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Google added a dozen games to Google+ this week, including popular titles like Angry Birds, Zynga Poker, and more.  The Google+ Games service opened quietly, but immediately got attention from users who saw the privacy implications in Google’s permissions agreement when using one of the games.

Of course, games on social platforms like Google+, Fecebook, etc. require some access to the user’s profile.  After all, social games aren’t all that social if the game can’t see your network and tie you in with friends who are also playing the game.  It’s when the requests for information go beyond that and begin to get nosy that people get dicey.

Google+ Games requires users to allow the game access to almost their entire profile: from email to real name to Circles and their inhabitant’s importance.. This is a little too much for many users, who are complaining loudly about the intrusion just to gain access to some simple browser games.

Games began rolling out on Thursday, August 11 and are now available to nearly all G+ users.  Game announcements are currently limited to the Circle in which a friend is housed on your account.

On Google’s side in this debate is the fact that all of the permissions sought are listed right up-front when the user first accesses the game.  The user can refuse and not play the game and game announcements are currently limited to only those which players choose specifically to share with their Circles.

While many Google+ users are irked about the games being added (and the permissions requested), they are no worse than any other in the industry – better in some regards.  Through creative use of Circles and by choosing to ignore the Games tab altogether, G+ users can almost entirely avoid games on the platform.

For Google’s part, adding games is a big move towards competition with Facebook on the mainstream popularity front.

If anyone doubted how powerful the internet – and in particular social media site like Twitter – could be, let those doubts be laid to rest now.  After the horrific series of riots that swept through London and other cities in England in recent days, a few people started a wave of support for a city clean up by using Twitter.

Various hashtags were seen on the site including #RiotCleanUp and perhaps most memorably #RiotWombles.  A veritable army of people turned up in several locations across London, stirred by the call out for assistance on Twitter.  What better way could there have been for the people of the neighbourhoods that had been affected to get together and show solidarity against the rioters?

If nothing else it certainly makes you look at social media sites in a completely different way.  Yes, there have been incidents where they have been used for bad means.  But this shows that when you need help, asking for it on a social media site such as Twitter could be the best way to get it.

Of course the efforts were largely sparked by the news coverage of the riots themselves.  These news stories provoked people to start talking about the riots on Twitter, and from there they got motivated to do something about it.  But it could have been all talk and no action and it was not.  Instead the Riot Wombles took to the streets and got things back to some semblance of normality again.  How refreshing.

It can be a challenge to promote a brand new business, particularly online.  But now there is a new website which aims to make it that little bit easier to do so.

The website is called Plug Start Ups and it allows people to promote their latest businesses – typically websites.  The plug is given for free and you can list your website on a page of its own.  You can provide a summary of the service being offered, as well as commenting on the idea behind it.  There are several other sections that should be filled in as well, although some people elected to leave them blank.

Obviously it gives you a link back to your home page, but since this is a chance to promote your new start up it is disappointing to see that a lot of people have elected to get the link up as quickly as possible.  This has left lots of information out, which is probably why lots of people have given a negative vote to various websites.

This could be a good tool to use online, though it may too soon get bogged down with substandard submissions and spam.  It is too early to tell at present.  But if people take the time to fill out all the sections on Plug Start Ups when they submit their business, it could bring some rewards.  It remains to be seen how successful the site will be as a whole.

In a guest post on TechCrunch, Tom Anderson, former President and founder of MySpace, talks about Google + and Facebook and how Google is going to radically change the social networking game and how Facebook must react if they want to be relevant five years from now.

He writes:

If it’s not obvious yet, Google+ is going to be able to “undercut” Facebook when it comes to game developers and platform transactions. Instead of taking a 30% cut of all Farmville seeds (or whatever people are buying), Google will be able to take a smaller percentage for themselves. They may even take nothing. And when it comes to “monetization” on the G+ “website,” Google’s trump card against Facebook is that we may never even see an ad on G+. Google has plenty to gain without ever showing an ad and, put simply, Google doesn’t need the money. Facebook’s got to know this, and it’s got to have them just a little bit concerned.

Everything, according to Anderson, hinges on how Google launches their G+ platform for developers.  The way he sees it, Facebook really screwed up with the way they’ve handled this, giving developers almost total free reign and then being perceived as the bad guy when they began pulling in those reigns and tightening their grip.  He does give Facebook kudos for how they’ve handled branding and business uses of the site, a model of encouraging individual users before business which he advises Google to follow.

Anderson points out one of the big mistakes that MySpace made and how the delicate balance between regular people, advertisers, small businesses, and platform developers is tough to maintain, but crucial for long-term survival and growth.

His points are very valid and definitely cut to the core of what is happening in the current social media shakeup.

It would never have been thought of a few years ago.  But now the state of Missouri in America has a new law that focuses on the rise of social media – and the relationship between teachers and their students.

The law does not come into action until the end of this month, but it has already made headlines around the world.  According to the law it will no longer be legal for teachers to talk to their students on social media sites.  They will not be able to friend them on Facebook or interact with them on any other social media site of any kind.

This may seem like a drastic measure, and it has certainly got everyone talking.  This is true even in areas outside of Missouri, where no such law currently exists.  However State Senator Jane Cunningham has said that Missouri is in 11^th place in the entire nation for (in her words) “teachers losing their licenses for student sex misconduct with their students.”

Some say it is wrong for the law to focus purely on social media sites.  The law will be known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act.  According to reports and Ms Hestir’s testimony, she was involved in a sexual relationship when she was in junior high.  There is no mention of social media in the reports of her relationship with a teacher, but clearly lawmakers want to ensure that teachers and students do not form relationships online.

It is certainly a question worth pondering after the social media giant bought the e-book publisher Push Pop Press.  The acquisition by Facebook has led many people to wonder whether Facebook will start publishing its own e-books, or at least venturing into this market in some way.  The About page on the Push Pop Press reveals the answer.

According to the information given on the page, Facebook is not going to go down this route.  However the best bits of Push Pop Press are likely to be integrated with the social networking site.

Push Pop Press was in its early stages when it was bought out.  It had produced Al Gore’s Our Choice app for books and this will still be available.  But no other developments or e-books shall be released now that the site has been purchased by Facebook.

Facebook has so far denied any thoughts of making inroads into the e-book business.  But there is no denying that e-books are profitable and becoming ever more popular.  For now it seems like Facebook simply wants to make the most of the technology available at Push Pop Press.  Integrating this into its own offerings will undoubtedly make Facebook even more impressive for those who want to use it in different ways.

But will there come a time when Facebook decides that it will start looking more seriously at e-book publishing?  We can only wait and see.  But one thing is for certain – the acquisition has certainly got a lot of people talking.