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This week has not been a good one for Facebook.  However, it has been a different story for Twitter.  If you have been keeping up with the news headlines you will probably already know that Facebook has been the victim of a rather nasty spam attack involving graphic porn images.  Many users have been disgusted by them – and they have gone straight to Twitter to talk about it.

So is this a new trend in the online social media world?  Do people leave Facebook and discuss various trends and occurrences on its rival social networking site Twitter instead?

It would seem that they do.  Many Twitter users have been discussing the attacks on the micro-blogging site, advising others to steer clear of Facebook – especially where children are concerned – until the site has sorted out the problems.

However, this is not the only time that Twitter has been the chosen venue for those who are disappointed with the service received by Facebook.  Salman Rushdie, the infamous author of “The Satanic Verses”, went to Twitter to vent his frustrations about the treatment he had received from Facebook.  Apparently, the social networking site wanted proof that Salman was who he said he was.  Salman is his middle name and Facebook wanted to list him as Ahmed Rushdie.  Understandably, since he is not famous by this name, Salman was rather annoyed.  Therefore, he went to his followers on Twitter to share his frustration.

You cannot really blame him, can you?

There hardly seems to be a single day of late when there has not been a negative news story about Facebook.  However, it appears that the social networking site has been hit by a particularly bad spam attack in recent hours, as a flood of pornographic images have been seen appearing on the profiles of numerous users.

Those in charge at Facebook think that the users who have been affected by the images may have inadvertently clicked on links that have enabled the hackers to release a virus into their Facebook accounts.  This in turn has led to the virus being able to post unwanted images on their profile pages.  Anyone who is a friend of the affected profile owners will also see these images.  The hack has caused much upset and disgust among Facebook users.

While Facebook seems to be moving quickly to shut down the accounts that were at the heart of triggering this virus, some believe a lot of damage has already been done.  There have been hundreds of news reports during recent hours, with lots of people already saying that this is the last straw and they have closed their accounts with Facebook.  This is of course another controversial move – you cannot delete your account, you can only close it.  So even now, people are unable to vote with their feet.

At the time of writing Facebook had not yet managed to put an end to the problem.  Hopefully it will not be long before they do, for the sake of damage control.

Facebook has heard the complaints and appears to be moving towards appeasing those users who are worried about the privacy and security concerns of the world’s most popular social networking site.  Two recent updates were rolled out to assuage some of these concerns.

App Passwords – probably the most comprehensive of the two, this one is the quiet change that everyone is underestimating.  First, it allows you to set unique passwords for one or all of your Facebook apps, keeping them separate from your Facebook account.

This does a couple of things to your account, security-wise.  First, it allows you to keep apps separate from your social network, which means that someone who gains access to one of your apps nefariously will not be able to get into your actual FB account.

Second, and maybe more important, it allows you to shut down an app without hoping that their unsubscribe button works.  All you have to do is close out the password’s access to your account and the app no longer has access.

The part that gets missed?  This also gives you a back door into your Facebook account should you forget your password.  You can access on public systems or open networks using this alternate password.  This means that if you’re signing up for something that requires you to “log in” using your Facebook account, you can do it with an alternate password instead of your main one, which keeps your account secure.

Trusted Friends – is another addition that allows you another good way to regain access to your Facebook account should it be hacked, your password gets lost, etc.  It allows you to designate friends you trust with your account.  Then, if you can’t gain access, you can opt to have it send password change codes to your Trusted Friends.  They can then forward them to you or use them on your behalf to change your password.

Both of these are a good step forward.  They don’t quite cover everything, of course, but they show that Facebook is at least concerned about user perception.

Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, is launching service in the United Kingdom and Ireland in early 2012.  The service will, as in the United States and Canada, offer unlimited streaming TV shows and movies, but will not be offering its DVD by mail service in the new territory.

When the service launches, instant viewing will immediately become available to subscribers in the UK region and devices to capture Netflix streams, such as set-top boxes and the like, will be available to consumers starting this Holiday season.

Netflix is currently available in the U.S., Canada, and 43 countries in Latin America.  This will be its first foray across the Atlantic.  Netflix is currently allowing UK and Irish customers to sign up for a membership list that will alert them when membership subscriptions become available to them.

Despite some heavy losses and negative PR in recent times, Netflix seems determined to bounce back before new competition from rivals appears in force.  This expansion is obviously meant to grow market share further before rivals even really begin taking share in the U.S.

Most people would accept that big brands and businesses of all sizes use social media websites to help them connect with their target audience and help to promote their products or services.  Now a recent survey by ISBA in association with Havas Media Social has put a figure on how many CEOs actually realise how important these social media sites are – a full three-quarters of them.

Fifty marketers were spoken to for the survey, which ended up revealing some other interesting facts too.  For example, they were all involved in social media to some degree, with 66% of them saying they were using a proper strategy to try to get the results they sought.  However, a huge 96% of those questioned said they did not do all the hard work themselves; rather, they hired agencies to help them achieve the best possible results.

These figures are intriguing and they show that many more people are involved with social media marketing than may first be thought.  However, since the survey only focused on those businesses large enough to have a CEO, it does not take into account smaller businesses and one-person businesses.  It would be interesting to see if similar patterns were seen in these areas as well.

One thing can be taken from this survey though.  It is clear that many people in big businesses are serious about social media marketing and the advantages it can bring them.

Facebook is the largest social media site of its kind and eBay is the biggest online auction site you will find around at the moment.  Therefore, it is not surprising to learn that an agreement between the two has been garnering a lot of interest online in recent days.

According to the latest reports, the best parts of each site are going to come together to provide a more dynamic and user-friendly experience for people who are looking to buy online.  New plug-ins are due to be released for use with Facebook that in turn will make shopping on eBay much easier and more social in some respects.  Instead of simply buying something, you will be able to log into Facebook and share your opinions of the item.  Similarly, sellers on eBay will be able to take advantage of the new social media aspect.  This will enable them to promote whatever they sell to a much bigger audience than they would otherwise be able to reach.

As you can see this looks to be a big story that has great potential for the social commerce world.  It remains to be seen whether the results will be as good as the promise.  Some people question whether social shopping is safe enough to be a success, as it requires the sharing of information – something that not everyone is keen to do.  Nevertheless, this collaboration certainly has promise for the future.