Social Media

Facebook Changes Its Mind Again: It’s Now Re-Banning Decapitation Videos

After flipping to ban brutal, gruesome decapitation videos six months ago and then flopping to allow such videos to appear in the ‘book yesterday, Facebook has flipped again (or is it re-flopped?) in less than 24 hours and will reinstate its previous ban on such decapitation videos. It’s an ugly tug of war between free…

Facebook Is Lifting Its Ban on Decapitation Videos (Updated)

Don’t even think about posting cartoon nipples on Facebook. Decapitations, however? Go right ahead. Six months after establishing a ban on blatant, gruesome beheadings, Facebook has decided to (once again) keep videos of decapitations available to the masses. https://gizmodo.com/these-nipples-got-the-new-yorker-banned-from-facebook-5942284 Facebook was first forced to address its decapitation policy back in May, when the Family Online…

Looks Like Facebook Is Broken Right Now (Updated: It’s Back!)

Monday morning got off to a rough start for Facebook, where users reported widespread difficulty updating their status, liking and commenting on posts. The extent of the outage is so far unclear, but if Twitter whining is any indication, it’s affecting just about everybody worldwide. We tried posting on Facebook ourselves with no luck. Luckily…

It’s Been 365 Days Since My Last “Like”

I used to love Facebook. When I first signed up back in 2004, I was all about it. I could find old classmates, quickly share a funny link with my buddies, and generally stay connected in a way I’d never experienced before. It only got better when they rolled out the mobile version. Then something…

New Facebook Privacy Settings Let Teens Embarrass Themselves in Public

Facebook announced a pair of changes to the privacy settings for teen users on Wednesday. On the plus side, teens’ post will now be shared with a smaller group of people by default. On the potentially problematic side, they’ll also be able to share things with the public for the first time. In a way,…

The Most Fun You’ll Ever Have With Facebook Privacy Settings

You know the drill. Facebook’s changing its privacy settings; it’s time to make sure all your shit is locked down tight. We’ve all been through it like a million times. But the folks over at Us Vs Th3m turned it into a game. It’s glorious. https://gizmodo.com/facebook-is-finally-letting-you-search-for-old-posts-1429093100 The premise behind the Realistic Facebook Security Simulator is…

Facebook is completely removing the “who can search for me” option, for those who were still using it (if you didn’t have it checked, it already disappeared). Facebook says the setting is outdated now that Graph Search is live, and that everything’s now controlled via your Privacy settings. [Facebook via ReadWrite]

Facebook Data Shows How Many People Graduate College with True Love

It’s a myth that’s been around for nearly a century: Most of us are destined to meet our spouses during those magical/fraught years that make up college. But is there any truth to it? Facebook’s crack team of data scientists have mined our collective Facebook data to find out—and some of their results are pretty…

An Easy Trick To Help You Remember Birthdays Offline

Facebook has basically made remembering birthdays meaningless. With automatic reminders, it’s just as easy to wish a happy birthday to your own mother as it is to wish one to that random girl you think you maybe lived down the hall from you in the freshman dorms. But it doesn’t take much more effort to…

Facebook Is Building Its Own “Resort-Inspired” Factory Town

Facebook is dipping its big blue thumb into the real estate market, investing in a cushy 394-unit apartment complex that’s a 45-minute walk to its new Frank Gehry-designed Menlo Park campus. The $120 million Anton Menlo will be designed by architects at KTGY Group in a partnership with St. Anton Developers (hence the name) and…

How to Lock Down Facebook Privacy Now That Old Posts Are Searchable

As of yesterday, Facebook Graph Search has officially opened its big, omniscient arms to every last check-in, status update, note, and comment you’ve ever posted throughout your entire Facebook career. Which, yes, sounds pretty terrifying, but don’t worry—we’re here to help you cover your tracks. https://gizmodo.com/facebook-is-finally-letting-you-search-for-old-posts-1429093100 Thankfully, Facebook has given us the tools we need…

Facebook Is Finally Letting You Search for Old Posts

Now that Graph Search has finally rolled out to the entire Facebook world, the newest covetable feature has been bestowed onto a small subset of users. Starting today, Facebook is rolling out Graph Search for posts. https://gizmodo.com/what-is-facebook-graph-search-5976186 Users who find themselves with this new ability will be able to search for status updates, photo captions,…

What Do Kids Think About Social Media?

If you think that kids today are going to have screwed up childhoods because all they care about is playing with their phones or keeping up with friends on Facebook or shooting people in video games, well, there’s still hope! Comedian Mark Malkoff sat down and talked with some kids about social media and the…

Why I Never Untag Facebook Photos

There are some very bad pictures of me on Facebook. This one is awful. This one‘s downright horrendous. This one, I don’t know, am I sweating? Yet I never, ever, ever untag. Why? Because life is far more fun this way. https://gizmodo.com/whats-the-worst-picture-of-you-on-facebook-5922441 Most people untag. I don’t. It began as an accident—Ah, whatever, this picture…

Facebook Is Finally Letting You Edit Your Posts

In a long overdue move, Facebook is finally allowing users to edit their posts after they’ve already posted them. For now, the update has only appeared on Android and (presumably) some web users—but an iOS version can’t be too far behind. Facebook has already allowed comment editing for over a year, but actual posts editing…

All 1.2 Billion Facebook Users on a Single Page

If you want a good idea of just how many people use Facebook on a daily basis, this dizzying site manages to cram every single user onto a single page—represented by over 1.2 billion colored pixels that can be zoomed to reveal the individual faces of every member. Created by freelance designer Natalia Rojas, the…

China Is (Kinda) Loosening Its Web Censorship

China has a rich—and occasionally odd—history of censoring the web. Now, though, it seems it may be loosening its iron grip, at least a little. https://gizmodo.com/how-chinas-web-censorship-is-driving-traffic-to-a-miami-5964199 A report by the South China Morning Post explains that bans on a number of globally popular social and news services have been lifted, at least in the special…

Facebook Likes Are Officially Free Speech, Says US Appeals Court

Good news for you indiscriminate Facebookers. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Facebook likes are protected speech under the First Amendment. Like away. This particular ordeal started back in 2009, when Sheriff BJ Roberts was running for reelection in Hampton, Virginia and was more than a little miffed to find that six…

Facebook Offers Tools To Help Prevent Suicide

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and Facebook is sharing a new infographic and a site-wide public service announcement to help users find the resources they need when a friend makes troubling posts on the social network. If you see worrying posts from a friend, you can either click “report” on the post itself or search…

Our Favorite TV Shows Never Really Leave Us

Everyone has favorite shows. Look at Breaking Bad. Fans are everywhere right now. And like Breaking Bad all shows must meet a noble or ignominious end. But that doesn’t mean we stop loving them. Or hating them so much that we are oddly fascinated and can’t stop watching. That’s why Offerpop took a look at…