Google’s launch of social games for Google+ seems to have struck a nerve at Facebook, with one executive dismissing the offering as an inconsequential copycat effort. That and other moves make it clear the competition is keeping Facebook awake at night, which is a good thing. Read More »
As Britain ponders a crackdown on social media and uses facial recognition to try and identify looters, it reinforces the fact that spending more of our time on public networks such as Twitter and Facebook gives police and governments even more ability to observe our behavior. Read More »
Thanks to a new product from Nielsen and Facebook, the Internet could be on the cusp of become a first-class citizen in the advertising world for good. But there’s just one problem: Do Facebook users want to be part of a Nielsen family? Read More »
Can we find clues about the future of news and journalism in the way a link-sharing site like Reddit operates? We just might be able to — and it’s a good reminder that the replacement for mainstream news media may look very different from what we … Read More »
A Wall Street Journal columnist says that blocking access to social media during emergencies isn’t a big deal, and that “techno-utopians” are over-reacting. But are they? Or are these kinds of moves a step on a slippery slope that leads to Chinese-style control over information networks? Read More »
Not too long ago, Om Malik blogged “the social Web mimics the way we are in the real world … in this new kind of social web, the defining characteristic is us.” A great observation, but how true is it? What do the following have in common? People … Read More »
As Google+ tries to compete with Facebook and Twitter, the prospect of social-media fatigue becomes a real possibility — and some argue that we are spending so much time amusing ourselves on these services we don’t have time for the real world. But is that true? Read More »
If Facebook had its own movie, then Google has its own song. Based on The Queen’s another one bites the dust, the song talks about Google’s new social network, Google+. Is the ditty yet another sign that the Google+ thing is for real and getting traction? … Read More »
Plenty of web entrepreneurs share the same dream: build a great company and then cash in by selling it to Google, Facebook or another technology giant. But being successful is complicated affair, according to those who have seen those deals from the inside. Read More »
Google is cautiously optimistic about its roll out of games on Google+, calling it the first steps in an ambitious plan to turn the social network into a powerful platform. Google is content to move slowly as it builds for a bigger future for Google+. Read More »
Google is upping the competition with Facebook by turning on games for its Google+ social network, the company announced today. The first titles include Angry Birds from Rovio, Bejeweled Blitz from PopCap and most notably Zynga Poker from longtime Facebook game developer Zynga. Read More »
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It seems totalitarian states like Egypt aren’t the only ones struggling with the impact of social media and the desire to muzzle services like Twitter and Facebook. Britain says it’s considering a ban on social media in the wake of the riots in London. Read More »
Google+ is the company’s latest attempt to get access to the kind of data users generate when they post status updates, share photos and post comments. These social “signals” are becoming a crucial part of our online lives, and that is affecting the entire search industry. Read More »
Does the launch of Facebook Messenger, led by the founding team of Beluga, mean the end of Beluga as its own standalone app? Beluga is still available on its own for the time being — but from the looks of it, that may not last for … Read More »
Facebook has already started to supplant traditional email providers as a dominant way that people communicate online. With a new standalone mobile app called Facebook Messenger with SMS-like functionality, the social networking giant is poised to delve even deeper into users’ mobile messaging activity. Read More »
It’s become clear in recent years that smartphones are going to be increasingly ubiquitous for the foreseeable future. And a recent study indicates that many people are using those devices to access Facebook more often than for, really, anything else. Read More »
Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas has worked for the company for three decades and has seen the car become an electronics powerhouse, packed with chips that control everything from fuel injection to the chassis alignment. And that is only the beginning, he says in this video interview. Read More »
I had such high hopes for Push Pop Press and I thought they could redefine the idea of publishing. Instead they got bought out by Facebook, Pulling a Patzer, a move where a very promising company sells too early to a bigger, cash-rich suitor. Read More »
Facebook has acquired Push Pop Press, a San Francisco-based digital publishing platform startup in a move likely aimed at building out its forthcoming iPad app and strengthening its HTML5 development team. Read More »
A report examining the success rate of European venture capital compared to the U.S. sparked heated discussion. But some argue that even the best statistics ignore the real problems that face entrepreneurs and investors — no matter which side of the Atlantic they are on. Read More »
Zynga is bringing its popular Scrabble-esque mobile game Words With Friends to Facebook, the company announced Monday. This represents the first time that Zynga has extended a mobile-only game to Facebook — showing that despite its diversification efforts, Zynga’s dependence on the social network remains strong. Read More »
Microsoft’s online business lost $2.6 billion for its fiscal year, mainly due to its investment in search. Yet even with Yahoo’s outsourced search business, Microsoft barely cracks 30 percent in market share, according to comScore. Last week, a Reuters Breakingviews piece that was picked … Read More »
Most mainstream news websites still look like newspapers because most of them still approach the journalism they do in a traditional way — and until they embrace the idea of real-time and “news as a process,” the way that their websites look is unlikely to change. Read More »
