A Facebook event was soon set up by myself for fans who wish to protest. It is called I will not watch The Bold And The Beautiful until Hunter Tylo returns!. Join in if you like.

Her next live online chat (her third in total so far) will be on 17th DEC., 3:00 PM EST. Get your password at http://www.huntertylo.ws now!

_________

Update Dec 8, 2011: Latest points of news

The chat will now be at 1PM EST.

Hunter also mentioned in her Facebook page that she may be launching a magazine.

She confirmed it in her official Facebook. You can find her at http://twitter.com/#!/TaylorMade4U and in the Twitter search box you can see tweets to her at @TaylorMade4U

Enjoy Hunter’s tweets!

December 9th, 2009:

Although I was hoping to leave this news alone for a bit longer for her privacy, there’s no point now that people know and will read more this week. Here’s some news that may surprise you a bit if you do happen to be unaware, or might put a smile on your face if you have heard but aren’t sure whether or not to believe it.

I am pleased to inform Hunter’s fans that she got married just over a week ago!! The incredibly lucky guy is Gersson Archila. I would like to congratulate Hunter and Gersson and I wish them both much happiness!

So I guess I should now refer to my goddess Hunter as Mrs Archila I’m sure her professional name will stay the same though.

Congrats Hunter! Although I think you’re quite a wasically wabbit, as usual, you know I love you and that you have my support as always!!

Fans can post their messages to HT in this forum topic if they like (wedding photos are there).

Fan annoyance at B&B

From HunterNet’s news section November 18, 2009:

Where Hunter’s job is concerned, there has been plenty of criticism of B&B in forums lately from fans that have tuned out consistently this year. This time it is because fans are noticing false spoilers on soap web sites. These are for upcoming episodes of B&B and are mentioning Hunter’s character. However, when fans decide to give the show a chance for an episode or two and tune in she is a no-show. Annoyed but wise fans are now reading reviews and the forums first to see if others saw her on the show before deciding to download an episode or watch what they recorded at home.

It really is sad that a once great but now poor quality show is so desperate for ratings that they would need to trick people into watching it seems. And fans are noticing that storylines appear to be showing a different direction for characters from what the spoilers say. The writers are excessively obsessed with the “Logans” and it really is becoming quite laughable now. But hey, if that’s what it takes to win a best show daytime Emmy …

I have another rather simple “trick” the writers could employ to attract more viewers: WRITE A DECENT FREAKIN’ STORYLINE FOR TAYLOR you shmucks! It’s not rocket science!!!!

Hunter really is far too good for this show. She deserves a better opportunity to use her looks, talent, humor and so on to a much greater extent elsewhere. I like seeing her on B&B but I believe her talents are being wasted there. She does an excellent job always on B&B but it’s still a waste of her talents.

You are a visitor to this site. Here is your chance to have a say. Fans of Hunter Tylo are welcome to post a comment below about what experiences and observations they have had here on this site during their visits.

Fans can also talk about how Hunter Tylo inspires them and how much they like her acting these days?

Fans can also talk about what it means to them to be a fan of Hunter Tylo and a part of the fan community, especially here online.

Fans that have met Hunter at fan events and the like can also talk about that if they like (and they can post photos of that in the Your photos taken with Hunter area of the forum if they like – guests included). One such account of a meeting with Hunter occured last year between her and two fans. One of these posted here in this site’s chat area. It is reprinted below.

All comment posts are moderated and will go live once approved.

A recent discussion with a fan in the chat area, between me and Michael.

