Facebook

Read the latest Facebook news today on Newser.com

Stories 1921 - 1940 | << Prev   Next >>

Bruno's Blitz Turns MySpace Into 'MeinSpace'

(Newser) - Sacha Baron Cohen has partnered up with MySpace to promote his new film, Bruno, in a move that could help revive the struggling social networking site, Advertising Age reports. MySpace is hosting a movie site for the gay Austrian fashionista—MeinSpace—and the parent site has started running an unrestricted...

Facebook, Google Roll Out Persian Updates

Internet companies rush new tools for Iranian protesters

(Newser) - Twitter has taken extraordinary measures to keep its site running during the Iranian election protests, and now other websites are speeding up developments. Today Facebook launched an early version of its site in Persian, relying on 400 volunteers to translate pages into the local language. "We felt it was...

How MySpace Lost Its Crown
 How MySpace Lost Its Crown 
ANALYSIS
Jun 17, 2009 7:50 AM CDT

How MySpace Lost Its Crown

Failure to innovate halts site's once red-hot momentum, letting Facebook take the lead

(Newser) - MySpace was overtaken by Facebook for the first time last month and without some serious innovation, Rupert Murdoch's big buy may end up joining Friendster in the ranks of the also-rans, Dawn Chmielewski and David Sarno write in the Los Angeles Times. The world of social networking moves at an...

For Latest on Iran Unrest, Check Online First

(Newser) - Traditional media are having a tough time covering the Iranian election fallout, but fear not: Web 2.0 is up to the task. The Washington Post runs down the best destinations for those hoping to stay on top of the situation:
  • PicFog.com: Current, unedited photos containing "a level
...

GOP Activist: Gorilla on Lam Just Michelle's Ancestor

South Carolina Republican apologizes, sort of, for racist remark

(Newser) - Turns out that pegging a primate as a member of the first lady's family tree on a public website might not be the best career move, as an activist in the South Carolina GOP is finding out. Rusty DePass has apologized after making a comment on a friend's Facebook photo...

550 Facebookers Per Second Vie for New URLs

Members claimed vanity addresses at more than 550 a second

(Newser) - Facebook’s offer of personalized URLs drew 500,000 members in 15 minutes after midnight today, Bloomberg reports. “We saw higher than usual traffic,” said a spokesman. “Planning allowed us to handle that traffic well.” The feature, designed to make Google searches easier, allows the site’...

Army Lifts Ban on Social Media
 Army Lifts Ban on Social Media 
Jun 11, 2009 2:21 PM CDT

Army Lifts Ban on Social Media

Soldiers can use Twitter, Facebook from bases

(Newser) - The US Army has lifted a years-long ban on online social networks, commanding bases to let soldiers access sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr so they can “tell the Army story,” Wired reports. The change doesn’t apply to all overseas bases or other armed forces, and it...

Facebook Set to Offer Personalized URLs

(Newser) - Facebook will now offer users an alternative to the clumsy random URLs currently assigned for personal pages, Mashable reports. Starting Friday, users can apply for an actual named website to supplant a mix of numbers, such as facebook.com/john.q.public. The “vanity URL” system has been available on...

Twitter Growth Stalls, Study Shows Just 10% Tweet

(Newser) - Just last week, Twitter was on the cover of Time; today, everyone’s crowing about its demise, writes Om Malik for GigaOm. According to Compete.com, Twitter’s unique visitor growth stalled in May after months of sensational gains, up a mere 1.47% compared to Facebook’s 8%. The...

Facebook Photo Busts Student Charged in DUI

Pics of tequila-swilling 20-year-old incite judge's wrath

(Newser) - A 20-year-old college student awaiting trial on reckless homicide and DUI charges learned the perils of too-candid Facebook photos yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reports. Erika Scoliere is now sporting an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet after violating a court order not to drink while out on bail. “It appears the defendant...

Real-Life Social Network Stays Same Size

You replace half of old friends with new ones every 7 years: study

(Newser) - It might not be so on Facebook, but the size of people’s actual social networks stays about the same throughout life, LiveScience reports. Most people replace half their friends every 7 years, a survey of 1,000 people finds. The study—which also notes that people often make new...

Facebook Wants Your Friendship and Your Money

Site rolls out payment system aimed at getting profit from apps

(Newser) - Facebook is breaking an age-old business rule: Never do business with friends. In a bid to achieve profitability, the social-networking site is testing an internal payments system that allows its 300 million users to purchase credits redeemable for virtual goods, from Facebook itself or third-party applications. “Over time, this...

Twitter and Facebook Come to Xbox 360

Microsoft console gets motion-sensor camera, Spielberg to show it

(Newser) - In a bid to make its Xbox 360 more interactive, Microsoft is bringing Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, a lightning-speed video service, and—brace yourself—a motion-sensing camera that knows who you are just by reading your face to the console, Ars Technica reports. The company even brought in Steven Spielberg...

Facebook Boobs Bungle Breast Rules Again

(Newser) - Facebook executives have again bungled rules banning breasts on the site, this time concerning cancer surgery. Facebook bans "sexual content" and bounced photos a cancer patient posted of her mastectomy scars to educate other women. After a torrent of complaints a Facebook spokeswoman admitted: "We made a mistake,...

Iran Restores Facebook Access

(Newser) - Access to Facebook is back in Iran after being blocked late last week. Facebook was cut off Saturday, leading to accusations that authorities were trying to muzzle one of the main campaign tools of reformists opposing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 12 elections. The main pro-reform candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi,...

$200M Russian Investment Values Facebook at $10B

(Newser) - Facebook is getting a $200 million investment from a Russian Internet investor that values the social networking company at $10 billion. The investment gives Digital Sky Technologies a nearly 2% stake in the Palo Alto, California-based company's preferred stock.

Iran Blocks Facebook As Election Nears

Iranian press suggests a reaction against support for reform candidate

(Newser) - Iran has blocked access to Facebook just in time for June elections, reports the BBC. The move is viewed as an effort to hurt presidential reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, whose Facebook page lists 5000 supporters and who is considered a possible threat to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Facebook blasted the...

Pope Benedict Wants to Meet You on Facebook

(Newser) - Pope Benedict probably isn’t at the computer himself, but the Vatican is making a major push to lure young believers online, Reuters reports. It’s launched www.pope2you.net, which offers Web 2.0 applications like “The pope meets you on Facebook,” and another that downloads the...

Facebook Bares Chou Chou, Cuddly Wife

(Newser) - It must be time to bolster political support. Not only has French President Nicolas Sarkozy launched his own Facebook page, he has also posted a video of himself "casually dropping in" on a magazine interview with his wife. The two can barely tear their eyes away from each other,...

Social Sites Don't Delete Photos Promptly: Study

7 sites left photos up after purportedly removing them

(Newser) - Uploaded photos remain on social-networking sites long after users think they’ve deleted them, a study finds. Researchers put photos on 16 popular sites and then deleted them. A month later, the BBC reports, the photos were still accessible using their direct URLs on seven of those sites, including Facebook—...

Stories 1921 - 1940 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser