[S-99]

Facebook made a very bad move. Found here.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Facebook has won a US patent on news feeds behind the kinds of real-time updates that make social-networking websites a hit with users.

"The launch of News Feed in 2006 was a pivotal moment in Facebook?s history and changed the way millions of people consumed and discovered information on the site," Facebook said Friday in an email response to an AFP inquiry.

"We?re humbled by the growth and adoption of News Feed over time and pleased with being awarded the patent."

Facebook declined further comment, suggesting AFP contact a lawyer for perspective on the significance of the patent.

The patent summarizes the "invention" as "a method for displaying a news feed in a social network environment."

The method was described in US Patent and Trade Office paperwork as including comments and links posted by social network users for sharing with other members of the online community.

That broad concept strikes at the core of Twitter, which lets people share thoughts or observations at any moment of the day using text messages of 140 characters or less.

Software patents are dumb. In this case, also anticompetitive. Strong arming will ensue

[Blue Lion]

Maybe it's because I don't really use these kinds of sites but this makes almost no sense to me.

[iamzack]

Since when is stalkerfeed "a hit with users?"

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I thought patents are dumb in general. Isn't copyright good enough?

[Klaustrophobia]

Since when is stalkerfeed "a hit with users?"

since facebook creators decided "we know what our users like, they will come around".

seriously.  they said that.  i read that in an article after one of the 2nd or 3rd mass outcries from users over something fking retarded facebook did.

[Snail]

I thought everyone hated newsfeed.

[iamzack]

I keep getting used to the new retarded (and usually broken) layout, and then they change it again.

[Nuclear1]

The one good thing newsfeed has going for it is the ability to select a few friends you want hear more about. 

Otherwise it's just stupid. 

KYLE LEBHGFFJLGSKI FOUND A (INSERT COLOR) (SHEEP/COW/CAT/WAR VETERAN) ON THEIR FARM IN FARMVILLE!  YAY!

oh btw your friend got engaged but FARMVILLE!!!!!111

[Klaustrophobia]

I thought patents are dumb in general. Isn't copyright good enough?

two different things.  patent = invention/innovation, copyright = literary/art

but yes, patents in industry are essentially useless, except as resume padders, according to my advisor.  "show me a patent and i'll show you at least 10 ways around it" he says.

[IronBeer]

KYLE LEBHGFFJLGSKI FOUND A (INSERT COLOR) (SHEEP/COW/CAT/WAR VETERAN) ON THEIR FARM IN FARMVILLE!  YAY!

oh btw your friend got engaged but FARMVILLE!!!!!111

What's really sad/funny is that this is an accurate example.

[iamzack]

then again, if it wasn't for stalkerfeed, i wouldn't have found out that my sister had a baby

[Scotty]

I must be lucky to have only one friend who uses Farmville, and they tend to do everything at the same time, so I get a nice condensed "This person has found this.... View nine similar messages" just about every time I get on.  I actually like the newsfeed, since I have few enough friends added it doesn't get clogged with random crap everyday.

[iamzack]

you know you can hide applications without hiding people, right?

[Klaustrophobia]

it's more fun to watch all the notifications pile up.  i'm somewhere around 300 now.

[S-99]

My whole outrage is whether or not this is actually facebook's invention. Myspace and twitter have their own forms of news feed that essentially do the same thing. So, does this patent cover all implementations of news feed? Or just facebook's implementation of it (i'm hoping it just covers facebook's implementation, but the article doesn't go in this direction at all, or could be the article is assuming too much)?

The other thing is that facebook has had newsfeed for a while. Why didn't they try going for a patent before it was in use? That'd be a little smarter than getting a patent after the fact (who knows, there's little evidence showing that facebook perhaps wasn't able to get a patent before hand).

In the area of whether or not this is facebook's invention or not (pertaining to the theory that there patent covers all implementations of a news feed)...there's different forms of news feed around. The most primitive and usual form of news feed would be the home page for hard-light (the few yearly updates that get posted there with community highlights), a blog, or just a normal web site in general where the owner posts updates regularly via html. Which finally makes me think, why does this need to get patented at all?

[Ace]

The one good thing newsfeed has going for it is the ability to select a few friends you want hear more about. 

Otherwise it's just stupid. 

KYLE LEBHGFFJLGSKI FOUND A (INSERT COLOR) (SHEEP/COW/CAT/WAR VETERAN) ON THEIR FARM IN FARMVILLE!  YAY!

oh btw your friend got engaged but FARMVILLE!!!!!111

If only people found landmines on their farmville...

[SypheDMar]

Don't patents cause more competition in developing new medicine? Costs go up but lives can be saved. Is there an example of a useful software patent, though?

[NGTM-1R]

If only people found landmines on their farmville...

Move to Africa. Happens all the time.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I thought everyone hated newsfeed.

If newsfeed = RSS, then no.

[Mongoose]

I thought everyone hated newsfeed.

If newsfeed = RSS, then no.

It doesn't.

Also, Facebook has gone rapidly downhill from the first moment it expanded beyond a college-only service.  Hell, I only check my page about once a month or so.