72 Michael – Thanks for the add Lyndon! And thanks for a great site and info on the Huntress! So glad your site is professional and gives a great representation of her! Mon, May 11 2009 (08:15:00 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

73 Michael – Hunter is by far the nicest celebrity that we have met and she really does care about her fans!! She went out of her way when I had the pleasure of meeting her! We were so taken back and can’t wait to see her again. Keep up the great work on the site! Mon, May 11 2009 (08:17:46 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

107 Michael – Hi Lyndon, Fernando is great thanks for asking! Hoping to meet Hunter again and would love to share the photos. I am under a crazy schedule at the moment and fly back to and forth from New Jersey to Las Vegas every week. I am a hairdresser. Wed, May 13 2009 (03:09:51 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

108 Michael – But that would be a nice to see photos of Hunter and her Fans on this site….I am sure Hunter would love to see them all. Again THE NICEST person most down to earth person! I must admit was nervous at first how she would be…..but let me tell you Wed, May 13 2009 (03:11:28 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

109 Michael – BLOWN AWAY AT HOW NICE SHE IS!!!! A kind, caring human being!!!! She has a natural way about her that makes you feel like she really cares! And I believe she does! So everyone who is reading this can rest assured she does love her FANS!!!! Wed, May 13 2009 (03:13:10 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

110 Michael – Fernando was sooo taken too! He beauty draws you in, but then to see that there is more than just the surface is amazing! And great to see that Holllywood and Fame hasn’t gone to her head!!!! And boy can she make you laugh!!!!!! Wed, May 13 2009 (03:15:21 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

111 Michael – oops meant to say her beauty draws you in….. Wed, May 13 2009 (03:15:47 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

112 Michael – If you haven’t met her Lyndon YOU HAVE TO! And there is a reason why everyone seemed to be wanting to talk with her!!! Wed, May 13 2009 (03:17:29 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

113 Michael – One day I will have to tell you the whole story! It was AMAZING!!!! Wed, May 13 2009 (03:19:18 pm); IP: 68.224.82.*;

In part one of this update (provided at the moment on the home page), I eluded to the fact that Hunter’s mother is having some health problems. Given what is going on with her, plus the fact that Mike Tylo would’ve been 21 in the next week – and given how poorly the media and public has treated Hunter and her beau, Corey, since late last year when many people first started to hear about Hunter’s mother’s ill-health – I’d be willing to bet Hunter is not exactly on cloud nine at the moment.

I was heartbroken to read Hunter’s Facebook message about her mother earlier this week. Then, after being initially upset, I started to feel more anger and rage than I think I have ever felt in my life. I thought back over the last 5 or 6 months or so and I remembered that, while Hunter’s mother was going through what she has been going through, the media and public treated Hunter and Corey in a truly disgusting manner. I have probably never seen a couple being treated so poorly in my entire life, like everyone but the fans has treated Hunter and Corey.

The media turds are fools. They have done nothing but create “news” that, not surprisingly, has turned out to be wrong. They have slandered Hunter and Corey and caused a lot of damage to their reputation. The public will never forget any of that because many people are actually stupid enough to believe most of the media over the truth. We are all guilty of having initial reactions of shock when we read some of the media’s fiction that we seem to initially believe in some small way. I’m ashamed to say that I did a little bit last month. But I am always prepared to give Hunter the benefit of the doubt that she deserves and I did so. But many people believed most of the lies that were spread by the media.

I don’t believe it all and, overall, none of it has changed my mind about Hunter. In fact, I have a much deeper fondness for Hunter now than I ever have. I know that my fellow Hunter Tylo fans, after experiencing some initial disappointment in some cases, are still standing by her today like I do and always will, no matter what.

But then there are Hunter’s haters and critics and all of their absurd comments this year. These people are a total waste of space. They do not know Hunter and Corey. They have no clue. How can they judge a person’s moral standards like they have; a Christian one’s at that? How can they criticize a person’s appearance and body parts like they have? How can they question what a person sees romantically in another person and say they are just desperate because of their choice and that they could do better? Who are the haters? Sub-human cretins that need to grow a brain? Probably!

