BP’s catastrophic oil spill is one of the worst environmental disasters in, well, ever, but could it be that we’ve already lost interest? New statistics suggest social networking users are over it.
Social networking
Privacy issues on Facebook: it’s not all bad
While Facebook continues to attract condemnation for its contentious privacy policies, the social networking website may also be providing valuable lessons to young’uns about how to manage their online reputations, says Esther Dyson.
Why Google can’t win against Facebook
Google Me will mark Google’s latest attempt to crack the social networking market, but skeptical Silicon Valley experts say the search engine giant will never be able to topple Facebook. Here’s why.
Kiddie Facebook website rapidly growing up
Dubbed “Facebook with training wheels,” emerging website Togetherville, targeted at children, is quickly developing a presence online. But should parents really be encouraging their kids to jump on the social networking bandwagon?
rumour Google to launch a Facebook rip off?
Google may be more determined than ever to crack the social networking market. Rumours abound for a new site called ‘Google Me,’ but will it have what it takes to beat Facebook?
Google vs. Stephen Conroy
Stephen Conroy is taking on internet giants Google and Facebook over their recent privacy breaches. But is he just capitalising on the public sentiment against the two companies to take the heat off his widely-panned internet filter plans?
Facebook CEO: We stuffed up
Amidst the torrent of criticism raining down upon Facebook over its privacy policy, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg pens a mea culpa in the Washington Post: “We just missed the mark.”
The future of Facebook unveiled
Facebook is going to turn the web into “one big cocktail party”, says CNN, with the company just announcing its new platform, Open Graph. Watch CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote address here.
Spy on your kids like the pros
How do security professionals monitor their kids’ internet and mobile phone usage? Professionals explain how to totally destroy your teenager’s privacy and social life.
Google vs. Facebook: game on
Google has announced it is entering the social media-sphere, adding Facebook/Twitter-esque real-time “status updates” to its Gmail email service. Facebook looks to be hitting right back, launching its own Gmail-esque webmail service.
Facebook: the world’s newspaper
Forget aggregators and e-readers, the real digital news revolution is taking place on Facebook, which is now the fourth largest source of traffic for media. Do we now only read what our friends tell/want us to read?
Everyone chillax, SMS isn’t that bad
The world needs to take a deep breath and relax about text speak and the kids with their emoticons, writes Sue Butler. SMS is not destroying the English language.
Guy Rundle: Mr Rundle’s Christmas Sermon
You know that the culture is in a parlous state when the most sage advice is coming from Lily Allen. Time to become a neo-luddite and get your life back.
How Facebook is tricking you into making all your info public
Facebook is rolling out new “privacy controls” under the pretense of giving users more control. But what it’s really doing is tricking people into sharing all their personal information with the rest of the internet so it can compete with Twitter.
We are all Facebook friends now
Facebook has experienced phenomenal growth over the past few years, and it doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon. But do we really want everybody — and all their personal data — to be on just the one website? Actually yes, says Farhad Manjoo.
Is social media killing the web as we know it?
Web traffic to every Australian news site has been trending down this year. Perhaps this is what those annoying social media experts have been predicting all along: people are passing news directly among themselves, bypassing the traditional news outlets.
How social media excludes people with social lives
ABC journo Lyndal Curtis would love to get into Twitter — but she’s a bit too busy actually having a real life to bang out 140 characters about it every five minutes (heresy!). Are busy people being left behind in the “social media revolution”?
Corporate blogging: Telstra tries again
After its last disastrous attempt, Telstra is having another crack at social media. Full marks for effort, says Trevor Cook, but it’s still little more than a bit of gloss on a dull, besuited corporate empire.
graph pr0n The social networking boom
Focus graphs the boom in social networking sites over the last decade — from early pioneers like Classmates.com to recent innovators like Twitter.
The world’s first Twitter-only gadget. Er, why?
Tech company Peek has created a hand-held gadget that only does one thing: tweet. For US$199, you can’t make phone calls, send SMS or check your email, but you can tweet on-the-go. Perfect for friendless geeks with no need for a real phone, we guess.
How I made millions spamming Facebook: an insider’s confession
You know those ads on social networking sites saying “Inbox (5). Nick, someone in Sydney has a crush on you!”, with your name, profile picture, and city in the ad? Dennis Yu made millions off them. He explains how.
MySpace and Facebook to team up?
Facebook has well and truly bested MySpace in the social networking game, but MySpace still has one ace up its sleeve: music and entertainment. Instead of competing, the two are apparently putting their differences aside to share content across the two networks.
MySpace surrenders to Facebook
MySpace has officially given up in its battle for social media supremacy with Facebook, the the company’s CEO now claiming it is far more interested in becoming “an online hub for music and entertainment.”
Whatever happened to Second Life?
A few years ago, you couldn’t blink without seeing a new article or news report about the online virtual world phenomenon. Well, it’s still kicking on, reports Chris Abraham, and it’s actually a much better place.
Social networks used to entrap homosexuals in Ghana
In Ghana, where homosexuality is a crime, one of the only ways gay people can connect is through social networking. But now people — with the help of the police — are also using this as an avenue for blackmail.
