Buffeted by privacy snafus and the lingering fallout from a damning, years-old instant messaging thread, Facebook chief exec Mark Zuckerberg switched into full-on damage control Monday, confessing that the sprawling social network had “missed the mark” when it comes to its complex privacy controls — and pledging to do better.

In an open letter published Monday in the Washington Post (whose chairman, Donald E. Graham, just so happens to sit on Facebook’s board of directors), Zuckerberg wrote that Facebook has been “growing quickly” and admitted that “sometimes we move too fast.”

“Many of you thought our controls were too complex,” Zuckerberg’s letter reads. “Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls” — uh, you can say that again — “but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark.”

Zuckerberg promised, in “coming weeks,” privacy controls that will be “much simpler to use” — including an “easy way to turn off all third-party services” that can access your account.

How are you leveraging YOUR fan page?

If you don’t want Facebook to know something, why publish it? Granted, they have the trending tools to make some pretty accurate assumptions, but it’s pretty simple to not share on Facebook. What is the cost of not sharing? Therein lies the rub: the less you share, the less you connect, the less likely you will be to truly benefit from the Facebook experience (and other online social networks). In the end, if you’re a private person or concerned about your information, status, etc… there is only one option: don’t publish, don’t network and don’t connect.

Mitch Joel has some great, common sense advice on Facebook and the whole privacy kerfluffle. Follow the ‘via’ link to read the rest of the article…

Missing cool events, hot jobs, great deals, and important news stinks. Having an inbox stuffed with email alerts is just as bad. Here’s how to stay alert with the best email alert services, but avoid a cluttered inbox.

With a smart inbox setup, you can choose to see all the new things you’re interested in—albums from your favorite artists, new episodes of favorite TV shows, Facebook and Twitter happenings, local concerts, and more—without having all those alerts become inbox annoyances you’re more apt to ignore than mark on your calendar. You can check in once a day, on breaks, or whenever you want to see what’s coming up, and save your inbox for things you actually need to act on. We’ll start off this guide by highlighting our favorite email alert services, covering everything from TV and concert alerts to notifications for Facebook or cellphone minutes. After setting up your various alerts, we’ll explain how to use smart email filters to keep your inbox clean and your alerts useful.

The way we’re setting this up, it’s best to go ahead and sign up for these services first, then filter them all down.

Some good stuff to remember — especially #1! Follow the ‘via’ link…

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit Puerto Rico just over 60 miles from San Juan this morning. Thankfully, damage and casualties appear to have been minimal, but that didn’t stop an impromptu community from popping up on the web within hours of the event.

A Facebook page called “Yo tambien senti el temblor del 16 de mayo a las 1:06am en Puerto Rico!” (“I felt the earthquake May 16 at 1:06 AM in Puerto Rico, too!”) was formed within an hour of the rumble, and more than 11,000 people have “Liked” it in the morning and afternoon since then.

The page doesn’t serve a practical purpose; it isn’t a hub of citizen journalism or a tool for relief workers. Rather, it’s a place where a community of Internet () users can connect and share anecdotes about the quake through wall posts and shared images, including one natural disaster-themed Kanye West “I’mma let you finish” parody.

Trouble in paradise?

When Facebook launched its Open Graph API and brought instant personalization to the web it probably didn’t expect users to revolt — but they are. In light of growing concerns around user privacy, Matthew Milan and Joseph Dee are attempting to mobilize a formal Facebook revolt with Quit Facebook Day.

The purpose of the site is to encourage those “sick of Facebook’s lack of respect for your data” to quit the social networking site. Users can “commit to quit” with their Twitter handle or name and join the others publicly pledging to do so in unison.

The delete-your-Facebook movement — scheduled for May 31 — has yet to attract too many pledges, but with anti-Facebook sentiment on the rise that could change in the near future. In fact, yesterday Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land noticed that “how do i delete my facebook account” is now one of the top Google suggestions when typing “how do i …” in the search box.