The owner of a diner in Portland, Maine, does not appear to be terribly concerned about the social media backlash resulting from her admitted hollering at a crying child and then later dubbing that youngster a “beast” and “monster” on Facebook. [More]
Facebook, Firefox Want Adobe To Just Kill Flash Already After More Security Exploits Found
By 7.14.15
The questionable stability and frequent security issues with Adobe’s Flash have long been a running joke among the tech-minded. Although the once-ubiquitous plugin’s star began to wane after mobile browsing took off, it still makes a lot of the content on the internet move. But after the release of yet another potentially disastrous vulnerability recently, the crowd clamoring for an end to Flash has now gone far beyond your local IT office, and includes both Firefox and Facebook. [More]
Facebook Reportedly Working On A Personal Digital Assistant Who Lives In The Messenger App
By 7.14.15
When it’s time to buzz about a reported new tech feature, having a recognizable code name is kind of a must-have. So it goes with Facebook’s new rumored project, a personal digital assistant nicknamed “Moneypenny,” after the secretary character in James Bond movies. [More]
British Facebook User Legally Changes Her Name To Get Back Into Account… And Is Still Locked Out
By 7.13.15
Unlike other social media networks like Twitter, where you can be anyone you like as long as you’re not trying to impersonate, say, the Queen of England, on Facebook, users are required to use their real names on the site. One British woman made a big change to her identity in order to regain access to her account, only to be kept waiting to find out her fate. [More]
Facebook Will Actually Let People Decide What They Want To See In The News Feed
By 7.9.15
Customization can be a wonderful thing. In the case of your Facebook News Feed, it might mean the difference between confronting a daily onslaught of adorable baby photos and actually getting content you want to view. The social network added a new feature today that will allow users to designate a group of accounts that will automatically appear at the top of their News Feed. [More]
Senate Advances Bill That Would Require Social Media Sites To Report “Terrorist Activities”
By 7.9.15
If it seems like everyone uses social media, well, that’s because basically everyone does. But it’s not just cake recipes and birthday party meet-ups people plan online; plenty of illegal activity gets talked about in digital space, too. And now members of the Senate want to make sure that when certain kinds of no-no topics pop up, the platform owners let the feds know. [More]
No, United Airlines Is Not Giving Away 100 Free Tickets For Sharing A Photo On Facebook
By 7.7.15
Here’s a hint: Sharing a photo is not a valid way to enter a sweepstakes where the prize has a value worth more than few bucks, and no multibillion-dollar international airline is going to run a contest that way. And yet, in just a few hours more than 40,000 Facebook users have shared an obviously bogus sweepstakes from a page pretending to be United Airlines. [More]
You No Longer Need A Facebook Account To Use Facebook Messenger
By 6.24.15
Because we all needed another avenue to converse with friends and acquaintances other than actual face-to-face conversations, Facebook has opened its Messenger to people without an account on the social media network. [More]
Facebook Develops Technology To Recognize You Even When Your Face Is Covered
By 6.23.15
If you regularly shield your face in photos for fear someone might recognize you on Facebook, then you might need to find another way to stay incognito when it comes to the social media site. [More]
Advertisers Can Now Add Action Buttons Like “Shop Now” To Instagram Ads
By 6.2.15
The days of an ad-free Instagram are long gone, lost in the pre-Facebook ownership days, so it might be no surprise that the photo-and-video-sharing social media app will now feature ads that let viewers take action beyond liking or commenting on them. [More]
Supreme Court Rules That You Have To Intend A Threat For It To Be A Real Threat
By 6.1.15
Lots of people have ill-will and mountains of unflattering things to say about their exes. Many of those people say those things online. But if your rant happens to be filled with violent language that makes your former partner afraid for their safety, even if you say you had no intention of ever following through, is it still a real threat? [More]
Spirit Flight Attendant Probably Shouldn’t Have Posed For Photos In Jet’s Engine Well
By 5.27.15
When going through the boarding process for an upcoming flight, one might expect to see the crew members readying the cabin, welcoming travelers or just generally inside the aircraft. That’s why it was a bit unsettling for several passengers to see a flight attendant posing for photos inside the plane’s engine well before a recent Spirit Airlines flight. [More]
Facebook Will Include Critics’ Reviews On “Select” Restaurant Pages
By 5.26.15
In what appears to be another effort to keep its users inside the social media site’s loving embrace, Facebook is reportedly going to include critics’ reviews of restaurants on the pages of “select” establishments in the United States. [More]
Survey Says: 30% Of People Who Admit To Tweeting While Driving Do It “All The Time”
By 5.19.15
While we’ve heard of people doing things they shouldn’t be doing while they’re driving — like playing the guitar and taking selfies, not to mention texting — it’s still shocking to look at the numbers tied to distracted driving. A new survey says the trendy thing to do behind the wheel now is using social media like Twitter, with plenty of people admitting they do it “all the time.” [More]
Facebook Might Let Businesses Contact Customers Through WhatsApp
By 5.18.15
When Facebook forked over $19 billion to buy WhatsApp last year, it wasn’t clear how the company planned to make money off the messaging service, considering it already had its own separate app. One possibility? Facebook is considering allowing businesses to contact users — for a price, of course. [More]
Facebook Testing In-App Search Engine Powered By Users’ Posts
By 5.11.15
For those moments when it’s just too much work to copy a link on your phone’s web browser, open up the Facebook app and hit “paste,” the social network is now testing out an “add link” option that uses an in-app search engine. [More]
Facebook Messenger Adds Video Calling, Because Why Not
By 4.27.15
Over the past several months, Facebook has retooled its messenger app to do a lot more than just send one-liners to your friends – from allowing real-time customer service chats to a payment feature. The company’s latest update to the app aims to take conversations to the next level with video calling. [More]
New “Hello” App Puts Facebook In Control Of Screening, Blocking Phone Calls
By 4.22.15
Because we’ve somehow gotten to a place where we can no longer answer the phone without knowing exactly who is calling and why, Facebook is rolling out a new app, dubbed “Hello,” that effectively uses all the info Facebook has about its users to help you decide whether to answer/ignore/block incoming calls. [More]
