Remember that guy who started the first successful social network, only to see it fall by the wayside, weighed down by flashing gifs and pornbots? MySpace founder Tom Anderson is back in the news, doling out advice to Google+ on how not to become a cesspool like his site did. [More]
MySpace Made It Really, Really Difficult To Cancel My Account
By March 21, 2011
If MySpace were a scorned lover, we imagine it would be the kind that would hold onto your foot as you tried to walk away, crying desperately and clinging as you unwillingly dragged it along. Justin B. was done with MySpace, but instead of just accepting the breakup and letting him cancel the account, it flatly refused to believe it was over. [More]
Pizza Hut Fires Idiotic Employees For Acting Like Idiotic Domino's Employees
By August 20, 2010
Looks like Domino’s isn’t the only chain that employs morons who make a public record of their jackassery in the kitchen. Two employees at a Pizza Hut in Pflugerville, TX, find themselves out of work because they not only took lewd photos of themselves messing around at work, but also posted them on MySpace. [More]
Consumers Hate Facebook As Much As Airlines, Cable Companies
By July 22, 2010
Has Facebook’s ongoing foolishness with privacy settings, fine print, and advertising taken its toll on the brand? According to The American Customer Satisfaction Index’s E-Business Report, Facebook scored 64 points out of 100, which puts it in the bottom 5% of private companies, “in the same range as airlines and cable companies.” The one bit of good news for Facebook is that MySpace scored 63 points. [More]
AOL Plans To Sell Or Shut Down Bebo
By April 6, 2010
Bebo is a social network a few rungs down from Facebook, which for all practical purposes means it may as well be someone’s WordPress blog. That’s why AOL is finally admitting it missed the window for social network dominance and will sell it or close it “soon,” according to an internal memo. If you’ve been hanging on to a Bebo account and hoping the tide would turn, you might want to start checking out the other more popular social networks out there. [More]
Do Not Check Your MySpace Page When You're Trying To Rob An Office
By March 19, 2010
If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: When you’re trying to commit a burglary, do not take a few seconds to see what your MySpace pals are up to. Just ask the teen thief in Washington state whose cunning caper fell apart when he decided to surf the web. [More]
How Safe Is Your Facebook Info From The Feds?
By March 18, 2010
Newly released documents under the Freedom of Information Act reveal not just the Justice Department’s guidelines for how to use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for investigative purposes, but which ones are the most friendly to their requests for access to user info. [More]
Even Tom Doesn't Use MySpace Anymore
By February 15, 2010
Tom Anderson, cofounder of MySpace who has served as the networking site’s mascot throughout the ages, apparently is on the outs, TechCrunch reports. MySpace no longer assigns you Tom as your first friend when you sign up, and the man hasn’t logged into the site in weeks. [More]
Kill Off Your Online Identities With The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine
By December 30, 2009
Supposedly the most depressing day of the year is just a few weeks away, and that sucks. But if you off yourself, you can’t drink, so it’s a conundrum. What you can do is use the website suicidemachine.org to remove yourself from unnecessary social media sites that either you’ve stopped using or don’t really enjoy anymore. [More]
Social Network Games: Fake Mobsters, Real Racket
By November 9, 2009
You might enjoy raking in money as a fake mobster in Mafia Wars, or collecting cotton subsidies in FarmVille, but TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington argues that the real racket in virtual games is for the companies that run them, and for the social networking sites that host them.
Applying For A Job? Great, Give Us Your Google And Facebook Passwords
By June 19, 2009
ReadWriteWeb has a scary article about the city of Bozeman, Montana. It doesn’t sound like a scary place, but if you want to say, work for the City, you’ll need to give them all your social networking usernames and passwords.
At Ease, Facebook, Twitter: Soldiers Can Access You On Base Now — MySpace? Not So Much
By June 11, 2009
The Army’s network administrators have stopped blocking base access to social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, as well as personal e-mail accounts, Wired reports.
How To Delete Your Online Accounts
By March 10, 2009
PC Mag has assembled a list of instructions on how to wipe your account from a long list of websites, including Classmates.com (you’ll have to call), Windows Live ID (it’s complicated), and Friendster (ha ha ha). In many cases, canceling is as straightforward as clicking a link and authorizing the cancellation, but it’s nice to see all the phone numbers and tips collected in one spot.
MySpace Kicks Off 90,000 Registered Sex Offenders
By February 5, 2009
This revelation is totally appalling and unacceptable, and this shocking revelation, resulting from our subpoena, also provides compelling proof that social networking sites remain ripe with sexual predators.”
MySpace To Launch DRM-Free Music Store
By April 3, 2008
MySpace is starting a DRM-free music store, says the NYT.
Exact terms of the deal and details about the new site, like prices for downloaded music tracks, were not disclosed. But MySpace did say the site would offer songs free of digital rights management software or D.R.M., which is used to prevent illicit copying but can create technical hurdles for buyers. The songs would be playable on any portable music device, including Apple’s iPod.
The store will also feature ring tones, tickets, T-shirts, and all that other stuff the kids like.
Anorexic? Your Insurance Company Could Subpeona Your Writings On MySpace And Facebook
By February 2, 2008
How’s this for twisted: An insurance company, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, have demanded that the parents of minor children who suffer from anorexia turn over their children’s writings on MySpace and Facebook, as well as any emails where they discuss their problems.
Canceling Your MySpace Account Is F$%!@&*# Impossible
By January 15, 2008
Reader Julian can’t figure out how to cancel his MySpace account.
