At long last, Facebook has removed the veil from its highly anticipated “Dislike” button — only it’s not quite that simple. The social network revealed a set of six emojis to go along with the traditional thumbs-up: a heart for “love,” then emoticons for “Haha,” “Yay,” “Wow,” “Sad” and “Angry.” [More]
![(Carbon Arc)](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/superbeta.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Court Overturns Conviction Of Landlord Who Threatened To Post Sex Tape On Facebook
If you go on Facebook and threaten to post a sex tape featuring a public official, is that a threat or is it free speech protected by the First Amendment? The highest court in Georgia has overturned the six-year prison sentence of a man who said he’d share raunchy footage of a court clerk, mostly because said sex tape didn’t exist. [More]
![Facebook's official statement on the rumor of a $5.99/month privacy tier.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/facebookpost.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
No, Facebook Will Not Be Charging You To Keep Your Profiles Private
If you’ve visited Facebook at all in the last few hours, you’ve most likely seen any number of your online acquaintances posting the terrifying news that Facebook will soon be charging users $5.99/month too keep their profiles private. It might sound believable for those who aren’t familiar with how Facebook actually makes its money, but the fact is that the company says it has no plans to start charging anyone. Even more pointless are the supposed “copyright” notices people are posting in the hopes that it will protect them. [More]
![Facebook will now offer an option for advertisers where they only pay for an ad impression of 100% of an advertisement shows up in a user's newsfeed.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/facebookads.gif?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Facebook Trying To Assure Advertisers That Their Ads Are Actually (Maybe, Possibly) Being Seen
Will you do something for us? Take a quick, 10-second look at just about any site that isn’t Consumerist and then come back here. Done? Now see if you can remember all — or any — of the ads on that page. You probably can’t because (A) we’ve trained ourselves to ignore ad units and (B) you probably skimmed past or didn’t even get to a lot of the ads on that page. Advertisers know this, which is why Facebook is offering an option that only charges them when someone sees 100% of their ad. [More]
![No, You Aren’t Going To Win An Audi Or A Diamond Ring Just By Liking & Sharing A Post On Facebook](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/audi8scam.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
No, You Aren’t Going To Win An Audi Or A Diamond Ring Just By Liking & Sharing A Post On Facebook
Although you might be suspicious that something sounds too good to be true, not every scam you come across on the Internet will immediately set off alarm bells. After all, what’s the worst that could come from liking and sharing a post on Facebook, beyond the fact that a new Audi R8 V8 or a diamond ring from Tiffany & Co. won’t become yours? Some scams exist (and thrive) just to get those valuable likes and shares, and gain an audience for future scams. [More]
![Facebook-Owned WhatsApp Crosses 900 Million User Mark](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/textingagain.jpg?w=680)
Facebook-Owned WhatsApp Crosses 900 Million User Mark
Facebook is having a good run this summer of taking over the world one app at a time. Hot on the heels of last week’s announcement that the big blue network now has more than 1 billion daily users, the company is now crowing about a user milestone they’ve reached on one of their two big messaging platforms, WhatsApp. [More]
![“Spam King” Pleads Guilty To Sending More Than 27M Unsolicited Facebook Messages](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/facebookname.jpg?w=680)
“Spam King” Pleads Guilty To Sending More Than 27M Unsolicited Facebook Messages
When your email or other messaging account is flooded with messages promising cheap$ R0lexes! and invitations to collect a million dollars from the estate of a long-lost foreign dignitary relative, it’s not easy to place the blame: is it a robot programmed for maximum annoyance? A wee, cackling, evil spam elf? Sometimes, it’s just a human: a man known as the “Spam King” has admitted in court that he’s behind more than 27 million unsolicited messages sent through Facebook’s servers. [More]
![Everlane is one of two brands that Facebook tested Messenger capabilities with; now other businesses will have the option, too.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/fbookmessenger.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Facebook Launches Feature That Lets Users And Businesses Message Each Other
After Facebook announced in March that it’d be launching a pilot program with a few brands that would let customers and companies communicate privately, the social media network said Wednesday that it’s expanding the rollout of Messenger for businesses. [More]
![The process for Facebook loan approval. [Click To Enlarge]](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/screen-shot-2015-08-05-at-9-32-15-am.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Facebook Patent Would Allow Lenders To Determine Creditworthiness By Looking At Your ‘Friends’
Earlier this year Facebook announced it would dip its toes into the pool of mobile payments by launching a system that allowed users to send money to friends via the Messenger app. Now it appears the company may take things a bit farther after receiving approval for a patent this week that would allow creditors to determine whether or not someone is worthy of a loan based on their circle of friends on the social networking site. [More]
![Court Says Facebook Can’t Challenge Search Warrants For User Data](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/5853275494_b38e1e85e7_b.jpg)
Court Says Facebook Can’t Challenge Search Warrants For User Data
If a company like Facebook receives a subpoena for user data in a civil lawsuit, it can make its case to the court about why it should not have to oblige. But when that information request is in the form of a search warrant in a criminal investigation, Facebook doesn’t have that option. [More]
![Facebook shows a fake brand in this mock-up.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/shopfb.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Facebook Testing Shops Built Into Retailers’ Pages
Like Google, Twitter and its own Instagram platform, Facebook is toying with the idea of allowing users to buy stuff directly from retailers’ pages, instead of seeing those items in an ad and going outside the social network to purchase them. [More]