reader | TalkAboutTech

Privacy is one thing that everybody is concerned about, the information we share, the activity we do online is completely at the disposal of an individual if one is not careful.

Facebook has brought a host of changes within the layout, the privacy settings and visual appearance within the past six months and is continuing the same. A recent change that I practically saw and implemented was The Timeline Feature.

An enhanced sharing module was also introduced by Facebook known as Frictionless Sharing. Earlier if one needed to Like, Tweet, or Digg anything you needed to push a button to enable safe sharing, but with Frictionless Sharing everything that one practically does from reading, to listening music or watching a video is practically shared over an activity feed or wall without intimation. It also brings focus not only to Facebook as a social media network, but also to various brands as the above said sharing method could be implemented across varied channels.

Considering what one needs to share all major Brands, Firms, and Media Companies should consider whether to integrate the same or not as it can adversely effect a users association with the brand and the brands reputation.

Lets take an example of an application that implements the same, how does your privacy get affected, and how to prevent it from happening. Amidst the new Facebook Applications developed and inclination towards content and media aggregation include Social Reading Applications like Washing Post Social Reader, WSJ and many others. All applications give rich content through various channels but compromise on the privacy for the user.

The image above is a screen shot of my profile, under news section its shows some posts that I read recently as across various reading applications, all the information I read is available to all friends unless I turned the feature off. Although now, few applications have started to give the option to set sharing settings, which earlier was neither asked and one had to manually do the same. If you are a part of the early implementors of social reading applications you can disable sharing by following some simple steps mentioned below.

Login to www.facebook.com
Press the button right next home button on the right corner and choose account settings.
On the next page on the left you will see the option “Apps”
Select the application i.e. The Guardian (Check The Screen Shot Below)

Remove “Add app activity to your timeline” by clicking on the close button on immediate right, also choose can see your posts and activity from the last section. It can be public, friends only or custom depending on your sharing settings.

Content Aggregation Applications are the most trending applications on Internet today. Content Aggregation Applications are applications which allow Users to read about Latest Topics and most Popular Posts of their choice on the Net without searching for the same across multiple sites.

Content Aggregation Applications/ Apps aggregate Topics of Social Interaction display the same on using Social Readers on Social Media Networks like Facebook, Google+, Orkut, Four Square, Twitter, etc. .

Some of the most used News and Business News related Social Reading Applications are The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Washington Post Reader.

How Social Reading Apps revolutionizing the trend in Media? How Users consume Content through various Media?

The answer is via Content Aggregation, its Syndication and Delivery through Social Readers/ Social Reading Apps.

Content posted on Social Readers/ Social Reading Apps are visible to Users as Feeds, Timelines, Activity, etc. This allows Users to view Content on the basis of their Personal Interests and similarity of Topics.

The Users actively engage themselves while reading the Posts on Social Reading Apps and make them more meaningful by liking and commenting upon the Posts. This feature makes the Posts more desirable for other Users to read and engage with.

From the perspective of Social Reading Application Developers, the more tie-ups they have with Content Aggregators, the better it is for their Application(s). Multiple tie-ups with Content Aggregators extend the reach of their Applications to a much larger Target Audience and across multiple Social Media Networks. This gives them the opportunity of being more Profitable with more Advertising Revenue coming to them.

Social Content Aggregation is available outside the Facebook platform as well. The Apple iPad favors this the most and has a host of applications like Flip Board, Pulse, Zite, Livestand to name just a few.

All over the World, every day, a wide range of New, more Powerful and more Affordable Media Consumption Devices are reaching Consumers in the Form of Tablets, Large Display Phones, EBook Readers, etc.

This has created an opportunity for Application Developers for developing Social Reading Apps and Content Aggregation Apps based upon the Free, Free-to-Try and Subscription based Models in the nearest future.