from www.techwag.com – When Mashable’s Pete Cashmore wrote that Facebook users should be beware that the new timeline feature could embarrass a user, I just had to see what the porn industry was doing. Porn has been trying to get involved in social media, but for a multi-billion dollar industry we tend to turn a blind eye to what is arguably one of the internet’s most popular features, and one of the most consumed but unacknowledged products out there.

So imagine my surprise to see a couple of porn sites this morning using Facebook Connect, and yes, they knew who I was. Embarrassed possibly, more humored because this really is how the adult industry is going to get into social media and it will be done because users rarely log out of facebook (even that might not help) and facebook connect is everywhere.

So how are we going to manage our privacy when we hit porn sites that are notorious for viruses, illegal porn, many many pop up’s that does not mean that we really wanted to go there. Are we ready to see what your particular taste is in the industry that cannot be mentioned or promoted on social media?

So exactly how is Facebook going to let us screen our timeline before we really get going and dive deeper into the things that we really do not want our friends and neighbors to know about.

Embarrassing maybe depending on who you are, I can lay really good money on the table that people who follow celebrities are going to love knowing that celebrity X visited X site because they didn’t log out. T he paparazzi is going to have a field day with this. And that is just if you are famous. Now imagine being big in the church but with a fetish, imagine being a fine upstanding member of the community with a few rough edges.

Honestly until facebook gives me an opportunity to scrub my time line in simple easy to understand point click and understand, maybe it is time to give facebook a rest, log out, purge the cookies, and not use the system until they do. In the mean time porn sites are starting to use facebook connect, this is going to be one very wild rollout and people are going to freak.

from www.heraldsun.com.au –

* Porn-related activity tracked in Facebook timeline
* Friends can see embarrassing peccadilloes
* Privacy fears all round under changes

FACEBOOK has come under fire after it was revealed adult sites could show up in people’s Facebook account timelines.

Technology blog Techwag has warned Facebook users to prepare for embarrassing connections to porn sites to start appearing in their timelines once the new feature goes live in coming weeks.

The timeline feature means you will now have an ongoing and persistent record of your activities when on Facebook and so will others who can view your page.

What this means is that if a porn site uses passive sharing options on Facebook, has “like” buttons on its page or allows people to sign into their site using your Facebook details then all of that will now be recorded on your timeline.

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However this will only occur if you choose to interact with porn sites.

Techwag blogger Rmorrill explains how it’s already happening: “Imagine my surprise to see a couple of porn sites this morning using Facebook Connect, and yes, they knew who I was.

“Embarrassed possibly, more humoured because this really is how the adult industry is going to get into social media and it will be done because users rarely log out of Facebook (even that might not help) and Facebook connect is everywhere.”

According to Mashable.com letting apps place a huge amount of information into your timeline at the click of a button and granting that App access to your feed and to share your activity presents serious privacy concerns.

“What activity, you ask? It could be the news articles you read online, the videos you watch, the photos you view, the music you listen to, or any other action within the site or App. Facebook calls this auto-sharing ‘Gestures’, ” wrote Pete Cashmore on Mashable.com