Since Hunter’s workload on B&B picked up last month, and the scenes she filmed have started airing, there has been a certain level of shock among viewers that I’ve noticed commenting here online (about her appearance) over recent weeks. Most of the comments concern the position of her bosoms on her chest (and whether or not she has had a bad boob job), then her face and how white it looks and other criticisms (the lips). Now there is even criticism she’s not getting many lines in current episodes of her TV show and when she does speak (as “Taylor”) it’s with a lisp because of her lips. I think that’s probably the first time I’ve heard that one.

Here is one comment about this:

04/15/2009 18:54:28 – Subject: Taylor
‘bluecastle11′

Why should they give more lines to an actress who doesn’t believe in her own skills as an actress enough to just do her job? She is relying on PROPS! Her lip inplants are PROPS! They are aweful and are extremely distracting! She now lisps when she has to say more than a few words in one sentence. If they gave her more lines, I couldn’t stand to watch or to listen! She is/was a beautiful woman, and now I feel like I am watching a circus performer. Nothing wrong with a circus performer, if that is what you do. She needs to find faith in herself again, and have those aweful things removed! She sounds like she has a self inflicted speech impediment. Why are women defacing and mangaling their bodies and their spirits like this??? Please Hunter…find your real self again. You are an amazing and beautiful woman!

Source: http://www.cbs.com/forum/posts/list/46425.page

It is just so frustrating and annoying for me to read those sorts of comments. Hunter is very dedicated to her job and was excited about her workload picking up last month. Although she is quite used to all of this criticism, because it has been going on for many years, she will still be disappointed that her hard work has resulted in petty criticisms like the one above. Sadly, it (plastic surgery) is the most popular topic at the moment in search engine queries that are about Hunter Tylo. Here is a look (below) at the figures in case you find it a little hard to believe.

This list and what forms most of it (related to work being done on her face) is really frustrating. I recall reading a comment last month in the CBS B&B forum that her “legacy” will be her supposed “plastic surgery” because it’s what everyone’s interested in. The fact that she is a really, really good actress doesn’t seem to factor into a lot of her job these days for some viewers.

Why is it so hard for people to talk about Hunter’s acting on B&B? I have been extremely happy with Hunter’s performances on B&B in recent years, where she has given some of her career-best performances. I know from online comments at other web sites that other fans have been impressed also.

Google searches related to Hunter Tylo in March, 2009

Search phrase | Approx March search vol (America only)

1. hunter tylo | 33,100
2. hunter tylo son | 2,900
3. hunter tylo surgery | 1,600
4. and hunter tylo | 1,300
5. hunter tylo plastic | 1,300
6. hunter tylo photos | 590
7. hunter tylo pics | 590
8. of hunter tylo | 590 (probably meant to be “pics of hunter tylo”)
9. hunter tylo before | 480
10.beautiful hunter tylo | 390
11.hunter taylo | 390
12.hunter tylo before after | 390
13.hunter tylo before and after | 390
14.hunter tylo plastic surgery | 390
15.hunter tylo actress | 320

This is all a typical example of what Hunter is up against.

With that nonsense on top of her mother’s ill-health and remembering Mike’s birthday this month, if you thought Hunter was probably all happy as pie at the moment, I’d be willing to bet that she probably isn’t too much. I’m not saying she has fallen into a totally depressed state or anything because I doubt that she has, but some parts of this year would’ve been quite trying for her. The public scrutiny in several areas of her private life, as well as her job, must surely be upsetting.

Would it hurt for people to show a little compassion at the moment? There is obviously a lot of bitterness and jealousy out there aimed at Hunter Tylo. What do you think about it all? Post a comment below if you like.

You can also post your message of support for Hunter’s mother in a comment post below. These can also be posted in the forum at the moment as well.

–

From part one update today:

A message to Hunter’s mother, JoAnne

I heard late last year that Hunter’s mother, JoAnne, was having health problems. I was not aware of what was involved until I got a shock earlier this week when HT herself posted a message to her Facebook friends about her mother’s health. I will not go into it here, even though the information has been posted in other sites since then and will probably be mentioned in the media over the next month around the world. But I do want to take the opportunity to acknowledge a lady I have always meant to acknowledge a lot more on this site than I ever have.

