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June 2008
- Networks Social Indeed, But Ad Dollars Remain Elusive
  
  New York Times | Jun 16, 08 10:07 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A makeover planned to begin Wednesday for MySpace is the latest sign of the continued struggle to make social networking the cash cow many thought it would be when News Corp. bought the site three years ago, the New York Times reports. MySpace's user base has grown from 16 million to more than 118 million since—but still falling short of profit targets. More »
- 'Lifestreaming' Challenges Traditional Social Networking
  
  Financial Times (UK) | Jun 10, 08 4:47 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A new kind of open social networking is gaining a foothold with online leaders. “Lifestreaming” services like FriendFeed—launched in February by ex-Google employees—let users bring online social activities from various sources together in one feed. Leader FriendFeed is logging 150,000 visitors a month, but the big players won’t cede ground without a fight, one VC told the Financial Times . More »
- Making Web More Social Has Google, Facebook Less So
  
  Washington Post | Jun 3, 08 3:35 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Though Facebook cited privacy concerns in pulling the plug on a partnership with Google aimed at making the Web more social, dollar signs are more likely behind its withdrawal from Friend Connect, the Washington Post reports. "What Facebook is after really is control over their users," one analyst says of the threat to the company's advertising hold. More »
- Facebook, MySpace Derail Alumni Magazines
  
  New York Times | Jun 2, 08 2:05 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Once upon a time, the college alumni magazine was an invaluable resource. Keeping up on old friends and enemies was as easy as flipping to the “class notes” section. But that once-mighty column now looks antiquated next to the constant updates offered on Facebook or MySpace, and it’s forcing colleges to rethink their business model, the New York Times reports. More »
May 2008
- Facebook Readies User-Friendly Makeover
  
  Forbes | May 29, 08 2:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Social-networking stalwart Facebook is redesigning its site to allow users easier access to an array of applications that might include search options, Forbes reports, and give advertisers more ways to reach the Facebook community. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the All Things Digital conference, said the company hoped to work more with search giant Google. More »
- Online Social Networks Redefine 'Friends'
  
  Washington Post | May 23, 08 11:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace have altered the meaning of friendship, writes Steven Levy in The Washington Post . Instead of genuine chums, people are collecting hundreds and even thousands of friends without any real-world contact. When it comes to rejecting friend requests, "it's socially awkward, and very hard to draw the line," says one researcher. More »
- Growing Pains Plenty Evident at Facebook
  
  CNNMoney | May 13, 08 4:13 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Facebook is seeing a lot of challenges lately, with ads selling at rock-bottom prices, revenue not nearly rivaling MySpace, and third-party developers defecting to OpenSocial networks (MySpace, again). But unlike other companies’ young founders, Mark Zuckerberg isn’t about to step aside. And thanks to his tight control of Facebook's board, he’s not about to be pushed out, either, Fortune reports. More »
- Zuckerberg Pal Quits as Facebook CTO
  
  CNET | May 12, 08 6:46 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In a surprise move, Facebook’s Chief Technology Officer is leaving the company, CNET reports. Adam D’Angelo, 23, felt the job no longer suited his skills and interests, sources told BoomTown. But there were also rumors of increasing tension between D’Angelo and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who have been friends since high school. Meanwhile, the company has borrowed $100 million to expand its server base. More »
April 2008
- Facebook Shopping for Grownup Execs
  
  Forbes | Apr 28, 08 7:47 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - After some high-profile blunders, Facebook is looking for older and more seasoned executives to round out its team. Former Google veep Sheryl Sandberg has already joined up, and the social-networking site is looking for a new general counsel and a vice president of communications and public policy, Forbes reports. More »
- Young Teachers Finding Big Trouble Online
  
  Washington Post | Apr 28, 08 12:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Questionable postings and photos on social-networking web pages are becoming an issue with younger US teachers, the Washington Post reports, raising questions about where to draw a line between private expression and standards for public employees. A case in point is a substitute special-education teacher whose page includes a so-called "bumper sticker" reading, "you're a retard, but i love you." More »
- Facebook Used to Search for Darfur Criminals
  
