their targeting techniques. The rise of Facebook and other social destinations means that users are revealing their connections, their influences and tastes like never before. Information like this is obviously a potential gold mine for marketers. http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/e3i344418db676344f04f7c79ca447c6e96?pn=1