Some are cool with it; others horrified
Washington Post Mar 9, 08 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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What to do when their father starts talking about “getting poked" is a question many high school and college kids are asking themselves these days. It's a modern-day dilemma: Do teens allow their folks into their friends network on Facebook and grant them access to blogs, photos, and messages? Parents are increasingly seeking oversight and entrée into their children’s digital world, the Washington Post reports—and many kids aren’t all right with that.
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The new business model calls for a 'slow and easy' approach to going public
BusinessWeek Mar 6, 08 1:19 PM CST
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Growing Web 2.0 companies like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Slide are biding their time before going public, making sure to run up their value as much as possible to fetch top dollar with an IPO, reports Business Week . It’s a far different approach than companies took before the dot-com bubble burst, when the fast track to an IPO was the goal.
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Social networking site recruits big gun
to stem growing pains
Wall Street Journal Mar 4, 08 3:35 PM CST
(Newser)
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Facebook has hired the Google VP who handles virtually all advertising sales in a bid to ease the hiccups the rapidly expanding networking site is encountering. New COO Sheryl Sandberg, one of Silicon Valley's top female execs, denied that Google's plummeting stock price motivated the move, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Companies debate legal action as 700K play online knock-off daily
New York Times Mar 2, 08 4:10 PM CST
(Newser)
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Scrabble knock-off Scrabulous is a hit online, but sellers of the original board game have cried piracy and may take their claim to court, the New York Times reports. Tens of thousands of Scrabulous players have threatened to boycott Hasbro and Mattel if they shut down the Facebook-friendly game, which was invented by two brothers in Calcutta—and has given Scrabble an unexpected popularity surge.
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NY meeting introduces new services to new media leaders
CNN Feb 29, 08 3:57 PM CST
(Newser)
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What’s next for online social networking? A heavy dose of geography, writes David Kirkpatrick in Fortune ’s Fast Forward . At a real-life meeting for 100 new-media notables in New York, one hot topic was adding location information to user-driven sites so that “not only will you know what someone is doing online, you’ll know where they are doing it.”
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OPINION
Seeing Internet as 'a snare and a delusion' surely won't help independent's candidacy
Politico Feb 28, 08 2:19 PM CST
(Newser)
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Ralph Nader might seem like just the crusader to milk the Internet for all its movement-building potential, but, Andrew Rasiej and Micah L. Sifry write in Politico, his “self-defeating attitude” toward the web is likely to keep him on the sidelines. The third-party presidential hopeful claims his “Internet-literate associates” are working on a great campaign site, but indications are to the contrary.
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After complaints, networking site figures out how to eliminate ex-users' information
New York Times Feb 18, 08 11:05 AM CST
(Newser)
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Making a profile on Facebook is easy, but before this weekend, deleting one wasn't: Not even Facebook could do it, the New York Times reports. Frustrated users filled out a form intended to delete their profiles but found bits of info still accessible on the site. Facebook says it has solved the problem, and profiles can be completely erased.
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Relocation is struggling sector's latest setback
Washington Post Feb 18, 08 10:12 AM CST
(Newser)
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AOL is moving its HQ to New York, cutting nearly half of its 5,700 DC-area jobs, and leaving serious questions about the Washington, DC area’s tech industry in its wake. AOL’s declining fortunes have already hurt the sector, but local techies and VCs have fought back with numerous startups, reports the Washington Post .
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With cellphones down, many use Facebook
to communicate
Chicago Tribune Feb 15, 08 1:21 PM CST
(Newser)
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With cellphone lines on much of the campus jammed, Northern Illinois University students turned to the Internet to let friends and loved ones know they had survived yesterday’s shooting and to console each other, the Chicago Tribune reports. Most logged on to Facebook, where 10,000 joined a prayer group, while others updated status messages to proclaim themselves unharmed.
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Website won't delete personal info, would-be ex-members grouse
New York Times Feb 11, 08 11:35 AM CST
(Newser)
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Just when you think you're out, Facebook pulls you back in, say wannabe ex-users who have tried in vain to delete their profiles. The site keeps archives of all profiles, unless they're manually deleted piece by piece, fanning privacy concerns already stoked by the Beacon fiasco. “It’s like the Hotel California,” one unwilling member told the New York Times . “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”
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Networking, video-sharing users
not prime marketing targets
Wall Street Journal Feb 5, 08 3:15 PM CST
(Newser)
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Facebook and YouTube are runaway success stories when it comes to attracting Internet users, but they lag in attracting ad dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. Advertising on social networking and video-sharing sites is relatively new, and therefore most vulnerable if economic worries lead to advertising cutbacks. Firms also worry about their ads appearing next to unsuitable content.
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Website joins Facebook, Bebo in offering tools, backing for new applications
New York Times Feb 5, 08 9:58 AM CST
(Newser)
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MySpace members already customize personal profile pages, but they’ll soon be able to add applications like photo albums, email, and calendars. The News Corp. property plans to open its platform and release developer tools, reports the New York Times. Third-party developers will be allowed to create and make money from programs that can sit on personal home pages.
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