Facebook is releasing as open source a Web server technology because it wants to make it easier for developers to create applications that let users post status updates in real time, a functionality popularized by Twitter.

The Web server framework that Facebook will offer as open source is called Tornado, was written in the Python language and is designed for quickly processing thousands of simultaneous connections, the company said Thursday.

“Tornado is a core piece of infrastructure that powers FriendFeed’s real-time functionality, which we plan to actively maintain.

While Tornado is similar to existing Web-frameworks in Python … it focuses on speed and handling large amounts of simultaneous traffic,” wrote David Recordon, Facebook’s open programs manager, in the Facebook Developer blog.

“We believe in releasing generically useful infrastructure components as open source … as a way to increase innovation across the Web,” he added.

Twitter is the best-known application for people to post real-time updates on their thoughts, status and whereabouts, and Facebook has been tweaking its site to tap into this trend.

For example, Facebook revamped its profiles to make the stream of friend notifications and status updates more prominent. It also added an option to let members display this stream and other parts of their profiles more broadly to everyone on Facebook, not just to hand-picked friends and members on mutual Facebook networks.

Recognizing that the large network of developers who build applications for Facebook is also interested in creating applications for real-time updates, Facebook in April released its Open Stream API. This API (application programming interface) lets developers build applications that access these Facebook notifications and help users manage them

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With new apps and add-ons, Facebook users can send each other a virtual drink, create and host events, advertise their businesses through social ads, and more. When Charlie Gibson hosted the debate for the 2008 presidential candidates along with Facebook, the little networking site became a powerhouse in the online-marketing community.

If you’re thinking of tapping into the Facebook crowd for some high-profile advertising, take a look at this list of 100 tools and tips that will help you maximize all of the applications and opportunities that Facebook has to offer.
Why Facebook?

Why has Facebook become the go-to networking site for marketers? Check out these articles to read up on the rise of this networking giant.

1. Inside Facebook: This blog is devoted to “tracking Facebook and the Facebook Platform.” You’ll find useful stats, marketing tips and more.

2. Facebook’s Ads Page: This page explains how Facebook provides business owners with self-service solutions, market-research solutions and integrated solutions when it comes to advertising.

3. Should You Advertise on Facebook?: This article helps U.K.-based businesses decide whether or not they should advertise on Facebook.

4. The Value of Facebook: Even in its earlier days, Facebook was considered a hot commodity in the industry. This post uncovers why there’s good reason for all the hype.

5. What’s the Big Deal About Facebook’s Social Ads?: This article discusses why Facebook’s social ads are such a hit.

6. $240 Million! Think of All the Beer We Can Buy!: When Microsoft shows a $240 million interest in your company, you know you’ve made it. Advertisers will also want to take note.

7. Why Is Facebook Suddenly So Popular Among We Geezers?: A CNET blogger wonders how Facebook’s popularity has stretched from its original base of the under-25 crowd.

8. Ten Reasons Why Facebook Is So Popular: This tongue-in-cheek article explains exactly why Facebook is such a popular site.

9. How Did Facebook Become So Popular?: This blogger tracks Facebook’s rise to social-networking stardom and its technique of “utilizing one of the most powerful viral marketing strategies ever conceived.”

10. Facebook: More Popular Than Porn: Time magazine’s Web site discovers that Facebook is more popular than porn sites among college students.

11. Fifteen Reasons Facebook May Be Worth $15 Billion: Back when Microsoft decided to invest $240 million in Facebook, it also declared the social-networking site to be worth around $15 billion total. The reasons for the site’s popularity still hold true in 2008.

12. The Impact of Facebook’s Platform: This article from ReadWriteWeb compares Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to a young Steve Jobs and applauds Facebook for opening up its company to developers and advertisers.

Advertising

Learn about current and future advertising opportunities on Facebook by reading these posts.

13. Sponsored Groups: Sponsor your own group on Facebook by purchasing a link that hosts ad content, message boards and more.

14. Mini-Feed: When it first came out, members weren’t sure if they wanted to be updated each time a friend added new photos, changed their status or even wrote on someone else’s Wall. As an advertiser, though, you can track your Mini-Feed to find out what your friends have been up to and more closely study your target audience.

15. AceBucks: Facebook users earn AceBucks by playing games and taking surveys, then cashing them in for real-life prizes like Wii systems and iPods. Create your own survey or game to promote your business, then invite others to play.

