Pew has released a new report today detailing America’s usage of social networking tools, and much of the report confirms things many people…
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Research
Are “warrant canaries” legal? Twitter wants to save tech’s warning signal of government spying
Warrant canaries -- which tech companies are using to tell people that the government is NOT using secret orders -- are the new frontline in the legal fight over surveillance.…
Read MoreA look inside the rapidly-expanding world of New York’s new-media stars
New-media companies like BuzzFeed, Gawker, VICE Media and Tumblr are all expanding rapidly both in New York itself and around the world -- almost all are moving into new buldings or taking over more of the ones they are in…
Read MoreOne secret to the success of Quartz, BuzzFeed and Gawker: They look at news as a service
Most traditional media outlets are used to thinking of journalism or news as something they create and then distribute to a waiting audience -- but seeing it as a product or service instead can change the way you think about your job in some fundamental ways…
Read MoreWordPress parent Automattic closes huge funding round that values the company at $1B
Automattic, the parent company of popular blog-hosting and publishing platform WordPress, has raised a funding round of $160 million to help it develop better online and mobile tools for publishing, a round that values the company at over $1 billion…
Read MoreMeetup, Kickstarter and Tumblr head to D.C. to save net neutrality
A number of startups and tech public advocacy groups headed to the nation’s capital this week to make their voice heard ahead of the FCC’s official release of its new net neutrality regulations. Meetup’s General Counsel told me why his company participated.…
Read MoreNBC and Amazon set the table for the Hannibal #13HourDevour
Whether you're already a "Fannibal" or a newcomer to the "Silence of the Lamb" prequel series, NBC and Amazon want your eyeballs this Sunday for a social media-powered binge-viewing.…
Read MorePicture-centric LinkedIn rival Somewhere reveals new investors
The Berlin-based firm, which is developing a more touchy-feely alternative to LinkedIn's legacy clutter, has taken on serial entrepreneur Thomas Madsen-Mygdal as chairman.…
Read MoreDrinking from the Twitter firehose: I love the stream, but I need more filters and bridges
The stream has become the dominant form for content consumption, especially for social media like Twitter, and having a never-ending source of information can be a wonderful thing -- but it can also be overwhelming and noisy. We need better ways to manage it.…
Read MorePrismatic wants to build a social network around all of your interests, which is actually a lot harder than it sounds
Do we need another social network? Prismatic CEO Bradford Cross thinks that we do, and he is trying to create one that reflects our real interests, rather than the narrow view of ourselves that we present to the world through existing social networks…
Read MoreDoctor Who’s 50th anniversary broke ratings records by enlisting the internet
"The Day of the Doctor," a special episode celebrating 50 years of "Doctor Who," took over the world on Saturday thanks to its fans -- but said fans had plenty of encouragement, thanks to BBC Worldwide.…
Read MoreDataSift now grabbing Tumblr data, as well
DataSift, one of the two companies (along with Gnip) granted real-time access to the Twitter firehose, now offers real-time and historical analysis…
Read MoreTumblr launches the Reblog Book Club; first title: Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl
Tumblr launched a book club this week. The first title is Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, and Tumblr is encouraging fans to contribute through posts, video blogs, songs, Gchats and nail art.…
Read MoreHow Orange is the New Black is keeping the buzz alive
Have you finished binge-viewing "Orange is the New Black" yet? Excited about next season? Well, that's Netflix's challenge -- keeping you excited until the as-yet-unknown premiere date. But here's what might help with that.…
Read MoreNew FiveThirtyEight.com, to be owned outright by ESPN, is still months from launch
Don't expect a revamped FiveThirtyEight right away: Nate Silver's political blog will be hosted by the New York Times through the end of August, and it could be months before ESPN launches the new site, Silver and ESPN president John Skipper said Monday.…
Read MoreYahoo revenue flat (again) in second quarter, but Mayer focused on “second spring”
Yahoo announced second quarter earnings on Tuesday, and while the company saw some bright spots and investors have liked Mayer's new leadership, the company is still struggling to produce big gains in revenue.…
Read MoreUnion Metrics goes from premium to freemium to analyze your Tumblr posts
Union Metrics, which began analyzing analytics data from Tumblr last year, now offers a free version of its product. It already has figured out when people publish and reblog posts most.…
Read MoreYahoo acquires multimedia storytelling app Qwiki
Yahoo announced that it acquired Qwiki, a company that provides a storytelling app on mobile. Yahoo has been on an acquisition tear recently, from large companies like Tumblr down to smaller startups.…
Read MoreHas Yahoo’s relaunch of Flickr revitalized the photo service — or ruined it?
Some of the criticism Yahoo has gotten about its Flickr relaunch likely comes from users who are resistant to change of any kind -- but critics have also raised some good questions about it changes the service's focus.…
Read MoreYahoo swears it isn’t going to screw up Tumblr — but how realistic is that promise?
Fans of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer say she shouldn't be blamed for the company's history of failed acquisitions -- but there are plenty of other reasons to be skeptical about Yahoo's $1.1-billion Tumblr deal.…
Read MoreReport: one in four online teens now use Twitter
What are teenagers up to on social media? Twitter use has grown dramatically since 2011, while Facebook stays dominant but shows flat growth.…
Read MoreFlickr gets revamp — with 1 TB of photo storage free — and Yahoo gets new NYC office
More news from Yahoo on Monday: The company is revamping photo-sharing service Flickr and is also opening a New York City office. Tumblr's employees, however, will remain at their current office.…
Read MoreBuying Tumblr might make Yahoo cool — but buying Pinterest might have made more sense
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 MoreWhen it comes to the social web, these two VCs are in a league of their own
Bijan Sabet and Fred Wilson continue a long tradition of a couple investors utterly dominating their sectors by betting on what they know, and getting in early before others even know there is an opportunity.…
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