She is a lady that I will always be eternally grateful to for giving birth to and raising a daughter who has since become a truly beautiful woman (Hunter). The lady I speak of is, of course, JoAnne. I would like to take this long overdue opportunity to humbly and respectfully acknowledge JoAnne for all that she has done over the years to raise her family to become such fine citizens of this world since they ventured out on their own. She can be very proud of her personal and family achievements in her life so far. She is an inspiration and if Hunter is anything to go by she has done a supreme job in raising a daughter when HT was younger that has grown to become a classy and inspiring lady – one who also happens to be the world’s most beautiful lady, I believe – and who is going to argue with me

Obviously, Hunter has grown to be a truly beautiful, classy, inspiring and wise lady in her own right, but I’ll bet that her mother’s advice and wisdom over the years has been a good guide. Thank you, JoAnne, for everything, from the bottom of my heart! You will always eternally have my admiration and deepest and greatest respect! In your time of need for some prayers now, please be assured that Hunter’s extended family – her loyal and loving fans – are thinking of you and praying for you. Peace be with you!

Much love and respect from all of us fans of your daughter.

xoxo
Lyndon

1. “Hunter’s motherhood odyssey has taken dramatic twists more heart-wrenching than any television drama.”
2. “So many people have believed in me when everyone else abandoned me.”
3. “… and the beautiful children God has blessed me with for helping to appreciate life. I now treasure every moment with my children, even those temper-tantrum-the-house-is-a-wreck days.”

How little did we all know back in 2000 (in her book) just how true the above quotes would turn out to be today more than ever? From working several jobs to raise a son, who seems to have turned out to be a fine citizen, to her “miracle daughter”; the traumatic experience of another daughter with eye cancer; to grief for a son that passed away – Hunter Tylo has shown her strength in her amazing odyssey as a mother. And what an extraordinary mother she is!

She has come from building her confidence as an actress, and in battling her own demons along the way sometimes, to building her confidence to stand up for herself against poor treatment by guys. All these and her strength as a mother shows that her personal safety and that of her children always comes first and she can handle just about anything. But this is not the case if you believe a laughable story on TMZ last week.

But that story was wrong! The way in which HT has handled her personal journey to become a truly great person, and also in handling the many challenges in life, with such grace and class, still inspires millions of people today. The way in which she has been smeared in the media lately as a total ho and a poor mother, though, shows how little class the people that work there have. People continue to try to plant the seeds of doubt in peoples’ minds, but it has not worked, once again – because, despite a brief amount of shock about the TMZ article, HT’s fans and others have still not swayed from their belief in Hunter.

There were quite a few that did fall hook, line and sinker for what TMZ said, though. The fact is that Hunter, her family and Corey have been the victims of some defamatory lies. It is all lies for a bit of media sensationalism for suckers! It led to racist slurs and people crossing the line with other comments about HT and her family. Corey has been defamed as a woman basher and child abuser. Hunter has been slammed as a bad parent, among other criticisms (most of which were completely uncalled for and had nothing to do with it).

I’m ashamed to say that I may have had a few thoughts of disappointment in HT last week myself and I’m sorry to her for that. It rarely happens but I am a human, after all. There should never be any doubt that HT is not as stupid as people think; she’s an incredibly strong woman. Similarly, Corey is not the dufus people think he is and he certainly denies all wrongdoing.

I publicly thanked Corey recently on this site, on behalf of fans, for being there over the last two years with Hunter (most guys would have run with what she has been through). I have since become aware of certain facts that show me that had I even less of a clue than I thought about just how supportive he has been. I owe him an even bigger debt of gratitude, on behalf of Hunter’s fans.