16. Five Moneymaking Opportunities on Facebook: Mashable! lists several moneymaking strategies available on Facebook, advertising and otherwise.

17. Facebook’s Secret Rate Card: This article explores which Facebook advertising methods are worth your money and effort, and which aren’t.

18. Could Facebook Change Web Advertising?: Listen to this NPR (National Public Radio) report to uncover the newest trends in Web advertising.

19. How to Effectively Advertise on Facebook: Trendcatching’s post explores some of the more lucrative strategies advertisers have used to tap into the Facebook market.

20. How Does Facebook Figure into Your Online Advertising Campaign?: This article is a must-read for business owners who are thinking about incorporating Facebook marketing into their own advertising campaigns.

21. Social Networks Find Ways to Monetize User Data: Learn how to make money off of your Facebook friends (it’s not as sleazy as it sounds) with the tips and analyses provided here.

22. Digging into Facebook’s Ad Future: CNET News.com believes that Facebook has the capabilities to become an “advertiser’s paradise,” despite some social-networking sites’ inability to make serious profits.

23. Promote Your Cause on Facebook in Six Easy Steps: TechSoup shows nonprofits how to use Facebook for self-promotion.

24. Facebook Ads: Facebook’s official advertising page strives to prove how social ads, profile pages and paid ads can increase a company’s business.
In the last couple of years, Facebook has gone from a college photo-sharing site to a burgeoning business- networking platform for self-promotion, advertising and multimedia interaction. With new apps and add-ons, Facebook users can send each other a virtual drink, create and host events, advertise their businesses through social ads, and more. When Charlie Gibson hosted the debate for the 2008 presidential candidates along with Facebook, the little networking site became a powerhouse in the online-marketing community.

If you’re thinking of tapping into the Facebook crowd for some high-profile advertising, take a look at this list of 100 tools and tips that will help you maximize all of the applications and opportunities that Facebook has to offer.
Why Facebook?

The Complete List of 100 Can Be Found Here, Enjoy

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Apple approved version 3.0 of the Facebook app for iPhone Thursday, and it is now available for download from the App Store. Besides the features announced previously, a few other nice touches made it into this version as well.

What’s New in Facebook 3.0 for iPhone…

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A survey of 2,092 social media users by British-based Legal & General found nearly four in ten, or 38 percent, of people using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter post details about holiday plans and 33 percent details of a weekend away.

“Coupled with the finding that an alarmingly high proportion of users are prepared to be ‘friends’ online with people they don’t really know, this presents a serious risk to the security of people’s home and contents,” said the insurer.

In a report called “The Digital Criminal,” Legal & General said people used social media sites to connect with people who were essentially strangers, which could provide potential thieves with vital, personal information.

To test how readily people accepted ‘friends’ online, Legal & General’s survey, conducted by European market researcher Opinion Matters, involved sending out 100 ‘friend’ or ‘follow’ requests to strangers selected at random.

Of those 13 percent were accepted on Facebook and 92 percent on Twitter — without any checks.

But despite these new ‘friends,’ the survey found that nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, of 16-24 year olds shared their holiday plans, with younger users the most likely to give away information about their whereabouts…

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On Aug. 20, 2009, Facebook said it’s allowing administrators of Facebook Pages to automatically post Facebook updates to Twitter, building a narrow bridge to its microblogging rival.

Facebook Pages are special profiles public figures, musicians, businesses and organizations use as marketing tools, or to just keep their fans abreast of what’s going on with them. Soon, these Pages proprietors will be able to share a status update, photo or an event happening with their followers on Twitter, boosting their marketing messaging.

Comedian-actor Dane Cook, LIVESTRONG, The World Wildlife Fund, the NBA, WNBA and D-League are currently using this feature to publish the content on their Facebook Page to Twitter to reach a broader audience.

Mike Gummelt, who built the feature to let Facebook Page admins port content to Twitter as a summer intern from Stanford University, said in a blog post that admins will be able to control the sharing of status updates, links, photos, notes and events. Admins running multiple Pages will be able to link each of those Pages to different Twitter accounts….

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In the month of July, according to the latest estimates from comScore, Facebook attracted 87.7 million unique visitors in the U.S., which was 14 percent higher than in June, 2009. Twitter, in contrast, only saw 21.2 million unique U.S. visitors to its Website, a 6 percent rise compared to the month before. In absolute terms, Facebook added about ten million new visitors in the month of July versus roughly one million new visitors for Twitter.

