When Twitter was created, there was no built-in way to indicate that you were Tweeting to a particular account, so users came up with the “@username” method for tagging others in their Tweets. In the decade since, the @- reply has gone from obscure shorthand to commonplace usage by hundreds of millions of people. But as part of Twitter’s recently announced changes, the @-reply is vanishing — and some folks are not happy. [More]
social networking
FTD, Classmates Inc. To Pay $11M To Resolve Multi-State Allegations Of Deceptive Advertising
By 5.26.15
The attorneys general from 22 states signed an $11 million settlement with a national flower delivery service and social networking site today to resolve allegations that the two companies misled consumers into buying subscription services they didn’t want. [More]
How To Save Your Instagram Photos Before You Delete Your Account
By 4.10.12
If you’re miffed that Facebook has flung its billions around to engulf Instagram, you may want to take your photos and run. [More]
Keyboard Shortcuts That Make It Easier To Use Facebook
By 3.15.12
The more keyboard shortcuts you learn to use, the easier you’ll be able to navigate most applications. Several little-known keystrokes work particularly well on Facebook. Practice using them and you can be more efficient while wasting your time on the site. [More]
Report: Facebook IPO Should Happen Soon
By 1.30.12
If you’ve always wanted to add the title “Facebook part-owner” to your resume, the opportunity could be arriving soon. That Facebook Initial Public Offering that wasn’t supposed to occur until late this year could happen this week. The stock sale could be one of the most lucrative ever for an American business, pumping as much as $10 billion into the company. [More]
Circle K Helps Place Bounties On Heads Of Anonymous Thieves On Facebook
By 1.12.12
Figuring cops shouldn’t be the only ones chasing down criminals via Facebook, convenience store chain Circle K has started going after small-time alleged thieves by posting surveillance video footage on Facebook. The chain’s partner, crime fighting nonprofit Silent Witness, gives as much as $100 to those who spot acquaintances and soon-to-be-former friends making off with beer. [More]
Rescue Messages From Facebook's De Facto Spam Filter
By 12.15.11
When Facebook thinks you don’t particularly want to read a message that’s sent your way, it redirects it into a folder dubbed “other.” Some users forget to check the box regularly, and others may not even be aware that they have it. [More]
Steps To Stop Social Media From Sucking Away All Your Time
By 12.2.11
Not that this has happened to us, but our friends say that they’ve found themselves wasting away entire days at work not having accomplished much of anything other than getting sucked into an endless vortex of status updates, instant messages and YouTube videos. Social media is a powerful tool that can actually increase your efficiency, but it can also dominate those who lack the discipline to compartmentalize it. [More]
After Struggle, Salman Rushdie Gets Facebook To Let Him Use His Own Name
By 11.15.11
Facebook can be quite the stickler when it comes to enforcing its real name policy. Celebrity writer Salman Rushdie took to Twitter complaining that Facebook deactivated his account because it thought it was a fake. After he proved his identity, the powers that be reactivated his page in his given name, Ahmed. Only after taking his problem public via Twitter did he get Facebook to back down and let him use Salman. [More]
Diaspora Co-Founder Dead In Apparent Suicide
By 11.15.11
Last year, four NYU students got together to form Diaspora, a social network meant to value privacy in a way they said Facebook never intended to. Now one of the entrepreneurs has been found dead at age 22. [More]
How To Build More Social Media "Klout"
By 10.31.11
Some see the social media scene as an ever-fluctuating competition, with everyone scrapping to claw market share away from one another. Encouraging this mentality is Klout, which claims to filter peoples’ social media influence and assigns them a score out of 100. Some dismiss the service, but most involved in the scene keep an eye on their scores. [More]
Facebook Invites You To Name A Few "Trusted Friends"
By 10.31.11
If you are hyper-paranoid about getting cut off from Facebook and want to allow members of your trusted inner circle to swoop in and help you out when you’re in need, you’re now covered. Facebook is testing a feature called “Trusted Friends” that lets contacts you choose retrieve access codes to pass along to you if you find yourself unable to log on. [More]
Don't Let Mario Kart Facebook Scam Spin You Out
By 10.28.11
Those who toil away on free-to-play Facebook games may have built up a false sense of security as they blindly click on all the permission buttons in order to get to the good stuff. But an ad that claims to offer Facebookers access to a free Mario Kart game is a trap, like one of those upside down question blocks in the real version of the game. [More]
Introduce Yourself To The Internet Without Embarrassment
By 10.17.11
Even more than in real life, snap judgments people make about one another online forever shape the way they see one another. A one or two-sentence bio you post about yourself on Twitter or elsewhere can make you seem intriguing, irritating or boring. And the latter two groups probably always assume they fall into the former. [More]
