The German state of Schleswig-Holstein has ordered organizations to remove the Facebook ‘Like’ button from their websites and shut down fan pages. The Independent Center for Privacy Protection (ULD) says it’s taken the measure because information on ‘Likes’ is sent back to Facebook in the US and used to create a personal profile, contravening Germany’s tight privacy laws. “Whoever visits facebook.com or uses a plug-in must expect that he or she will be tracked by the company for two years. Facebook builds a broad individual and for members even a personalised profile,” says the ULD in a statement. “Such a profiling infringes

Google is trying to be the industry leader in every Internet service. It looks like it’s working, they’re getting people to use their social networking services at Google+ at a fast pace. According to Reuters, Google+ has gained 25 million users. That makes it the fastest growing website to garner an audience of such a formidable size, says ComScore. Google+ launched in late June and managed to attract some 25 million visitors by July 24. It’s expanding at a rate of almost one million users per day. In contrast, it took Facebook nearly three years to get 25 million visitors, while it took Twitter a little over 30 months. Right now the numbers indicate Google’s social networking s

Facebook has signed an agreement with Chinese search engine giant Baidu to set up a new social networking site in China, a leading web portal reported Monday. The new website will not be linked to Facebook’s global service, which is currently blocked in China, the report on Sohu.com said, citing unnamed Baidu employees. The agreement follows several meetings between Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Baidu’s chief executive Robin Li, it added, and comes amid reports the US social networking giant is eyeing a move into mainland China. Baidu spokesman Kaiser Kuo refused to comment when contacted by AFP, and the Sohu report was later taken off the website. Facebook downpl

Twitter might introduce pages for brands similar to those on Facebook, according to reports. The initiative, which Marketing Magazine reports is being lead by Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and President of Revenue Adam Bain, is to give brands their own space on Twitter — a page they could point to and use to deliver content, while encouraging Twitter users to follow them. In a similar move, Foursquare launched Pages Gallery Monday, a showcase of different company pages on Foursquare. The question is: does Twitter really need branded pages? On Facebook, the entire brand experience revolves around the company’s page. That part of the experience is currently lacking on Twitter, w

A spoof news story on Weekly World News has convinced thousands of people that Facebook is to close down altogether on March 15th. Despite appearing alongside reports that boxer Mike Tyson has a pigeon fetish and that alien spaceships are set to attack the Earth next year, the story has sparked panic on the internet. The site ‘quotes’ founder Mark Zuckerberg as saying: “Facebook has gotten out of control, and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness.” There’s also a ‘quote’ from a Facebook vice president saying that all stored data will be deleted on the 15th: “If you ever want to s