If you’re betting Google’s would-be Facebook killer, Google+, will end up MySpace-ing Facebook, you may as well go all-in and transfer all your photos over to the new site, which is currently in an invitation-based testing phase. [More]
social networking
FTC Investigates Twitter For The Way It Deals With Third-Party App Makers
By 7.1.11
Twitter has found itself in the Federal Trade Commission’s cross hairs once again, this time over its treatment of companies that develop applications for the service. In March, Twitter settled with the FTC following an investigation of privacy violation allegations. [More]
News Corp Dumps MySpace For $35 Million
By 6.30.11
When you buy something for $580 million, the goal is not to part with it for $35 million a few years later. Yet that’s exactly what News Corp has done, ending its 6-year ownership of the sputtering social networking site by selling it for scrap. [More]
Google+ Is Google's Answer To Facebook
By 6.29.11
Google is testing a social networking site of its own, dubbed Google+. A company executive said the site is out to “fix” the rigidity of online social interactions and says the service will place a heavy focus on protecting the privacy of its users. How exactly it intends to accomplish such feats remains to be seen. [More]
Facebook-Suing Twins Stop Legal Battle Short Of Supreme Court
By 6.23.11
After years in court, the determined twin Harvard classmates of Facebook CEO/president Mark Zuckerberg who claim he stole their idea for Facebook have finally given up their legal challenge to their $65 million 2008 settlement. [More]
Blippy Realizes People Don't Want A Social Network Where You Share All Your Credit Card Purchases Online
By 5.24.11
Blippy was a weird social networking site where users entered in their credit card information and then it let you publicly broadcast everything you purchased online. A year and a half after its launch, they’ve realized that no one really wants to do that and have decided to shut down that part of the site and reformat. [More]
Facebook Is Number One Tool For Divorce Lawyers
By 5.18.11
The days of finding lipstick on a shirt collar are over. All you need now is to look on a cheating spouse’s Facebook wall, as one man in a 20-year long marriage learned. [More]
Report: Twitter Takes TweetDeck Under Its Wing For $40-$50 Million
By 5.4.11
Twitter has apparently won the bidding war for TweetDeck, an app available on computers and smartphones that allows users more control over their Twitter accounts. The rising social networking giant will have to dip deep into its pockets to swallow up the supplementary service, paying between $40 million and $50 million, according to a report. [More]
If You Still Have Stuff On Friendster, You'd Better Rescue It Soon
By 4.27.11
Friendster was MySpace before there was MySpace. The original gangsta social networking site rose to prominence before people were into that sort of thing and lost relevance when it was outclassed by MySpace, just as MySpace was by Facebook. Now Friendster, which was acquired by a Malaysian company in 2009, is reinventing itself as something that no longer has the need for your blogs and photos. [More]
Facebook-Suing Twins Appeal The Appeal They Lost
By 4.19.11
The twin former Harvard classmates of Facebook CEO/president Mark Zuckerberg, who contend he stole their idea for the site, refuse to give up their quest to procure more than what they got in a previous settlement. Even after a U.S. appeals court judge denied their argument and pointedly told them to give up the case, the twins’ lawyers asked a special 11-judge panel to take a look at their appeal. [More]
Google Settles With FTC Over "Buzz," Agrees To 20 Years Of Privacy Audits
By 3.30.11
The FTC announced today that Google has settled with the commission over the “Buzz” privacy debacle — agreeing to 20 years of privacy audits. The commission said in a statement that this is the first time an FTC settlement order has required a company to implement a comprehensive program to protect the privacy of consumers’ information. [More]
Company Will Make Fake Facebook Girlfriends
By 3.29.11
Hoping there’s a market of lonely single dudes who wish to project the image of happy domesticity, a company promises to develop pretend girlfriends to post sweet nothings on clients’ walls. [More]
Alleged Polygamist Outed By Facebook Wedding Pics
By 3.21.11
A married Michigan man who went ahead and got hitched to a second woman — whom he told he was divorced — was revealed to be a polygamist when his original wife spotted his wedding photos on Facebook and turned him in. She found the pictures after her husband de-friended her on the social networking site. [More]
How To Quit LinkedIn
By 2.9.11
LinkedIn doesn’t make it very easy to leave, but it is possible to sever ties. Silicon Alley Insider walks you through the steps, which include navigating through non-obvious menu choices and waiting for a confirmation email from customer support. The reporter’s email never came and he had to lobby customer service several times, so if you do try to break the social networking ties that bind, be prepared to do a lot of follow up. [More]
Site Scrapes Data From 250K Facebook Profiles To Mock Site
By 2.4.11
The proprietors of a satirical dating site culled info from 250,000 public Facebook profiles (including real names) to construct mock dating profiles in what they claim is an effort to expose the social networking giant’s dark side. [More]
7 Airlines Offer Free Facebook Access This Month
By 2.3.11
February is free Facebook access month for seven airlines, which will let passengers access the social networking site via Gogo Inflight Internet throughout February [More]
Facebook Shares Phone Numbers, Addresses With Apps
By 1.17.11
Facebook is now letting third-party apps have phone numbers and addresses of users, but only if they opt in to share the info. [More]
