Pentagon Weighs Ban on Facebook, Twitter

Guess what? A lot of them should be followed by the general public

(NEWSER) - The US Army has some rules for social media use—but even if you’re not a soldier, you might do well to adhere to some of those rules. From the Atlantic Wire :

• On Facebook: DO “spell check every post prior to posting; the Army’s reputation is at stake.”
• On Facebook: DON’T “use social media (teen) language in professional posts (ex: i wanna b ur bff 2day & 4evr)."

Integration will boost traffic on both sites, they hope

(NEWSER) - Yahoo is finally getting seriously social in a new partnership that will integrate Facebook Connect into its many properties. Yahoo users will be able monitor their Facebook feed on Yahoo, and vice versa. The integration will be done “on a deep level,” a Yahoo exec tells Kara Swisher, who finds it ironic in light of the fact that Yahoo almost managed to acquire Facebook for just over $1 billion several years ago. More»

They object in principle but end up using it by proxy

(NEWSER) - The Washington Post today profiles an increasingly rare breed: people in their 20s and 30s who don't use Facebook or other such sites. And though the “refuseniks” interviewed have different rationales—privacy, “morals and beliefs,” being “old-school in the personal touch way,” many share something in common that speaks to the pervasiveness of social networking: They use Facebook by proxy. More»

Social networking sites have their place, but so does predecessor

(NEWSER) - Email’s had a good run, but its day is done, according to Jessica Vascellaro of the Wall Street Journal. Email is an outdated form of communication, better suited to a time when we logged online and off, she argues. Now that we’re always connected, Twitter and Facebook are faster—and more fun. And, not coincidentally, they’re growing faster, according to the latest Nielsen data. More»

Users with no brand loyalty are a shaky foundation to build a long-lasting business on

(NEWSER) - These are rosy times for Facebook, but there's no guarantee the social networking juggernaut will even be around 5 years from now, Gary Andrew Poole writes for True/Slant. The newly profitable site is riding high, with 300 million users. But as fallen giants like AOL and veterans of the dot.com implosion attest, "our expectations have changed," Poole writes. "Brand loyalty has diminished and companies tend to go bust much more quickly." More»