Facebook users should be on the look-out for a new scam spreading on the popular social networking site. According to Softpedia, a new application that promises to find the very first status message posted by user on Facebook is a scam.

Users who fall prey to the Facebook scam found spam messages on their accounts’ walls which read: “My first status was — Sweet I have this now. That was posted on O7/19/2OO8. See your First Status: [link] Click SKIP in the top right.”

Softpedia stated that the messages are possibly fake as they use the letter “O” instead of the number zero to indicate dates. They also cited Facecrook’s statement that revealed how the advertised link leads to a permission request from an application called “MobileWeb.”

The application sends out spam messages using the victim’s Facebook friends list, once the application is granted permission to post in the Facebook account.

Installing the rogue application directs the unsuspecting victims to a page that says “Find your first status now!” But the application only promises the fake first status updates after the user has completed one of the survey tests “for security purposes.”

Softpedia revealed that the so-called tests try to subscribe the users to certain services or worse, collect users’ contact information to send out spam messages. They added that a significant commission is given to scammers for every completed offer.

Facebook scams have victimized many users before after succumbing to promises of details on who viewed their profile or who has blocked them.

Softpedia advised scam victims to resolve the issue by going to Account > Privacy Settings > Apps and Websites to revoke the rogue application’s permissions. It said that spam messages can only be deleted manually.

LinkedIn, the social networking site for professionals, plans to go public in 2011 and has selected its financial underwriters: Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and JPMorgan being the book runners. Bankers made their pitches to the privately-held company in November. Internet companies such as LinkedIn and Zynga, a popular maker of online social games, are considering offerings well ahead of a potential IPO of Facebook.

The people familiar with the process said LinkedIn is hoping to attract investors on its reputation as one of the Web’s fastest growing social network sites.
The site claims more than 85 million members. The filing of LinkedIn’s S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which contains the basic financial information of an issuer could take months.

Linkedin, which does not disclose financial results, makes money from advertising and premium services. The valuation of a Linkedin IPO was not given by the sources.
Sales of its stock on online secondary market exchange SharesPost gives LinkedIn an implied valuation of around $2.2 billion. LinkedIn’s investors include Sequoia Capital — the venture capital firm that has backed Yahoo, Google, Apple Cisco Systems and Oracle — Greylock Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Goldman Sachs.

Quite a good lineup I believe.

There is a new Markup Language in town and it is geared towards social networking. Called SML or Social Markup Language, social marketing platform Involver has released its own programming language for Facebook that allows brands and agencies to build, customize and release Facebook and social web apps in an accelerated fashion.

SML is a server side rendered language, similar to templating languages, that brings content pulled from third-party APIs into the forefront. The language is already used internally to build apps like Facebook’s polling place locator.

SML puts the power of Facebook and social web application creation in the hands of front-end HTML, CSS and Javascript developers at brands and agencies. The language is meant to speed up the application development process, allow content managers to make updates to apps without developer assistance and help brands and agencies do more, faster.

Sadly, this technology was not created for free. Involver will update its pricing and packaging model with the release of SML. Clients who pay for an annual license will receive access to the language.

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