Every day when I peruse Facebook, I find myself asking an important question: Whose content am I going to block today? I’ve been blessed with a good number of friends, but unfortunately not even half of them are any good at online sharing. It’s not that they’re bad people; they just don’t understand some very important tenets. It is a commonly held misconception that sharing should...
So get this: You're upset about something a co-worker said, so you solicit opinions and talk to other colleagues about it. Next you thing you know, a few days later, you and those colleagues get fired. If this was the modus operandi for businesses these days, water cooler chatter would be grounds for dismissal at companies across the country. But this conversation is a little different...
Anonymity on the web has been called both a blessing and a curse. Online alter-egos allow people an unprecedented freedom to communicate their deepest hopes or explore alternate activities or pastimes without risk to their real lives or reputations. It can also empower our worst human proclivities, setting loose trolls, scams and, in some cases, serious criminal activity. Either way,...
Google+ is officially on the market, and it’s being released in small doses in the form of invites. Much like how Gmail was initially spread in beta, the invite only model creates a sense of exclusivity and belonging. Facebook also used this method to market their network to college students, and eventually became part of the global definition of social media. Whether Google+ mirrors...
In “What Facebook Says About You, Pt 1,” Pew Internet & American Life Project’s study shows a potential warm fuzzy side of Facebook usage, namely the increased number of personal bonds that social networkers seem to have in the real world. But just as there are pluses and minuses to everything in life, both real and digital, there are things to look out for with social media too —...
Facebook bars children under 13 from signing up, though it’s more like a suggestion than a hard rule. There are plenty of tweens and even younger who fibbed (or convinced their parents) to get accounts, but at least the rule is there. If you agree with Mark Zuckerberg, however, maybe it shouldn’t be. According to an address he gave at the NewSchools Summit in California this week, the...
Picture it: Your worldwide fame has paparazzi camping in your bushes, fashion mavens obsess about “who you’re wearing,” and the mere sight of you holding a product sends the hype soaring for anything from air fresheners to flavored water. It’s hard to be a celebrity. The stress. The responsibility. And worst of all, you have no idea how people may use your words or likeness. This may...
Apparently, I’ve got savings on the brain lately — from cell phone trade-ins to amateur hacks designed to squeeze a little more functionality out of last-gen products. I know, I know — for some people, talking about finances is as much fun as taking a trip to the doctor’s office. But it’s all in how you look at it: It’s not penny-pinching as much as just putting more green in your...
It reads like a plot from a movie: One tech giant goes after another by covertly hiring a world-class P.R. firm to plant negative stories about its competitor in the media. The scheme backfires though, when a blogger that the firm approached about spreading the bad press turns around and goes public with the whole operation. Crazy, right? And it’s apparently true. The client in...
I’ve referenced tech addiction before while talking about other things. Maybe I should’ve given it more of a spotlight of its own. In particular, there’s one subset that seems to be getting attention more and more over the past few years: social media addiction. It’s one thing to check-in occasionally, peruse your tweeples with a few minutes to kill or even share cool things with your...