If people look back at the timeline of events last year (this site’s news page will help), they will see that it blows TMZ’s claims out of the water (she never needed to “forgive and forget”) and makes a laughing stock of other columnists who fell for it and hate Hunter anyway and seized the opportunity to smear her. But many of Hunter’s fans remember the days (this time 20 years ago) when she was daytime TV’s most hated woman (she was on Days). The hate campaign she endured then makes anything else since look quite tame by comparison. There is an ingrained hatred in the media for women that are beautiful and/or otherwise try to do some good in this world. Obviously that hate is still there today and people fall for it instead of demanding an end to it.

It also seems that whether Hunter plays a good character or something of a bad one (like she did on Days), she cannot win with some people; they will despise her either way. Certainly, people in the media do not care whom they smear for a headline. They are sad people indeed and they are the ones that need their neck wrung here

Anyway, I thought HT and Corey might offer some little explanation publicly, to mess with the heads of critics a bit, but it’s their business and regardless of whatever may or may not have happened, according to the media at least (and Corey denies every bit of what was alleged), it seems that both were able to put the TMZ article behind them quickly. Corey wants everyone to know that “no weapon form against us will prosper. No media either ”

It was upsetting to see HT and Corey being smeared so much over the last week. I turned to my “bible” (HT’s book) after being reminded of some points about HT by someone to whom I’m grateful for those reminders (thanks Corey!). Let there be no doubt that Hunter Tylo is one of the greatest women alive today in my belief! If you can find anyone greater then I want to know about it Hunter continues to inspire me and I know that if I had a set of balls as big as she does (so to speak) then I’d be a much, much better person. Maybe that day will come (I’m still working on it) and people can just kiss my ass for sure then

Hunter is an extraordinary mother and an extraordinary person! Angie, for example, might have six kids but her life experiences pale in comparison to Hunter’s. No hyped up media story will ever change anyone’s mind about that! If you don’t believe me and my bias, pick up her book and look back at all those dramas in her life that her critics complain about and see how well she came out the other side. Think about it.

Is she really about as dumb as they come, like we all have it in us to treat her sometimes (and have done so lately)? Do you think we should all just try to give her a bit of credit? Is she really a bad mother, despite all she has done for all her children in their time of need? Would a kickass babe like her let any guy grab her by the neck inappropriately? Would she (and her ex) really stand by and watch anyone force her kids to do an excessive exercise just to shut them up for 20 minutes? Do you think her family and friends wouldn’t be around to help her in any such situation anyway?

Do you think maybe that it’s really just the media smearing her? Do you think it’s just the media flogging the same old dead horse by continually bringing up her past sexual and other history for a bit of sensationalism (because they’re jealous they aren’t “getting any action”) and for some extra online ad banner impressions? It makes you wonder which is really the case, huh? Yes, plenty of people read the restraining order’s details on the law courts’ web site last year and again this month. But did Hunter Tylo really have to forgive and forget in the first place, like TMZ has everyone believing?

It’s a strange world we live in. One where everyone is out to deceive everyone else. Who do you believe? You can continue to follow the hilarious world of public ignorance about Hunter in this forum topic, where I am archiving article and comment posts related to the TMZ article. Did you know that HT is apparently engaged to her “abuser”? How lucky they are Did you know she’s a whack job full of silicone? Ooh, aah, tell me more Oh the remarks people make about someone who is easily the world’s most beautiful woman at the moment (sorry Angie, the world must be getting bored with you at the moment, baby)!

Now, moving on, Purple Day for Epilepsy awareness is coming up. I have posted a little banner and some links on this site last week. Feel free to spread the word about the day in your country.

Additional notes:

Making A Miracle by Hunter Tylo. 2000 Pocket Books
1. Inside cover
2. pp vii
3. Dedication and pp 341

Related link: Hunter Tylo’s boyfriend Corey Cofield

Well, if you believe that nasty rumor in February, she probably is hard to work with. But if you’re more intelligent than that you certainly won’t (she has been at B&B for 19 years and has a good track record of commitment to her job). I wanted to comment a bit more today because this site’s visitor statistics show that it is attracting people coming in through search engine queries currently with questions like that (about her work ethic) – even though there is nothing in question about it here.