At 87.7 million uniques, Facebook moves from the sixth largest Web media property in the U.S. to the fifth, passing the combined sites of Fox Interactive Media (80.9 million uniques) and coming within striking range of AOL (104.8 million). That is just in the U.S. Facebook is already the fourth largest site in the world (and Twitter is doing better worldwide as well, with a total of 44.5 million unique visitors in June).

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This meme seems be done for just about everything on the web these days, but this one is particularly good because it’s full of good insider-y references. And it closely echoes some of the actual backlash against the news today which played out on FriendFeed.

Among the choice lines:

* “It was a complete talent grab.”
* “I even remember what it was like before Robert Scoble got here!”
* “I used FriendFeed to argue about Obama and talk about health care, and to like tons of pictures from NASA that were awesome, not to spend my time posting pictures of bacon and talking about mangoes!”
* “Of all the companies, they went with Facebook. They could’ve been acquired by Google and I would’ve been happy for them. Or even Twitter: That I could understand. But Facebook?! What the hell?!”
* “Don’t worry, we still have Plurk.”

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If not, why not?

I would like to think that everyone already has some familiarity with Facebook. Nevertheless, for the three of four readers who have not yet encountered Facebook, it is a social networking site that enjoys more monthly visitors than any of its competitors. In essence, Facebook allows its users to create an on-line network of friends and colleagues who then have access to the content posted by everyone in their own network. As a medium for communication, I think it is the best communication tool available on the Internet and in many ways is more efficient than even having access to all of your contacts in one room.

But back to my initial question: if you are not on Facebook yet, why not? You are missing out on something big.

If you are on Facebook, are you maximizing your use of it as a tool to help you with your personal finances? Have you even thought of the ways that Facebook can help you to add to your net worth in ways big and small, or is Facebook nothing more than a gathering place for the classmates, colleagues and cougars you know? If you do not see the financial benefits of Facebook yet, you will over the coming year as Facebook increasingly will dominant the marketing focus of a great many companies, or so I believe. Here is where I see Facebook headed and, in some cases, where it has already been.

Marketing Promotions: Last month, Starbucks ran a Facebook-only promotion in which it gave away coupons for 800,000 pints of Starbucks ice cream. With 250 million or more active global users, Facebook offers marketing penetration that no other consumer site is likely to match and businesses are quickly realizing that. Over the course of the next year, look for a substantial increase in the number of on-line coupon promotions and giveaways that are limited to Facebook users. You will need to “become a fan” of the brands and products that you like to use in order to ensure that you are likely to receive word of such promotions but once you do, the opportunities should be many.

Facebook Only Discounts: A lot of businesses are capturing traffic for their brick and mortar stores by posting discount advertisements that are available only to Facebook users. A local pizzeria has been offering a series of BOGO deals that can only be obtained by telling the server that they want the Facebook promotion.

Employment Opportunities: A few days ago, Maggiano’s restaurant posted on Facebook that it is hiring a marketing intern for its Dallas office. With a potential audience of up to a quarter of a million users, Facebook offers tremendous potential as a recruiting tool so that businesses can reach out to users who already have an interest in the business or a specific industry.

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“The app is pretty much done – we’re just working on translating it into a bunch of languages,” Facebook developer Joe Hewitt wrote tonight on Twitter.

That means that shortly, we’ll have access to the much-improved app which is scheduled to have features such as a News Feed that is more like the one on Facebook’s site, the ability to “like” items and a new customizable home screen. More importantly, it will also have video support for the iPhone 3GS, something which Hewitt threw-in at the last second, unexpectedly. And perhaps best of all, the app will have the ability to manage events, finally.

But don’t get too worked up just yet. We asked Hewitt if “pretty much done” meant next week perhaps. His response: “Can’t be sure – translating could take a while. I’ve been avoiding predicting an actual release date”. And of course even when the app is done, Facebook still has to submit it for approval in the App Store, and as we all know, that can be a crapshoot. We could see it next week, we could see it 6 months from now. Though, Apple does seem to do a pretty good job pushing important apps like this one through quickly. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

Facebook is also finally working on an Android app. That should drop any day now…

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Archbishop Vincent Nichols said the sites are leading teenagers to build “transient relationships” which leave them unable to cope when their social networks collapse. He said the internet and mobile phones were “dehumanising” community life.

His comments follow the death of 15-year-old schoolgirl who took a fatal overdose of painkillers last week after being bullied on Bebo, another networking site.

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