When I ran across this article about stupid things that people do on Facebook I expected failblog worthy tales.  Instead, it’s an article that reminders us that even smart people can unknowingly do stupid things on Facebook, maybe you are that person.

Don’t make these stupid mistakes:

1 – Sharing your entire birthday on Facebook.
Giving away your date of birth is a good first step to get your identity stolen. If you like being bombarded with happy birthday messages on your special day, then don’t share the year you were born. Safety first people!

2 – Posting when you will be away from home.
I know it’s hard to contain your excitement when you have a vacation coming up, but don’t announce when you will be gone on Facebook. It’s safer to wait and share pictures and stories for when you come home. I’m not saying that your friends would break into your house while you are away, but you never know what creeps will take advantage of the situation.

3- Make sure to check out the privacy controls.
Unless you really do want the whole world to see your page, who your friends and family are and pictures of your kids, then do yourself a favor and check out Facebook’s privacy options. Play around with the settings to see how people will see your page, including people who you don’t know.

4 – Don’t post dumb things.
I have 2 stories for you:

My friend got a resume and promptly Google’d that person’s name. The first result that came up was this person’s Facebook page which listed her name and the town she lives in, so he knew that it was the right person. The only other information it showed was her quote that said “witches best not be stepping to my man unless they want to be taken down!” (but she didn’t say witches.) That resume promptly got thrown into the trash.

My next story is about a lawsuit that I don’t know all of the details on, but I do know that it has come down to someone’s Facebook wall, IM history and photos being printed out and presented as evidence. That doesn’t sound like fun. (Here’s a fun way to conceal drinking pictures.)

The lesson is don’t post anything that could get you fired, prevent you from getting a job, arrested, and other horrible things. [Read more...]

Google Plus (or Google + if you like to use  mathematical symbols to confuse others, which is what I less than 3 to do) is Google’s equivalent to Facebook.

Google Plus gives you the ability to share photos, links, chat, email and…I can’t really tell what other cool things it does yet that Facebook does not, and almost everyone I know is already on Facebook.

Anyway, when you start making connections in Google Plus, it prompts you to add people into defined “circles” including family, friends, acquaintances, and following (stalking?).

So far I’m not popular on Google Plus, but I don’t really see what the big deal is.

The stream of info pretty much looks like Facebook but not as fun.

If I wanted to chat with someone, there are 5 other ways to do that, so that’s nothing new.

I also don’t like putting people I know into categories that someone (Google) can see, or use for not evil purposes.

This is could also be a way for Google to follow us, know exactly what sites we are on, what we look like, who we hang out with, etc.  (All other paranoid people are urged to see my article, Opt Out of Facebook’s Facial Recognition).

Have you tried it Google Plus yet? What do you think?

AllFacebook.com is a fun resource for Facebook news and data.

One ongoing stat that this site keeps track of is Facebook Page Stats; this lists the most popular Pages, the number of Fans (or Likes) the Page has, and Fan growth overtime.

Currently the most popular Facebook Pages are:

• Facebook – The Facebook Page on Facebook earns around 95,025 new Likes a day.
• Texas Hold’em Poker
• Emimem
• YouTube
• Lady Gaga

The least popular Pages are listed too, here are a few of my favorite, in no particular order:

• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack
• Cowboys
• A lot of pages in languages I don’t understand…
• WWE Divas! (FYI, the ! is part of the name, I didn’t add it.)

Search through the Page Stats to see how quickly top Pages are being Liked. Or, search through the list to find gems like the “I bet this guy will regret getting this tattoo once he’s older” Page that has nearly 2 million Likes.