It is probably the result of the slander and lies in that recent rumor and also a small group of fans turning against each other instead of uniting against it (not surprisingly, I was involved in the tiffs, I’ll admit, but mostly in a positive way hopefully). I have well and truly done my bit to stick up for HT’s reputation in recent weeks (just because I wanted to). But I do want to say something to the gutless pussy (excuse the slang) and their kind that started the rumor, now that most people are aware that it was a false one.

Hunter knows she has a lot of haters filled with bitterness towards her. She knows that people will make up rumors that are untrue. She has been through so much in her life, including dealing with the haters. I don’t know how she copes with it all but somehow she does. She is an awesome woman and people like you (rumor mongers) will never do HT’s reputation as much harm as you think you will.

There will always be people like me out there that will hold Hunter up to the world as a positive example of a truly great human being! Such people will always promote her in a positive manner to people around the world. It is my guarantee then that you rumor mongers will always fail in your efforts to ruin her public image! Your “achievements” in recent weeks (including wasting peoples’ time) have mostly failed and will continue to fail. My suggestion is that you get a life and leave HT alone!

Where that writer is concerned, HT said she had noticed that many people were outraged by such an ugly rumor about her (a few forums did have a little bit of discussion about it at the time). She also said it defamed her and her employer. I for one hope she sues because these magazines need to learn to improve their editing processes so fictional “news” does not get through (although that sells these days and is unlikely to change). The buck stops with the editor. In this case, there are plenty of people who would say that the editor and the writer should both be fired. I would still encourage people not to bother to buy those types of magazines or visit their web site (they are mostly an insult to the intelligence of women; their main market).

As for her work on B&B, HT talked about her character’s storyline last year and how much time she was given to deal with such a rough year. The timing of one part of that storyline (the death of ‘Phoebe’) was an unfortunate coincidence. She is excited about her work on B&B this year, though, and is looking forward to ‘Taylor’ evolving more (and getting plenty of sex, she said – in a classy manner that is). You can read the post here in this site’s forum (Hopefully she won’t mind me quoting it there for the fans that are not members of her forum?).

I would like to thank HT for spending some time with us fans in recent weeks and for talking a bit more about some of the challenges she faced last year. Starting today, I am going to post news updates in the fan blog area so people can post comments if they like. This update can be found there on this page.

Although the article uses the example of Hunter Tylo (HT), who just signed up for a fcbk profile a week ago, there are general tips I have picked up in just a few days of using it. These tips can be useful for any celeb, parent or child that are brave enough to use social networking sites like it. The purpose of this article, however, is not just for tips but to obtain suggestions from any reader about what one can use fcbk for. Let us go through some discussion under different categories.

Control over friends

Probably the best part of using social networking sites is that you can have a lot of control over which friends and fans are in your friends list. If any step out of line they can be told to be careful or just uninvited from private access to the profile for a while.

Although HT said in her fcbk (about her haters): “If I end up hating this Facebook thing, I’m G1″ – which meant ‘G’ + ‘one’ which equals “gone” – it does not have to be that way, of course. You can add a page administrator to get rid of horrible comment posts or just drop anyone from your friends list. Alternatively, one can use the settings in their account to customize who accesses what.

The settings in a fcbk account are for applications, account information and privacy information. Looking at the latter two only in this article, you can join local networks in your area of residence or work or school, or groups about other topics, through the account settings area of your profile (there are several groups devoted to Hunter Tylo, for example – one of which started in recent times and, much to my slight annoyance, “borrowed” many photos from this site, but linked to it in return at least). As I have mentioned, you can also make someone a page administrator and that can be done in the notifications area there also.

