If you’re a Facebook addict just like me, you’ve probably seen this already:

Over the past few days, we have received a lot of feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago. Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous Terms of Use while we resolve the issues that people have raised. For more information, visit the Facebook Blog.

If you want to share your thoughts on what should be in the new terms, check out our group Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.

Okay, I’m not that addicted to Facebook to join the virtual mob against moves to change the privacy terms of this popular social network. But some of the 175 million subscribers are up in arms, including tech expert Leo Laporte. (One of his more recent tweets declare: Facebook backs down. Put down the pitchforks and call off the rabble. http://bit.ly/zM1gy).

So what’s this fuss all about and why are people against this new privacy policy.

In a blog, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg explains:

Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand. Since this will be the governing document that we’ll all live by, Facebook users will have a lot of input in crafting these terms.

You have my commitment that we’ll do all of these things, but in order to do them right it will take a little bit of time. We expect to complete this in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we’ve changed the terms back to what existed before the February 4th change, which was what most people asked us for and was the recommendation of the outside experts we consulted.

Actually, you can be part of the writing of this new privacy policy, which Facebook calls the Bills of Rights and Responsibilities. Go check it out.

By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

PARAÑAQUE City, Philippines — Blogs are also business tools, according to some Filipino bloggers.

Apart from being personal diaries, blogs are increasingly becoming sources of income for some bloggers.

Janette Toral, blogger and author of DigitalFilipino.com E-Commerce Workshop E-Book, says some Filipino bloggers have turned their blogs to effective tools for advertising.

Combining e-commerce and blogging, for instance, allows people to earn some income while doing what they are passionate about: blogging.

But before turning a blog into something income-generating, she says it is important to maintain a consistent following. Content remains king in blogs.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

MIKEE Cojuangco-Jaworski has revealed in this video interview with INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Octia that all the Friendster accounts about her are fake.

Cojuangco-Jaworski, however, has a Multiply site, which features photos of her, her children, family, among others.

Watch her video interview.

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Since he first started blogging in 2003, Filipino singer and composer Jim Paredes can still recall the thrill of putting his thoughts in cyberspace and getting quick responses from people.

“It’s as if the Internet was my nervous system and cyberspace was my barangay,” Paredes said as he described his feeling when he first started blogging.

Paredes, who migrated with his family to Australia in 2006, has been known for his music and compositions, his career on Philippine television, and his being a member of the APO Hiking Society, a singing group composed of Danny Javier, Boboy Garrovillo and himself.

“I’ve been blogging since 2003. I felt the need to express myself outside of my usual venues like music, recordings, TV, etc. I also discovered I like talking to a world audience and receiving quick reactions and feedback,” Paredes said.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net

ARE you tired of reading lengthy blog entries that speak of philosophical topics that almost give you a headache? Never fear, Twitter’s here!

Twitter is the newest blog site that is uniquely different from its other blog counterparts. The concept of Twitter is micro blogging. That is, you write about minute things and details about you or just about anything and everything. Micro blogging, in short, allows you to revert to those old school diary entries that go something like,

“Dear diary, today I went to school. The teacher gave us a pop quiz. I had lunch at the cafeteria. I went home at 4PM.”

Founded in 2006, Twitter has since gained a huge following, with site visits reaching up to 500,000 in July of this year.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

AILEEN APOLO, Google country representative to the Philippines, is organizing a blogger event on July 3. Over 100 bloggers are being encouraged to sign up for a sampling of Taste of Asia located at the SM Hypermart at the SM Mall of Asia. Specifically, the details are as follows:

WHO: Bloggers of all ages and sizes
WHAT: SM Hypermarket invites bloggers to get a “Taste of Asia”
WHEN: July 3, 2007 7 p.m.
WHERE: Taste of Asia, SM Mall of Asia

To join, you just need to have a blog and register by leaving a comment here or here, here or here. There are limited slots available (100!) so try your best to grab slots within the coordinators’ blogs.