Social Media

Facebook Just Created a Custom Tor Link and That’s Awesome

Facebook is often criticized over privacy concerns, but the social network just made a historic move in the name of security and anonymity. The social network just created a dedicated Tor link that ensures people who visit the site from the anonymous web browser won’t be mistaken for botnets. This is a big deal, mostly…

Facebook’s History of Experiments That Try to Make You Vote

Election Day is coming up, and if you use Facebook, you’ll see an option to tell everyone you voted. This isn’t new; Facebook introduced the “I Voted” button in 2008. What is new is that, according to Facebook, this year the company isn’t conducting any experiments related to election season. That’d be the first time…

7 Brilliant Facebook Cover Photos Just in Time For Halloween

Too lazy to whip up a Halloween costume? It’s fine; you can just dress up your Facebook cover photo. Too lazy to do that? Just take a look at these clever cover photos, change you profile picture to a pumpkin, and imagine what it’d be like to be more creative. [E3, Ori Hasson]

Why Ello’s Plan to Stay Ad-Free Can Actually Work

I want to believe in Ello. It’s a cheeky little startup from Vermont with idealistic ambitions and a haunting logo and the promise of no ads. What’s not to like? Well, a few days ago, Ello revealed its grand plan to stay ad-free, and honestly, it sounded at first like total bullshit. But it’s not.…

So Far the Future of Virtual Reality Is Just Lame Ads

Since the 1980s, we’ve been dreaming about the resplendent future of virtual reality; one day, headgear like the Oculus Rift will be used to pour immersive entertainment into our brains. No part of this dream includes corporate sponsors shellacking our vision with brand messages. But now that the technology is on the cusp of the…

Facebook’s New Rooms App Bring Mini Message Boards to Your Phone

Facebook’s Creative Labs has just announced a new iOS app simply called “Rooms.” The app lets you create discussion rooms based on topics and invite friends through private invitations or a public link. So it’s kind of like Reddit, but on your own terms. For every message board you create with the app, you’re given…

Facebook: The DEA Can’t Use Fake Profiles to Chase Suspects

Remember how the Justice Department decided it was just fine for a Drug Enforcement Administration agent to steal a woman’s identity and set up a fake Facebook account to chase subjects? Well, Facebook’s not OK with that. https://gizmodo.com/doj-it-was-ok-for-a-dea-agent-to-impersonate-this-woma-1643235818 In a letter sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday, Zuckerberg & Co. have made their…

How Facebook Uses Leaked Passwords to Keep Your Account Safe

There’s a reason you’re not supposed to use same password for all of your accounts—large-scale data breachers are all too common. But in case you still refuse to abide by logic and reason (and many of us do), Facebook now uses those stolen-passwords-made-public to tell you what an idiot you’re being. And to keep you…

Facebook Now Lets You Log Your Safety After Natural Disasters

There’s a growing trend of social media being used in the aftermath of natural disasters for information sharing—but Facebook is now working to formalize it. It’s launched a service which allows people to register themselves as safe when large-scale disasters occur. The new feature, called Safety Check, sends users a push notification if a natural…

Report: Facebook Is Going to Release an Anonymous Chat App

Facebook’s stance on real names drew criticism recently, and it looks like the social network is leaping vigorously in the other direction. Sources within the companytold the New York Times that Facebook plans to release an app that would let people talk anonymously. The company is working on a stand-alone mobile application that allows users…

DOJ: It Was OK For a DEA Agent to Impersonate This Woman on Facebook

An overlooked Justice Department court filing explains that a federal agent had the right to commandeer a woman’s identity, set up a fake Facebook account using her details and even post provocative photographs of her found on a seized phone. Buzzfeed reports that a Drug Enforcement Administration agent stole the identity of Sondra Arquiett, who…

Looks Like Facebook Messenger Is Prepping Friend-to-Friend Payments

Facebook Messenger has a friend-to-friend payment feature in the works, and it’s already set up in the app. It’s just not turned on for the general public. The payment feature would let you give and receive money by providing Facebook with debit card information, similar to Square Cash. Stanford student Andrew Aude uncovered the hidden…

The EU has finally officially approved Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp. Let the sexting continue.

Facebook Is Changing the Way It Governs Its Social Experiments

Remember how the whole Internet was outraged over Facebook’s social experiments earlier this year? Well, now the social network hasannounced that it’s changing the way its experiments will be run in the future. From now on, there will be more stringent guidelines in place. If a study peers into a specific demographic or relates to…

Casey Neistat Riffs on How Snapchat Is Murdering Facebook With Youths

To us olds, it might not immediately be apparent why Snapchat is good for anything other than sending people NSFW photos and videos. But to the kids, it’s the only way to communicate. Casey Neistat explains in his latest video. The filmmaker has a wonderful knack for turning everything into a fun video, and this…

Facebook Says Whoops, Updates Rules for News Feed Manipulation (Updated)

A few months ago, the world found out that Facebook made its users into test subjects, showing some folks artificially happy (or artificially sad) News Feeds to see if it affected the emotions in the user’s own posts. The internet was not happy about that. Now, Facebook says it’s updated its research guidelines in response.…

Facebook Apologizes Over Real Name Policy But Doesn’t Back Down (Yet)

Facebook just posed a statement apologizing for the consequences of its draconian policy requiring that people use their “real” names on Facebook. The policy was used to unfairly target members of marginal LGBT communities, but we’re promised a solution is in the works. In a posting on his Facebook profile, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox…

LTE Direct Will Let Your Phone Get Alerts With No Towers in Sight

Picture this. You walk into the subway but you don’t lose service. Instead, your phone lights up with useful alerts—the train is delayed, a nearby kiosk is running a sale, your friend is standing on the other end of the platform. Meanwhile, there’s not a cell tower within 500 yards. This is the world powered…

Facebook Is Going to Use Its Data to Sell Ads on Third Party Sites

Facebook has been taking advertising more seriously than ever recently. Now it’s taking things to the next level though—by using its data to sell targeted ads on third party sites. http://gizmodo.com/facebook-is-now-sharing-your-browsing-history-with-adve-1589809318/all Re/code reports that Facebook is rolling out a new advertising scheme that “lets advertisers buy ads, via Facebook, on properties Facebook doesn’t own.” In…

What Is Ello and Should I Even Bother?

In the past week you may have heard people start to talk about something called Ello. Though it sounds like a cockney-accented greeting, it’s actually a new social network with one major selling point: It doesn’t have any ads. Ello is setting itself up to be the anti-Facebook, and apparently people are flooding it—it’s at…