Why Facebook Booted My Baby

(NEWSER) - The recent scrap over Facebook’s privacy policy seems to be at odds with the site’s friendly, familial face, Vanessa Grigoriadis writes in New York. But the company’s aborted move to claim ownership of user content in perpetuity reveals a vague something about its ambitions. “Facebook’s entire business plan, insofar as it is understood by anyone,” Grigoriadis writes, “rests upon this continued practice of friends sharing with friends.” More»

Clause giving site permanent license to content slammed

(NEWSER) - An outcry over a terms of service change has forced Facebook's founder to reassure users that they still own and control their own information, the New York Times reports. The update—which remains unchanged—removed a provision that said users could delete their content at any time, and added a clause saying users’ content would be retained even after accounts are terminated. More»

Rumor mill heats up that company is going public soon

(NEWSER) - Here come the Facebook IPO rumors again. An insider tells Business Insider that employees expect the company to go public soon, possibly next month. "The IPO talk inside Facebook has ramped up the past 6 weeks and Zuckerberg repeatedly has said that it is 'coming,' which he *never* said in the history of Facebook," says the source's email. More»

US, Australian lawmakers voice privacy concerns

(NEWSER) - Facebook kicks 20,000 users under the age of 13 off the site daily, its privacy chief told Australian officials. “There are people who lie,” he said, adding that the site’s methods of catching them aren’t “perfect,” reports Australia’s Daily Telegraph . Almost half of US 12-year-olds use social networks, a Pew study found, while 64% of 13-year-olds and 82% of teens 14 to 17 are on the sites, Fast Company notes. More»

Users gain control over types of updates to view

(NEWSER) - Facebook is rolling out a revamped News Feed, featuring a drop-down menu that lets users isolate what kind of news they want to get. They can, for example, choose to see only friends’ latest photos, only status updates, or only updates from Pages (rather than friends). They can also opt to see only news from members one of their Groups. Whether this is a test or a permanent feature is still unclear, Mashable notes. More»