It wasn’t enough fun for Facebook to change users’ default email addresses to its own “@facebook.com” addresses, nope. The contact snafu moved beyond the confines of the social network, with users reporting over the weekend that since their phones sync up with Facebook accounts, contact information in address books also switched to @facebook.com addresses. [More]
Data & Privacy
Best Buy Needs Your Personal Info To Sell An XM Radio Receiver, Can’t Tell You Why
By 6.28.12
Here’s what Ted wanted. He already has an XM Radio subscription, and he wanted to buy a replacement radio. His was broken, but Best Buy carries them, and Best Buy stores are everywhere. It couldn’t be that bad, could it? Just stop in, exchange money for radio, leave, walk out. Not so fast, there, Ted: Best Buy needs your name, address, and phone number before they can sell you a radio. And they have no idea why. [More]
Remember When Facebook Changed Your Default Email To The One It Provides That You Never Use?
By 6.26.12
You know that one time you were like, “Hey, who needs this personal email I use on a daily basis, when I have Facebook email! Time to tell everyone they should contact me at my @facebook.com email address, and only there!”? No? That’s probably because recently, Facebook went ahead and quietly switched users’ primary email address to its in-house email address without bothering to really tell anyone about it. [More]
Facebook Wants You To Find Friends On The Go With New Mobile Feature
By 6.25.12
UPDATE: Following a bit of a freak out over the new friend-finding feature, Facebook has already pulled it, claiming it wasn’t really supposed to be in wide release yet. [More]
Facebook Agrees To Let Users Control Whether Or Not They’re Advertising Something
By 6.21.12
Facebook has finally agreed that yeah, maybe users should be able to control whether or not it appears to their friends that they’re advertising a product or page. Fancy that! As part of the settlement in a lawsuit brought by five users, Facebook says it will change its controls to enable members to control which content can be used in Sponsored Stories. [More]
Facebook Reportedly Set To Shell Out $10 Million In Sponsored Stories Lawsuit
By 6.18.12
Handing over $10 million in a lawsuit settlement doesn’t sound like a great result for a company, unless, however, that company is Facebook and it could’ve potentially had to pay billions. Back in May it was reported that the company had settled with users suing over what they called a “misleading advertising scheme” involving “Sponsored Stories,” but the terms were undisclosed at that time. [More]
Are We Slowly Getting Tired Of Being Obsessed With Facebook?
By 6.12.12
The Facebook juggernaut appears to be lumbering along at a slower pace, maybe because we’ve all suddenly realized that in-person relationships are also valuable. Or it’s more likely that almost everyone who is going to join Facebook is already on it, which makes it harder to grow. And those of us on Facebook are spending less time on it, to boot. [More]
Gizmodo Places Bounty On Pics Of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg
By 6.7.12
Every time Facebook changes its privacy settings to allow for more invasion of users’ private information and photos, the company — and especially its founder/figurehead Mark Zuckerberg — talk about how it’s all in the interest of being public and transparent and other things that aren’t true. Meanwhile, Zuck’s own public Facebook page is essentially a non-entity and the man is incredibly private about his personal life. Thus, our former in-laws at Gizmodo have decided it’s time to change the privacy settings on Zuckerberg’s life. [More]
Facebook Decides It Does Want Access To Your Under-13 Children After All
By 6.4.12
This time last year, Mark Zuckerberg stirred up some controversy when he said the company was willing to fight for the right to allow children under the age of 13 to use Facebook. He later said his statement had been taken out of context, but now it looks like the social media mega-site is actually working on ways to legally allow pre-teens to join. [More]
Don't Like Facebook's Privacy Policy? Vote On The Latest Changes
By 6.1.12
Even though 13 million of you have never touched your Facebook privacy settings, there are a whole lot of people who have not only fiddled with those settings, but have actively protested recent changes in the social network’s privacy policy. That’s why Facebook is now asking its one billion users to vote on their latest round of proposed revisions to that privacy policy. [More]
Disney Cruise Line Places Alleged iPhone Thief On Administrative Leave
By 5.24.12
Well, “Nelson”… If you really did take a passenger’s iPhone while working on a Disney cruise ship, it was silly of you to take photos of your stolen phone shenanigans, because now you’ve been caught. [More]
Investment Firms Warned Off Facebook IPO In Advance While Small-Timers Lose Big Money
By 5.24.12
In the days leading up to last Friday’s initial public offering for Facebook stock, the company raised the IPO price by several dollars a share, leading many small-level and amateur investors to wonder if maybe there was something more to the company than a place to post photos of you and your friends waiting in line to see Men In Black III. But at the same time, large investment firms were reportedly bailing on sinking their money into the social media site. [More]
Facebook Settles Lawsuit That Claimed "Sponsored Stories" Turned Users Into Marketers
By 5.23.12
Tapping into the power of social networks to market to their users has always been an appealing goal for advertisers, but figuring out exactly how to do that has been tricky. Facebook recently settled a class action lawsuit from users of its network who said “Sponsored Stories” turned them into marketing machines, without the fun part of being compensated. [More]
Zynga-Branded AmEx Prepaid Card Lets You Earn FarmVille Cash In The Real World
By 5.22.12
This site does not, in general, approve of Zynga’s freemium addiction-based gaming model or fee-laden prepaid debit cards. So we are amused and slightly dismayed to bring you the news that AmEx and Zynga have teamed up to bring a Farmville points rewards card into the world. Fill up your card, spend the money, earn points to buy in-game stuff. How could this product possibly go wrong? [More]
Facebook IPO Makes Billions For Company But Stock Price Doesn't Go Up
By 5.18.12
Skeptics that thought Facebook’s IPO price of $38/share was perhaps too high a jumping-off point were proven partially correct today, as stock in the world’s social network finished its first day of trading only about $.23 above the offering price. [More]
What The Facebook IPO Could Mean To Consumers
By 5.17.12
Tomorrow, a very small group of people — many of them already incredibly wealthy — will be super incredibly wealthy when shares of Facebook start trading on Nasdaq. But while only a few folks will reap a direct, immediate benefit from the IPO, the decision to take Facebook public with such huge dollar amounts attached to the deal will definitely have a long-term impact on consumers. [More]
GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work
By 5.15.12
GM spends about $40 million dollars on its Facebook presence, but only $10 million of that goes to Facebook itself, in the form of ads. Unfortunately for Facebook, it turns out that their cut will soon be zero. [More]
Probably You Should Log Out Of Facebook Before Robbing An Internet Cafe
By 5.15.12
Oh, you silly criminals. You’ve got it all planned out — the guns, the demands for money, the getaway vehicle. But when it comes to social networking, even the best laid plans for doing dastardly deeds can come unraveled. Such was the case for two men who allegedly robbed an Internet cafe in Colombia. [More]