Most importantly in the account settings, though, in the privacy part you can block someone (e.g. an employer) from finding you on fcbk and seeing your profile and interacting with you. With this feature you can block your fcbk listing in search engines (Hunter’s fcbk is already listed in Google just a week after she set it up). You can block people from seeing your photos in a public search also. There are options to customize settings to your heart’s content. All this comes in handy for what was mentioned here previously (ditching people from your profile’s access).

Blogging

There is a small suite of features in fcbk that can be useful from time to time. The “Poke Hunter” feature is a little bit of a naughty title in her profile but it means nothing these days in Facebook language (i.e. poking can be used to just say “hi”, nothing specific). Other features include sending a message (an email feature), video, games, photos, links, notes, comments and instant messaging chat (see logo in bottom right corner of each fcbk page). These are the main features of a fcbk profile.

There is not much scope there for blogging, though, but excerpts could be posted there from any articles one writes and publishes in their MySpace blog perhaps. This is probably the best way Hunter Tylo could go about it. In blogging on MySpace, HT could address rumors, to start with. She did this in her fcbk in reference to a rumor I mentioned (and I hope she does not mind me using this example just this once?):

Hunter Tylo at 4:43pm February 12
If the rumor you are referring to was bad and has to do with Corey and I – I can guarantee you it is BS. I could not have survived the loss of my son without him. In fact, he used to help care for Mickey when I went out of town or had long days. As an ex-Marine, and about 6 feet tall, he was able to handle Mick if he had a seizure. He also kept him on a strict medicine schedule.
As always, you have to remember there are ex’es and enemies who enjoy getting a dig in whenever they can.
I don’t even entertain the junk
But thanks for defending me!

In addressing rumors like this one (which I suspect was the assault one that started in a trash magazine in late 2007) Hunter can set the record straight in an article on her MySpace. She could then go a bit further and tell people a bit more about how she coped with the situation. She could probably do this in her fcbk but it is probably better to do this in her MySpace in the blog section.

Facebook advertising

Unlike MySpace, fcbk has a limited amount of advertising cluttering up your profile. It is usually just get rich quick nonsense ads on the right side of each page. Over at MySpace, I swear that I saw and ad last week (see below) in Hunter’s profile that told readers that they could find people in their area with herpes (like anyone is really going to rush in for that). This does not look good on a celeb’s profile at all, but it’s News Corporation’s fault (they own MySpace and profit from the ad revenue from weird ads like that).

General thoughts

Facebook allows one to customize so many options (from privacy settings to ffcbk background layouts and expressions (see bottom of article for more about installing)). I think it is much better than MySpace for the reason of customization alone. Having said that, social networking sites are limited in their usefulness and are a poor substitute for a proper web site. I believe that they should only be seen as an additional feature to a mainstream web site offering. But if you do not have a site then this is a basic way of getting around that on the cheap (that is why kids use it to post photos and video clips of themselves).

Then there are privacy issues, though, to consider. I remember a few years back there was a huge uproar when the kid that started fcbk wanted to release private information. He had to forget about that idea but the damage was done; the reputation of the site sank. But there are still privacy issues today. Your news feed can be viewed by others if you forget to change the settings. This will show up comments, friend additions and so on until you change the privacy options. Added to that is also the data mining problem associated with the information you put on your profile (a reason why I have no personal photo there in mine and only very limited personal information). Then there is the timestamp situation.

When you post any comments in someone’s profile a timestamp is included that will show your local time. What if an employer sees that you posted during work hours? What if your better half sees that you posted somewhere when you said you were not online at the time? Sprung!!! But the real whopper of a privacy issue related to serving a summons.

If you are an Australian fcbk user, you can be served an online summons. This came after last December’s Supreme Court Ruling in the A.C.T. that fcbk is suitable for this purpose and is legally binding when posted. That could really open up a can of worms in the future if everyone else follows suit. And there are other legal problems associated with using fcbk as well (like defamation and identifying underage crime victims in countries where that is illegal, for example).