  BBC | Apr 25, 08 5:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A humanitarian group is using Facebook to search for two war criminals involved with genocide in Darfur, the BBC reports. The War Crimes Watch List issued an open call on the social network for sightings of Ahmed Haroun and Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, who face 51 counts of crimes against humanity for allegedly planning atrocities by Janjaweed militias. More »
- Facebook Apps Have Fans, Need Money
  
  BusinessWeek | Apr 18, 08 10:32 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Facebook widgets have been wildly popular, but they haven’t always been wildly profitable. “The fascinating thing about widgets is it turns out that distribution isn't really the challenge,” says the CEO of VideoEgg, the developer behind Scrabulous and Flixster. "The question is how do you monetize that attention?” VideoEgg and companies like it think they have the answer, BusinessWeek reports: advertising. More »
- How a Facebook Post Derailed a Football Player's Life
  
  Washington Post | Apr 9, 08 9:01 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - For about 90 minutes, his Facebook status read: “Lucas Caparelli: recommends not going to class on Wednesday because he is going to blow up campus. ” In those 90 minutes, Caparelli went from a highly-recruited running back to a persona non grata suspended by Wake Forest. “It was a dumb, immature, ignorant joke, but to me, it was a joke,” Caparelli told the Washington Post . More »
- Facebook and Rival Settling Origins Lawsuit
  
  New York Times | Apr 7, 08 2:01 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pending lawsuits between Facebook and rival social networking site ConnectU will be settled, a source tells the New York Times . The founders of ConnectU accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their ideas back when both sites were in their infancy, and the Facebook CEO filed a countersuit against his former Harvard classmates. Terms of the settlement haven't been disclosed. More »
March 2008
- Chat Rooms Return—in 3-D
  
  New York Times | Mar 31, 08 11:11 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A group of Silicon Valley startups is looking to bring the "social" back into social-networking and other popular websites, the New York Times reports. Vivaty is developing 3-D virtual chat rooms users can embed in web pages—including social-networking profiles—and will begin Facebook testing this week. And Meebo’s 2-D chat rooms, launched last year, have proliferated fast. More »
- So the boss wants to be friends on Facebook?
  
  Chicago Tribune | Mar 23, 08
  
  When younger and older folks collide online, it can spoil the fun.In the early days, the social-networking site Facebook had the feel of an exclusive club. You needed a college e-mail address to join, so for its young users, there wasn't much chance of a parent or boss crashing the party.Those days are long gone. The site has been open to everyone since 2006, and its fastest-growing demographic is people 25 and older. Members of the corporate world -- particularly in the media and information industries -- are flocking to the site, deeming it a great networking and communication tool.
- Mideast Strife Spills Onto Facebook
  
  Guardian (UK) | Mar 20, 08 11:37 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Facebook has now had to take on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the Guardian reports, on account of its standard IDing of members by country. Jewish settlers in the West Bank were fuming when the site told them they lived in Palestine; Palestinians in East Jerusalem in turn protested that their turf was listed as part of Israel. More »
- After Beacon 'Screw Up' Facebook Ups Privacy
  
  PC World | Mar 19, 08 1:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Facebook is launching a series of new privacy features today, allowing users to better pinpoint who can see which parts of their information, PC World reports. Privacy has been a watchword at Facebook ever since the PR disaster that was the Beacon advertising platform, which tracked users online. “With Beacon, we just screwed it up,” one VP admitted. More »
- For Generation 'Look at Me,' Every Moment Is Public
  
  Newsweek | Mar 16, 08 1:21 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - They’re known as millennials, the documentation generation, and the Look at Me’s. But what defines Americans born after 1982 is a mindset that every moment can be turned into a performance worthy of YouTube and MySpace and maybe parlayed into broader fame, Newsweek reports. Now sociologists are asking: Can healthy identities and relationships thrive in a generation obsessed with self-presentation and exhibitionism? More »
- As Press Closes In, 'Kristen' Clams Up
  
  CNN | Mar 14, 08 3:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The woman introduced to the world this week as a prostitute named “Kristen”—aspiring singer Ashley Alexandra Dupre—is trying to maintain some privacy as she keeps close tabs on her Facebook and MySpace accounts, CNN reports. After the New York Times revealed her identity, she began cleaning up her profiles on the sites, seemingly trying to exert control over what the public could see. More »