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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: social media

social media stories: 26 news summaries

1 - 20 of 26 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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OPINION

Your Birthday Wall Post Isn't Impressing Anyone

Technology makes it too easy to send insincere greetings

Nov 2, 09 2:35 PM CST
(Newser) - Vikki Ortiz Healy got a birthday kiss from her husband, a call from her sister, baked goods from her co-workers. She figured that’d be it. Then she logged onto Facebook—and found more than 60 messages from random acquaintances. She started to suspect that maybe, just maybe, they were... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Facebook • birthday • social media

Auto Turnaround

@Ford: Give Social Media Some Credit

Ford's finally profitable, and coincidentally, it owns the web

Nov 2, 09 1:29 PM CST
(Newser) - You’ve heard all the standard reasons for Ford’s $1 billion third-quarter profit—cost-cutting, layoffs, cash for clunkers, and so forth. Lost in the hubbub is another crucial element: Ford’s social media prowess. The company's social media guru has been extremely successful at drumming up buzz for its... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Ford • auto industry • Twitter • social media

 Twitter Overflows With Malware 

One in 500 tweets links to malicious software, experts say

Oct 30, 09 3:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Twitter is the perfect malware delivery system, enabling cybercriminals to lure users with a quick tweet on a hot topic and a shortened URL that hides a shady website’s identity. One in 500 URLs posted on Twitter links to live malware, says Kaspersky international, which make a program that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • computer virus • malware • Twitter • tweet • social media • Kaspersky International

Google Boss: Chinese Language Will Dominate Web

Also in 5 years:
social media will rule

Oct 28, 09 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Internet will look completely different in five years, predicts Google CEO Eric Schmidt; after all, he notes, five years is a factor of 10 according to Moore’s law of ever-increasing speed. The Google CEO expounded on the future of the web at length at a recent symposium, but... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • Google • Internet • broadband Internet • Eric Schmidt • social media

What's Next?

Facebook Has 300M Users, Most Bored

Hunger for next big thing could bring social network down

Oct 19, 09 11:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook has finally turned a profit, and can boast 300 million users—and it may be on its way out. The web has seen dozens of social networking sites come, gain buzz, get huge, and then implode or mutate as users looked for the next big thing—remember Friendster, Livejournal,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • MySpace • Facebook • social media

UK Gags Guardian, but
Twitter Airs Suppressed Story

Social media site explodes with toxic waste scandal

Oct 13, 09 6:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Guardian has been slapped with an unprecedented gag order forbidding it from reporting on a question in the British parliament, as well as who asked the question and why it's being gagged. The paper says constitutional rights are being infringed upon and it's already suing—but meanwhile, the suppressed... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Kingdom • censorship • toxic waste • Ivory Coast • Twitter • social media • Guardian • Trafigura

OPINION

 Soundbite Nation: 
 Tweet First, Think Later 

Social media leading to 'general derangement': Dumenco

Oct 12, 09 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Time was, only politicians were expected to speak in soundbites, but these days, writes Simon Dumenco in Advertising Age, "tens of millions of us do it as a matter of course." Twitter and other social media have made us all into reaction machines, with errors and exaggerations cropping... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Twitter • social media • Neda • Simon Dumenco

(Newser) - The developer whose software was used to create the “Should Obama be Killed?” Facebook poll has talked to the Secret Service. “The conversation with the SS was fine,” Jesse Farmer wrote on Twitter, but “If the goal was to resolve the issue + inform the SS,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • social networking • Secret Service • Facebook • poll • assassination • President Obama • social media

 Forget Fetching Coffee: 
 Interns Work From Home 

'Virtual internships' take among small business

Sep 29, 09 9:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Companies have long used internships to avoid paying young people, but increasingly they don't want to see their interns at all. "Virtual internships," where recent grads do research and sales or work with social media from home, has expanded from an unheard-of practice to "something almost every... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • work • employment • college graduates • telecommuting • internship • social media

 Facebook Makes Money At Last 

Social networking site hits profitability ahead of schedule

Sep 16, 09 8:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - After mountains of hype, Facebook has joined the ranks of profitable enterprises, despite an advertising model that Ad Age describes as “nascent.” Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday that the social site had passed the 300 million registered-user mark and become “cash-flow positive” last quarter. That actually puts... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • advertising • Facebook • profits • social media

Wilson Enlists Personal Tweeter

Part of a new-media push to take on critics, raise campaign cash

Sep 12, 09 10:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Joe “You Lie” Wilson has hired a new-media strategist, intent on responding to his now-numerous critics, the Hill reports. So far, that strategist’s chief job seems to be to send Twitter messages—Wilson dispatched 15 within 5 hours of hiring him, four shy of his total for all... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • House of Representatives • hecklers • Twitter • social media • Joe Wilson

