CRUSH: Facebook Unfiltered
CRUSH Roadtrip 2010 has been officially underway and this week we break down Facebook like you've never seen it before - giving you not only the latest from the news desk, but also what people on the street have to say. While a handful of Senators spoke out against Facebook's new automatic opt-in privacy policy, this week the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a formal Federal Trade Commission complaint against the social media network - requesting that the FTC "investigate Facebook, enjoin its unfair and deceptive business practices, and require Facebook to protect the privacy of Facebook users."
However, Facebook was preoccupied attending to a more pressing privacy issue. The chat feature suffered a major technology glitch, causing some users private chats and friend requests to be exposed to the entirety of their friends list.
Which brings us to our prediction that Facebook will be upgrading this chat feature in the coming months. Especially since Russian investor DST, who bought the instant messaging relic ICQ from AOL, has increased its stake in Facebook from 2% to 10%. Giving DST more power in the decision making process and the chance to put its newest purchase into something useful.
Sadly, the future doesn't look bright for all of social media. Digg is the most recent social media company to announce layoffs, sending an email to employees informing them that 10% of the workforce would be let go. And this comes on the heels of Ning announcing it would be cutting its workforce by 40% and removing all free services.
And what do the people have to say about all of this? Well, we take a stop at Denver, Colorado and get some interesting opinions from three individuals who actually don't have a Facebook account, a very rare breed in this day and age.
We almost had the chance to ask Rod Blagojevich, former governor of Illinois, what his thoughts were on the subject when we spotted him in the car next to us...unfortunately he drove away too soon.
But the best part of our Roadtrip so far has got to be this week's CRUSH of the Week, where we got to meet up with the creator of Captain Planet. This was only stop one, so be sure to stay tuned for more in the upcoming weeks and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to find out if we're coming to a city near you!