Facebook measuring the mood in the US

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - – Facebook is tracking how happy people are in the United States. Mother's Day was predictably upbeat, according to a Gross National Happiness index graph on the popular social networking service's blog on Tuesday, but for reasons unknown people's moods evidently sank days later.

The pattern was the same for Father's Day.

Facebook began earlier this year gauging the nation's mood by tallying the numbers of positive and negative words used in status updates posted by users, intern Adam Kramer of the firm's data team said in an online post.

In brief messages posted to social networking pages, Facebook users keep friends up to speed with thoughts and activities.

"Every day, through Facebook status updates, people share how they feel with those who matter most in their lives," Kramer said.

"These updates are tiny windows into how people are doing. Grouped together, these updates are indicative of how we are collectively feeling."

Facebook worked with psychologists and some of the more than 300 million members of its service to create collections of sunny and gloomy words indicative of whether people were having bright or dark days.

The list of positive words includes "happy," "yay" and "awesome," while negative words include "sad," "doubt" and "tragic."

Holidays were consistently peak happiness days, and the GNH index shot up to double the average happiness reading the November day that the nation celebrated the election of President Barack Obama.

The saddest day in the GNH index was January 22, 2008, after the Asian stock market crashed and actor Heath Ledger died of an apparent accidental drug overdose at the age of 28.

The death of King of Pop Michael Jackson on June 25 of this year marked the second sadest day in the two years measured by the index, according to Kramer.

GNH results are currently based on updates in English but more languages may be added so indexes can be made for other nations, according to Kramer.

When Facebook turns fatal

On March 2, 26-year-old Hayley Jones changed her Facebook status from "married" to "single." Ten days later, the mother of four and longtime girlfriend of 31-year-old Brian Lewis, was dead.

Murdered in her UK home and found by her children, aged 3 to 10, Jones had been spending more time online as her relationship of 13 years unraveled.

"Hayley started to expand her social life and was spending a lot of time on internet sites, in particular Facebook," prosecutor Mark Evans told the court, according to the BBC.

Jones and her boyfriend referred to themselves as married, but the prosecutor argued that she had made it clear to the boyfriend that their relationship was over. Although she reportedly kept her Facebook activity private, Lewis told friends that he would not lose her to another man.

Court reports offer differing arguments about why the couple's relationship was ending. One rationale is that Lewis lost his job, placing financial strain on the family. The other is that Jones was spending too much time online.

"Lewis told police the only tension between him and Hayley was the use of the home computer," the prosecutor told the court.

Lewis allegedly stabbed Jones with a kitchen knife while she was sleeping. Lewis reportedly called police but fled before they arrived at the scene. In the interim, Lewis and Jones' children discovered their mother's body. Jones' was fatally wounded through three layers of clothing and two bags that covered her.

Lewis later turned himself into authorities but now denies that he killed his girlfriend.

While the trial continues and the life of a young mother is mourned, it is worth noting how violence within relationships seeps into all aspects of daily living. While abuse between partners often only occurs behind closed doors, it is common for work, friendships, family, church, and other parts of a victim's life to be brought in to play to attempt to justify the violence. In a 2.0 world, it was sadly only a matter of time before social network sites and status updates would be pulled in to rationalize horrific acts such as this one.

I wonder if and how we can protect people who are at risk for abuse -- or even murder -- by their partners while they are online. Although virtual friendships and support networks can greatly impact our health and well-being, I wonder if it is even possible to prevent abusers from infiltrating sites that make us feel like we are surrounded by friends.

This isn't the first time a Facebook status update has spurred a murder. And as much as I hate to say it, I can't imagine it will be the last.

What do you think we can do to protect ourselves and our own social network tribe from being the victim of a crime like this?

Have you ever felt unsafe about publishing your relationship status online?

Job hunting? Take those wild party pics off Facebook

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – Nearly half of US employers research the online profiles of job candidates on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, according to a new survey.

Forty-five percent of the employers surveyed for CareerBuilder.com, the largest US online job site, said they use social networking sites to check on job candidates, up from just 22 percent in a survey conducted last year.

Another 11 percent said they plan to start using social networking sites for screening.

"As social networking grows increasingly pervasive, more employers are utilizing these sites to screen potential employees," CareerBuilder said in a statement.

It said job seekers should "be mindful of the information they post online."

CareerBuilder said that of those who conduct online searches as background checks on job candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace.

Eleven percent search blogs while seven percent follow candidates on micro-blogging service Twitter.

Thirty-five percent of those surveyed said they have found content on a social network that caused them not to hire a candidate, CareerBuilder said.

Examples included "provocative or inappropriate photographs or information" or content about drinking or using drugs.

Other reasons cited were badmouthing a previous employer, co-workers or clients, poor communication skills, making discriminatory comments, lying about qualifications or sharing confidential information from a previous employer.

Information found on social networking profiles was not always a negative factor in finding a job.

Eighteen percent of employers said they have found content on social networking sites that caused them to hire the candidate, CareerBuilder said.

Some profiles "provided a good feel for the candidates personality" or supported their professional qualifications while others demonstrated creativity or solid communication skills.

Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, recommended that candidates "clean up digital dirt" before beginning a job search by removing photos, content and links which could hurt their chances.

The survey of 2,667 hiring managers and human resource professionals was conducted by Harris Interactive between May 22 and June 10. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.