New Twitter Rules 'Leave the Door Open' for Ads

Microblogger makes users' ownership of tweets explicit

Sep 11, 09 12:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Twitter’s new terms of service allow advertising, although the company has not proposed or implemented any yet, the East Bay Business Times reports. "We leave the door open for advertising. We'd like to keep our options open, as we've said before," wrote creative director Biz Stone. The... More »

MORE ABOUT:
advertising • online advertising • banner ads • Twitter • tweet • microblogging • social media

With Job Openings, Employers All a-Twitter 

Social-networking site gives companies a cheap medium to find the techno-savvy

Sep 8, 09 12:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - For some firms, Twitter is playing the role of headhunter: companies like Verizon and Microsoft are posting openings on the social-networking site, the Wall Street Journal reports. Job boards have “become saturated,” says a Newell Rubbermaid VP. “With Twitter, we don't have to go through that huge... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Internet • Microsoft • Verizon • job search • job market • Twitter • tweet • social media • job vacancies

The 19 Personalities 
 You Meet on Facebook 

From the 'grudge holder' to the 'Erin Brockovich'

Sep 6, 09 1:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Like any community, Facebook is home to a diverse range of personality types. The Boston Phoenix identifies 19 distinct varieties:
  • The failed model. "Poses repeatedly in front of a computer and pouts in emo fashion." Giveaway: the "Warholian or sepia-toned" profile photo.
  • The
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Facebook • gourmet • social media • photos • status update

 Sharpton Tweets 
 During Jackson 
 Burial 

Reverend's thumbs stay busy during historic ceremony

Sep 4, 09 2:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - The burial of Michael Jackson was a somber, private moment—and Rev. Al Sharpton made sure all 10,286 of his Twitter follows knew it, E! Online reports. During the ceremony, Sharpton chatted with MJ's friends and tweeted: "We are all discussing his battles. This is a real... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Al Sharpton • Michael Jackson • ceremony • burial • Twitter • social media

Facebook Beefs Up Privacy Protection

Canadian concerns prompt changes in
how apps get info

Aug 27, 09 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - In response to criticism by the Canadian government, Facebook is enacting far-reaching changes in how third-party applications gain access to personal data, TechCrunch reports. Currently, Facebook applications ask users once, upon installation, for approval to access personal information. Under the new rules, the apps will have to ask repeatedly as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Canada • privacy • Facebook • online privacy • personal privacy • Internet privacy • social media

Tax Collectors Use MySpace, Google to Find Deadbeats

Public profiles can provide valuable income information for revenue agents

Aug 27, 09 3:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Internet-savvy state tax collectors are using a new tool in tracking down evaders: social networking websites. Tax collectors are taking advantage of the fact that an individual’s MySpace or Facebook profile often contains quite a bit of professional information, the Wall Street Journal reports. Agents in Nebraska, for example,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Google • MySpace • IRS • Facebook • tax evasion • income • Internal Revenue Service • tax fraud • state governments • state budgets • social media

Conservatives Out-Tweet Liberals

Early-adopting GOP Twitterati more organized, numerous

Aug 24, 09 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - You might assume that Twitter, like most things having to do with the Internet, is dominated by liberals and “netroots” activists. But you’d be wrong, according to Johanna Neuman of the Los Angeles Times. John McCain hit the million-follower mark weeks before the White House did, and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • social networking • White House • netroots • liberal • Sarah Palin • Twitter • conservatives • Obama administration • social media • TopProg.org • Top Conservatives on Twitter

Nearly Half of Employers Screen Social Media Profiles

HR departments use Facebook, MySpace as source of information on candidates

Aug 19, 09 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s becoming increasingly likely that a prospective employer will check your Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn profile, Mashable reports. A recent survey found that 45% of human-resource departments search the social-media profiles of prospective employees, with another 11% planning to institutionalize a social-networking screen in the near future. And recruiters... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • MySpace • Facebook • LinkedIn • employers • Recruiters • employees • Jay-ZTV • social media

Facebook Buys Rival FriendFeed for $50M

Purchase sets up battle with Twitter for real-time search market

Aug 11, 09 7:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook is buying fellow social networking site FriendFeed for nearly $50 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. Friendfeed, a 12-employee outfit founded by former Google engineers, allowed users to share information across multiple social media services but never took off beyond a core techie user base. The purchase may help... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • social networking • mergers and acquisitions • Facebook • Internet startups • FriendFeed • Twitter • technology companies • Jay-ZTV • social media

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