Social Media

WSJ: Facebook Is Developing a Flipboard-Style News Reader

So long Google Reader, hello… Facebook? The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Zuckerberg and co are working on a service that “displays content from Facebook users and publishers in a new visual format tailored for mobile devices”. Citing “people with knowledge of the matter”, the newspaper suggests that the service—known internally as a Reader—has…

Please Don’t Ruin Instagram With Crappy Videos

An Instagram photo carries a certain artificial heft to it. There’s a sense of importance, or at least permanence, to the photos we post to these accounts that you don’t get from tweets or even status updates on Facebook. Instagram isn’t naturally this way; it’s developed this weight because everything on Instagram is beautiful. And…

Facebook Accidentally Exposed Contact Info for Six Million Users

According to a post on Facebook’s security blog, a bug in the company’s friend recommendation system exposed the contact information of some six million users to others. The bug has been present for about a year, but the company only found out about it in the last 24 hours. The affected users will be notified…

What Do You Think of Video for Instagram?

We all knew it was coming, but now it’s official: Facebook’s potential Vine-killer has finally surfaced in the form of video on Instagram. And as it turns out, the new Instagram feature is pretty different from its Twitter counterpart. https://gizmodo.com/wsj-facebook-wil-announce-ambiguous-vine-like-video-sh-516523358 Editing abilities, video-stabilization, 15-second long time limits, no looping, and filters do not in any…

Instagram’s awesome new video editing will come with a stabilization feature called Cinema. RIP, Vine.

Video on Instagram: Facebook’s New Vine-Like Video Sharing

You’re about to be able to cloak short video clips in vintage filters. Facebook just added video to Instagram, similar to Twitter’s Vine app, only smarter. It has many more features than Vine—it looks like video sharing done right. For the uninitiated, Vine lets you share six second loops of short video clips in a…

WSJ: Facebook Will Announce Ambiguous Vine-Like Video Sharing Today

The WSJ is the latest publication to report unnamed sources claiming that today’s Facebook announcement will be all about video sharing. Now it looks like the service will be separate from Instagram? Or is that an omission? According to “sources with knowledge” Facebook will announce “pieces” of a “Vine-like video service”. The main difference between…

You Can Now Put Images in Your Facebook Comments

Facebook has been doing a lot of work on its comment system between threaded replies and emoticon support. Now (finally?) you can throw images in there too. Brace yourself; the image macros are coming. https://gizmodo.com/facebook-is-rolling-out-threaded-comments-to-pages-and-5992320 Facebook hasn’t said anything about the new feature, but it’s starting to roll out to people in the form of…

According to an unnamed TechCrunch source, Facebook is getting ready to launch video sharing on Instagram at the end of the month. The announcement could come at this Thursday’s Facebook press event so get your fun compounds and portmanteau’s ready. InstaVine? Snapstagram? MyFaceTube?

Facebook Is Finally Releasing Its Data on Government Requests

Facebook is finally going to come clean. Or well, as clean as the government will allow it to. Like Google’s Transparency Report and like similar reports given by Microsoft and Twitter, Facebook is releasing its data on the amount of government requests it receives. Of course, the numbers are completely unspecific but that’s not exactly…

The Facebook #Hashtagocalypse Is Upon Us

We’d heard tale that this day was coming, and here to confirm our suspicions that, why yes, there is indeed nothing sacred anymore, the hashtag is officially infusing its personal brand of poison into our once-beloved Facebook. https://gizmodo.com/wsj-facebook-stealing-hashtags-from-twitter-5990625 Should you decide to click on the tiny demon, a list will pop up directing you to…

Here’s What Liking Stuff on Facebook Really Looks Like (It’s Beautiful)

The Facebook Like and Share are so ingrained into our day to day internet lives that they’re more than just verbs, they’re almost instinctual. But what does an inherently digital, formless thing like a Like actually look like? Well, a lot like this, actually. Facebook Data Science collected data about the likes and shares of…

Facebook’s Data Center Humidity “Challenge” Was Indoor Rain

In 2011 Facebook reported that their first data center in Prineville, OR had a high humidity issue. Probably not the best condition for servers, sure. But it turns out that wonky temperature controls were actually causing condensation in the data center. Like indoor rain. Like it was literally raining in the server room. The cloud…

Facebook Is Finally Getting Rid of Obnoxious “Sponsored Stories”

It seems Facebook isn’t totally deaf to the cries of its unwashed masses. After a lot of complaining and some unfortunate lube endorsing, Facebook users are finally seeing the death of the dreaded “Sponsored Stories.” https://gizmodo.com/facebook-ads-turn-unsuspecting-man-into-spokesperson-fo-5888669 In fact, Facebook is getting rid of quite a few of its many ad formats. The current 27 flavors…

What Are You Going To Do Following the NSA’s Massive Privacy Invasion?

Since it’s become apparent that the NSA has been siphoning off data from phone companies and internet giants—spying on everything from phone records to Facebook—the internet is awash with people ready to make a stand. But what are you going to do? https://gizmodo.com/the-nsa-and-fbi-have-been-spying-on-our-internet-habits-511750202 Are your outraged enough to cancel your Verizon contract, quite Facebook and…

Why Your Facebook Feed Is So Full of Junk

Man, I love “I Fucking Love Science“, the Facebook page with 5.4 million likes that clutters my News Feed with hundreds of clever images, many of which are stolen without attribution to their authors. It’s entertaining, and amazingly sharable. It’s also changing the character of the social network—and some argue it’s doing so for the…

The Pocket-Picking Facebook Malware That No One Knows How to Stop

A particularly nasty breed of malware is raiding people’s Facebook profiles and emptying their bank accounts. Its name is Zeus, and yes, it is all powerful. Because despite the fact that this money-grubbing, Likejacking malware has been around for years stealing both private and government data, cybersecurity experts are still stumped about how to stop…

This Facebook Musical Song Explains Our Addiction to Facebook

Here’s the truth: you’re embarrassed by how much you use Facebook. You color your phrases about Facebook like you’re not on it that much. You pretend you didn’t see updates on Facebook when you really saw them the second they were posted. You hate saying you heard about something when really you read it on…

7 Internet Faux Pas and How to Recover From Them

Everyone has felt that feeling. You posted something on Facebook that pissed off a friend. You Instagrammed a mortifying picture of your sister. They’re pissed. How do you smooth things over? Ideally, you practice common sense before you pull the trigger on a post. But you’re only human, and there will be a time when…

Pinterest Embraces Its Porn Problem, Artistically

A little over a year ago, everybody started freaking out about Pinterest’s new porn problem. “Officially, there is no porn on Pinterest,” Business Insider’s Jim Edwards declared at the time. “But there is porn on Pinterest, and it appears to be a growing problem.” Oh noes! There’s porn on the Internet?! Of course there is,…