A study that looked at more than a billion tweets and the geographic connections between 71 million users across the globe shows how Twitter has changed the way we communicate and helped erase geographical barriers. Read more »
Whatever the details might be, it seems clear that dozens of technology companies — and perhaps even more — have co-operated with the NSA on its surveillance program. And they could pay a high price for doing so. Read more »
With speculation that Facebook might be launching an RSS reader at its press event next week, it’s important to think about why users loved the Google Reader experience. Hint: it wasn’t because Google Reader was social. Read more »
Facebook is now disclosing to the public the number of national security-related requests it received from the government for user data. Microsoft has released similar statistics. But Google has declined, saying it prefers a different approach. Read more »
This week, both Facebook and Yahoo detailed new efforts to manage real-time data flows within their myriad systems. Yahoo’s work is an open source implementation of Storm designed to run on the same cluster as Hadoop and even share resources. Read more »
Direct from Asia, imported by Path and co-opted by Facebook, stickers are hitting the mainstream and becoming the new way people message every day. Read more »
The data center in Luleå, Sweden, is highly energy-efficient as it uses hydroelectric power. It may also prove handy in keeping Facebook on the right side of European data protection legislation. Read more »
Facebook, Google and Microsoft want to show users just how much the federal government requests access to data. The actions are attempts to save face on the privacy front following reports of the PRISM program. Read more »
After a wave of initial shock at the revelations about NSA surveillance, there seems to be a pervasive feeling of resignation about our data being collected by the government. Have we grown too used to being spied on? Read more »
Four years after it launched at our Mobilize conference, Waze is finally sold to Google for about a billion. It certainly was a windfall for its early investors. And one surprising one! Read more »
After months of rumors that speculated the company was the target of an acquisition by either Facebook or Google, social-mapping provider Waze is set to be snapped up by Google and added to the web giant’s map service. Read more »
A storage startup called SageCloud is looking to deliver low-cost backup storage to the masses who want Facebook-like cold storage without resorting to tape, cloud services or building their own gear. Read more »
If you were interested in making a purchase on Twitter or Facebook through Chirpify, you might start to see lower prices on the service, as the company replaces PayPal processing with its own system to reduce fees for sellers. Read more »
Google plans to build two stories inside a new data center building on its campus in The Dalles, Ore. It’s yet another method of optimizing critical infrastructure for the web giant. Read more »
Waze, a mapping data service with social features has been subject of acquisition rumors for a while. There was speculation of Apple buying them. There there was Facebook and its rumored $1 billion offer. Now Israeli-media reports are speculating that Google is the new buyer. Read more »
Facebook built a system for the U.S. government that would allow intelligence agents easier access to personal data requested under a federal surveillance law, according to a report, and other companies agreed to work with investigators. Read more »
There’s a growing amount of research that says the Internet has a greater net positive effect on the environment than a negative one. But the research is still new and the question is very complex. Read more »
The past few days have seen a blizzard of leaks about surveillance activity by the government’s ultra-secret NSA arm, including data collection from phone companies and internet giants. Here is what you need to know about this developing story. Read more »
Snapchat, a service allows you to send and receive photos or videos that sort-of-maybe disappear afterward is getting $100 million in new funds from undisclosed investors, a few months after it snagged $13.5 million from Benchmark Capital. Read more »
The revelation that U.S. spies are able to monitor communications over Google, Facebook and other American web firms’ platforms will have a big impact overseas, and nowhere more so than in Europe. Read more »
As Facebook’s user base swells larger and larger, data about users is growing much faster, and the social networking giant has developed a faster way to analyze it all with its Presto query engine. Read more »
Facebook has announced a few updates to the types of ads users can buy on the platform in an effort to simplify its different offerings. Read more »
Facebook has been calling on users, external data sources and machine-learning models to improve its Graph Search function. But Facebook must do more to make the tool a widely used utility. Read more »
MBaaS player Kinvey says new integration will make it a snap for mobile developers to develop on Kinvey and deploy on Google App Engine, or vice versa. Read more »
The app makes it possible to send files as large as 1GB in size to others over real-time, peer-to-peer connections – all from within the confines of the social network. Read more »
Eye-Fi, the company that rose to gadget fame with a Wi-Fi module that transfered pics from a DSLR to a PC has finally gotten hip to the mobile revolution with its new Mobi card. Read more »
The world of mobile is getting faster and faster, and that means more LTE everywhere. It also means less talking, more Facebook and, of course, more video. The bottom line — we are only just getting started. Some data points from Ericsson’s mobility report. Read more »
LinkedIn is the latest web company to add two-factor authentication to protect a user’s password and account. But is that really the best companies can do? Read more »
Facebook may not be buying Waze after all, but the Israel-based mapping data company is rolling out a new Facebook Events integration that will let users of its app coordinate travel in real time. Read more »
Facebook has admitted that it failed to apply its policies about offensive content to some disturbingly misogynistic pages. But is this a victory for the social network’s critics, or just another stop on the slippery slope of censorship? Read more »
Facebook is rolling out a verification feature for celebrities and prominent public figures, mimicking Twitter’s popular feature that indicates famous users on the site. Read more »
WIth talks between Facebook and Waze, the Israel-based mapping startup, reportedly breaking down, it now opens the door for other tech companies to grab the startup everyone is interested in. Read more »
If you’re a developer, chances are you use Amazon Web Services for something. Now if you want to authenticate Google and Facebook users for your app, you can do so. Read more »
Rockstar designer Paul Adams has ditched Facebook for startup Intercom. Before Facebook, Adam’s design work was integral with Google+ and circles. He’s not the first designer to leave Facebook after a 2 year stint. Read more »
Reports that Google has entered a bidding war with Facebook over the social-mapping service Waze may be just a gambit by the company to force a better deal, but there are compelling reasons why Google should make a bid. Read more »
Facebook executives on Thursday talked about how its acquisition of Parse’s Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) can help developers, Facebook users and, of course, Facebook. Read more »
The HTC First with Facebook Home pre-installed was set to launch in the U.K. next month but that’s not going to happen. EE says Facebook has decided to cancel the launch and focus on the Facebook Home software. Read more »
What are teenagers up to on social media? Twitter use has grown dramatically since 2011, while Facebook stays dominant but shows flat growth. Read more »
There are plenty of reasons why the announced Yahoo Tumblr deal makes sense for those companies. But Marissa Mayer might have seen a much greater payoff from acquiring Pinterest instead. Here’s why. Read more »
Fans of the social-blogging network might not like the idea much, but a $1-billion acquisition of Tumblr would arguably solve a number of problems for Yahoo — and do the same for Tumblr CEO David Karp. Read more »
