Last night, I watched Ryan Seacrest review the popularity of the American swim team by comparing their Facebook followers and comments. Even though I spent much of my day involved in social media, this still struck me as odd; several minutes of every broadcast, completely devoted to Facebook and Twitter. It’s unheard of, but you can bet it will continue to expand to news broadcasts of every kind as we move forward. Just imagine how it’s going to play into upcoming elections. . .

But social media isn’t one big love-in. Many people take to it with resigned acceptance. Steve Olenski of Forbes magazine knows this all too well. He conducted a very unscientific study into our thoughts on social media and came up with a very creative infograph detailing our love / hate relationship with the phenomena.

One of the great things about Facebook is the fact that a brand can have an active community that is constantly commenting on how much it loves (or the flip side is hates) the brand and why. It’s the idea that Facebook is a community and a place where people can express themselves as they see fit.

Well, that is changing at least down under. The Sydney Morning Herlad reports (hat tip to WebProNews)

A landmark ruling that Facebook is an advertising medium – and not just a way to communicate – will force companies to vet comments posted by the public to ensure they are not sexist, racist or factually inaccurate.

In a move that could change the nature of the social networking site forever, companies could be fined or publicly shamed for the comments that appear on their Facebook ”brand” pages.

One of the downsides to being a public company is that it’s harder to keep company secrets, secret. This week, a Facebook public filing revealed that 8.7% or approximately 83.09 million accounts are fake.

What does Facebook consider a fake or false account?

Duplicates (4.9%)

Though it’s not allowed, many people have more than one account. Some do this, not for defrauding purposes, but to keep parts of their lives separate. Many avid Facebook gamers create additional accounts so they can friend themselves inside games in order to get bonuses and advance the game. (A problem that would be solved if Facebook would stop forcing in-game friending.)

Misclassified (2.4%)

These are profiles that should be pages such as businesses, organizations, pets, or inanimate objects. (Ode to a Chair!)