Facebook has launched Facebook for Business, a step-by-step online guide aimed at helping small businesses use the social networking site. The timing is interesting, as it comes just a week after Google began shutting off all company profiles on its Google+ social network. Read More »
Google+ is the talk of the town. It is on everyone’s lips, even though not everyone has access to Google+ just yet. Epipheo Studios has created this awesome tongue-in-cheek video to explain what is Google+ and why eventually we will all end up using it. Enjoy! Read More »
For years, the world of venture capital was largely shrouded in a veil of secrecy. But in the past 18 months, AngelList has started to change that in a big way. The social network for VCs and startups has grown impressively since its February 2010 debut. Read More »
As it rolls out its Google+ social network, Google has been cracking down on its requirement that users have “real” names, just as Facebook has — but are we losing something valuable as a society as a result of this stamping out of online anonymity? Read More »
The future of coupons is moving toward digital and mobile, something that startup SavingStar is taking full advantage of. The company told me it has hit half a million users since it launched its ecoupon product in April, putting it on a faster pace than Groupon’s. … Read More »
Yahoo reported another disappointing quarter, with core revenues down 5 percent to just over $1 billion. Its display advertising business was up 5 percent, but it appears to be losing share to companies like Google and Facebook. Yahoo is still one of the biggest … Read More »
The tech industry’s movers and shakers have been saying for months now that the HTML5 mark-up language is very important. New research data released Friday indicates that HTML5 is not just going to be big, it’s going to be huge — and it’s coming fast. Read More »
There’s been a lot of sound and fury about Google and its handling of Google+ branded pages, but there is a serious issue underneath the griping, namely that Google can make or break a company’s presence online by virtue of its control over the web-search market. Read More »
Fresh off its $50 million in funding, note-taking and memory service Evernote is preparing for its first-ever developer conference next month, where it will outline its broader strategy and how it plans on becoming a 100-year company by building a productivity platform. Read More »
When most people think about Google and Facebook, they think about California’s Silicon Valley. But according to newly filed disclosure documents, the tech industry’s titans are spending increasing amounts of time and money making their voices heard in Washington, D.C. Are they crossing the line? Read More »
American Express, a 162-year-old financial services company, is marshaling its vast resources in pretty impressive ways to create what could be one of the strongest offerings in the local commerce space. The company said it’s just getting started with partnerships with Facebook, Foursquare and SCVNGR. Read More »
Russian social network VKontakte has built a billion dollar business by cloning almost every aspect of Facebook for the local market. It seems a little rich, then, that founder Pavel Durov says his long-term ambition is to prove that Russian products can be global leaders. Read More »
The turmoil created by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has pulled back the curtain on the cosy relationship between politicians, police and the media. But those who are angriest seem reduced to stunts — hacking websites and throwing pies. Is this really the best we can do? Read More »
Using social-media tools has become almost a necessity for musicians and artists of all kinds, as a way of promoting their work and connecting with fans. But can doing all this get in the way of the creativity that makes them artists in the first place? Read More »
American Express is showing it has designs on being a big player in the daily deal market. The company is introducing a new social platform called Link, Like, Love, that will bring American Express deals to Facebook users through their social graph. Read More »
At nearly ten years old, web discovery engine company StumbleUpon is certainly well past the point where websites can attract users by being a new and hot trend. But the San Francisco-based company has proven that slow and steady growth can still lead to success. Read More »
More employees toting mobile devices don’t have to cause harm to large enterprises with strict IT compliance rules. In fact, those employees armed with tablets and smartphones can be trained to become brand ambassadors on social media sites and to help the company’s image. Read More »
When it comes to the social networking crowd, sex apparently sells. Victoria’s Secret ended June as the top retailer on Facebook with more than 14.3 million fans, according to the latest data from e-commerce software provider ChannelAdvisor. Walmart, the world’s top corporation by revenue, ranks fourth. Read More »
Google+ has gained 10 million users in the few weeks since its launch, but it has a long way to go to catch up with Facebook. So why is Google CEO Larry Page convinced Google+ will be a major competitor in the social space? Read More »
Its fans say Google+ improves on Facebook in terms of privacy protections, because it allows you to filter people into groups or “Circles.” But is this really a big improvement? Not everyone is convinced it is — some argue that it actually makes things worse. Read More »
We all have our secret Lady Gaga songs tucked away in our playlist or the 80s’ Monster Ballads that are loved rather than laughed at, so now as Spotify comes to the U.S., here’s how to avoid sharing the skeletons in your musical closet. Read More »
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Memo to newspapers: The future of media is a two-way street
While plenty of newspapers and other media entities are happy to use social tools like Twitter and Facebook to promote their content, few are really engaging with their readers on a regular basis, says Reynolds Journalism fellow Joy Mayer — but that is the future of … Read More »