So, looking at what information I have revealed just in recent days on Facebook, any reader with appropriate access will know: my age; what at least one pet I once had was (and my level of knowledge about that animal species); my affection for Hunter Tylo; that I am “paranoid” about privacy and one or two other topics. Anyone could build up a suitable level of knowledge about me over time (if I keep posting little tidbits of information) that I am not prepared to have people know. Although some positives could be gained by me from that in some ways, I could still open myself up to all sorts of potential troubles in future. It pays to be very wary on social networking sites just as much as it does if you own your own web site (like this)!

If you just want to keep in touch with friends interstate or overseas, then it might be better to install a webcam (and get your friends to) and an instant messaging software program than to use social networking sites. Some people spend more time on those than they do on the telephone with friends and relatives.

Suggestions

Hunter Tylo says in her MySpace that she would like to meet “All my fans & have you get to know the REAL me!” Blogging there is one way to go about that but in fcbk there is always the comments and notes sections for publishing “mini-essays” or the like. But with the comments sections (like under photos for example), I think that celebs that use these social networking sites should consider topic discussion boundaries.

Sure, these sites are good for publicity purposes (about upcoming projects), photos, video clips and more, but if comments are allowed by anyone in the friends list there obviously needs to be some topics that are out of bounds and others that are fine to discuss that are listed. One can even expand from there and post discussion articles about the topics in their MySpace blog or web site if they do not want to use the fcbk notes feature.

Of course, on a side note, Hunter could just come here and get an account for this blog for that purpose, or one in the forum where she can publish her writing about different topics. She could be given moderator status in both the forum and here in the blog (author status). That is what one can do if they have a suitable fan site somewhere for letting people know about the real you (her own official site does not have the appropriate features, so she decided to use social networking sites instead).

But, back to fcbk and what do you think fcbk is useful for? What have you seen people do with it (good or bad)? What do you think celebs like Hunter Tylo could use fcbk for (perhaps in association with MySpace)? Feel free to post a comment below (note that they are moderated).

Related links

Who owns Facebook? How did it start? How popular is facebook? The Wikipedia fcbk page answers these and more.

Facebook help tutorials

You can install the expressions application mentioned above this way:

• Use the search box in fcbk to find the application in the search results for “expressions layouts”.
• Follow the prompts to get the application.
• It will take you to your profile and there will be a box in the left side.
• Press “keep” button. Then click the eraser logo and select “Move to Boxes Tab” (the boxes tab is currently the only place expressions work in fcbk profiles).
• You will then be taken to the Boxes tab where you can click “Get expressions”. Go to step 2 and either enter your email or press “Skip”.
• Then you can replace the default expressions design with up to 3 others by clicking the “Browse expressions …” link. It takes you to fbexpressions.com.
• You can look at facebook layouts while you are there if you like.
• If you need to delete the expression, go to the expressions web page where you choose a layout. Scroll down and near the bottom of that page is a small text link: “Remove current layout from my facebook page” (get rid of ‘Yontoo’ as well if you used that).

More tutorials:

General

Use the Google search box in the sidebar to your right of this article to find other tutorials. There will always be a few around, even in places like Yahoo Answers.

“25 Things” lists floating around

I was reading about the “25 Random Things” list that people tagged each other with to spread the note around fcbk. Others have since started their own. I am new at fcbk and would like to experiment by doing a smaller list of my own (Hunter Tylo seems to be a good topic given that this article concerns her). If I have tagged you in my notes then feel free to join in if you like (it will be a positive list, not one full of negatives).

Once you have been tagged, you are supposed to write a note to add more to the list. At the end, choose more people to be tagged. You should also tag the person who tagged you. Go to “notes” or the “+” sign under tabs on your profile page, type your entry in the list, tag more people (see right hand side of the application for box to list them) and then click publish it. It could go on forever and become quite a large list

Enjoy!