Inside Facebook

Make Facebook Real Life With Jivebug – Facebook communities are taking a step into the real world with the cell phone app Jivebug. The free app, currently available here, in Spain and the United Kingdom, can let you know when Facebook friends are near you, beep you when interesting people are around or allow you to text/chat with the people you find. The Kalerion app may be downloaded onto your phone directly from Facebook.

Shop on Facebook – The Limited, a woman’s clothing store, began selling items directly on its Facebook stream Monday. The company’s Facebook page periodically updates its status with discounts and sales and fans may purchase the product directly from their news feeds, or share the deals on their pages.

Starbucks Gives a Lesson in Virtual Goods Sales – Viximo writer Brian Balfour wrote an interesting piece this week about the lessons to be gleaned from a Starbucks shop for those in the business of selling virtual goods during the holidays. The list of best practices includes tips on the placement of special offers, the hype surrounding such promotions, manufactured urgency and pricing.

Facebook Users Vote on Most Important News – Facebook users were more concerned with Michael Jackson and the Miracle on the Hudson than journalists were, according to a pair of polls released by the Associated Press. The AP’s annual list of top news stories, chosen by U.S. editors and news directors, was paired with a similar poll it took from 1,410 voters on Facebook that resulted with eight common stories, but a few interesting differences. Also notable: Facebook users were more concerned about Iran and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor than journalists.

Some Bumps for Biggest Facebook Fundraising Contest – JPMorgan Chase & Company, which recently concluded the first part of a large online charity fundraising contest, has come under fire from some of the charities that wanted to participate. They claim the company cut them out because of their missions, which included legalizing marijuana and opposing abortion. In the contest, more than a million people signed into Chase’s fan page to cast 20 votes each for about 500,000 charities competing for a $25,000 grant. Days before the contest’s conclusion, a spokesman for Chase said all voting tallies were taken down to “build excitement” and give the company an “opportunity to notify the 100 finalists first.” However, some of the nominees, including the Marijuana Policy Project and Justice for All Still, were removed. However, the contest has overall gone smoothly; 100 charities in 31 states took home a grant for the contest. In the next round, these 100 charities have a chance to submit a $1 million grant proposal to Facebook users, who will choose the winner with votes, starting Jan. 15.

Americans Ambivalent about Facebook (or So They Claim) – The Pew Research Center for People and the Press released a survey this which showing that only about one-third of Americans think social networking sites like Facebook are a change for the better. Another 21% said they were a chance for a worse, 31% said they didn’t make a difference and 12% were unsure. This ambivalence spread to younger people, with less than half — 45% — saying such sites were a change for the better. However, what these users told Pew appears to diverge from how they use the service, as Facebook has rapidly grown to nearly 100 million monthly active US users in the past year.

Eminem Releases Facebook Xmas Card – Rapper Eminem has released a charitable Christmas card through Facebook. The card features Eminem dressed as “Shady Claus” and allows you to add your photo, so as to appear as though you’re sitting on his lap. One may also buy an autographed version of the card, proceeds from which will support his charity to help disadvantaged youth, The Marshall Mathers Foundation.

Facebook Still Serious About Unfriending – Facebook doesn’t take lightly to jokes about its users shutting down their pages; as a matter of fact, the company recently sent one such site — Seppukoo — acease-and-desist letter. The site invites users to commit “virtual suicide” of one’s digital life by closing down their social networking pages. As Fast Company’s Dan Macsai reported, Facebook’s letter claimed that Seppukoo was “infringing on Facebook’s intellectual property rights,” in line with Facebook’s previous shut down of Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice — although Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, similar to Seppukoo, is now online.