Connecting the Dots on Facebook’s Smear Campaign

Perhaps you’ve probably heard: Facebook and Google are at war, and Facebook’s not afraid to play dirty. Thursday’s revelation that the social networking site hired PR firm Burston-Marsteller to plant a negative story about Google’s privacy settings raises a number of questions. Like, “Who at Facebook thought this was a good idea?” The company isn't responding to the question right now. Until they do, it helps to look at the players involved. There’s Burston-Marsteller, the global PR firm run by CEO Mark Penn. There’s Jim Goldman, the former Silicon Valley bureau chief for CNBC (and frequent target of high school-style ridicule). He’s become the fall guy for Burston-Marsteller. There’s Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s universally praised COO. And then there’s Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s VP of communications and public policy. Penn, of course, is a Washington heavy hitter: he worked as a pollster to President Clinton during both of his terms and the Washington Post noted how “thoroughly integrated into the policymaking operation” he’d become. Penn’s also no stranger to criticism from Washington observers: he gained notoriety for missteps as chief strategist to Hillary Clinton during her 2008 Presidential bid. He eventually stepped down after feuding with other aides, and for reportedly offering Clinton some of her worst advice (like, emphasize Barack Obama’s foreignness). Penn’s also no stranger to the tech world—he’s credited with making Microsoft into one of the country’s most... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #googles head #silicon valley #focus attention

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What Facebook Could Have Been

A shareable online diary was an obvious idea in the early 2000s. What if a college student’s version hadn’t won out? Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2019-05-07 14:00:26 UTC ]
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Facebook bans Alex Jones and other controversial figures for hate speech

In the latest sign that social media giants are feeling the heat for allowing their platforms to amplify voices of extremists, Facebook on Thursday banned conspiracy theorist and InfoWars founder Alex Jones and the accounts of other controversial figures. The company, citing violations of... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-05-03 00:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #controversial figures #hate speech #latest sign #amplify voices #citing violations


Facebook bans Alex Jones and other controversial figures for hate speech

In the latest sign that social media giants are feeling the heat for allowing their platforms to amplify voices of extremists, Facebook on Thursday banned conspiracy theorist and InfoWars founder Alex Jones and the accounts of other controversial figures. The company, citing violations of... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-05-03 00:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #controversial figures #hate speech #latest sign #amplify voices #citing violations


How Facebook is designing for an incoming avalanche of dead users

A new study finds that by 2050, the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook. Here’s how the company is designing user experiences to face the billions of dead users to come. By 2050, the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook. That’s a conservative estimate, according to a study... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Instagram and Facebook Ban Far-Right Extremists

Alex Jones, Infowars, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, Paul Nehlen, and Louis Farrakhan have all been removed from the platforms. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2019-05-02 18:01:07 UTC ]
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BookTrust chooses The Cave for Time to Read campaign

Reading charity BookTrust will give 700,000 copies of Rob Hodgson’s The Cave (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) to school starters in England as part of its Time to Read campaign. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Feather in its cap: Faber’s stand-out campaign propels Porter’s second novel

How to follow up a bookselling sensation like Grief is the Thing with Feathers? This was the key question facing Katie Hall, Rachel Alexander and Kate Burton at Faber for the publication of Max Porter’s second novel, Lanny. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook leans harder into Groups as it redesigns main app

Facebook Inc. unveiled a redesign Tuesday that focuses on the Groups feature of its namesake social network, doubling down on a successful but controversial part of the big blue app. It’s another sign that Facebook is moving toward more private, intimate communication. The changes, announced... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-30 22:05:00 UTC ]
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Facebook anticipates federal privacy fine of up to $5 billion, sets aside $3 billion for payment

Facebook said it expects a fine of up to $5 billion from the Federal Trade Commission, which is investigating whether the social network violated its users' privacy. The company set aside $3 billion in its quarterly earnings reportWednesday as a contingency against the possible penalty but... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-25 02:15:00 UTC ]
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Wired’s Facebook boom, and why we need new labor laws for kidfluencers: Publisher’s Brief

Welcome to the latest edition of Ad Age Publisher's Brief, our roundup of news from the world of content producers across digital and print. Got a tip? Send it our way. Joining us late? Here's the previous edition. Facebook II: Wired is out with a sequel of sorts to its widely-read March 2018... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook says settling FTC investigation could cost up to $5 billion

Facebook Inc. estimated that it will cost as much as $5 billion to resolve a U.S. investigation into its privacy practices, as the social-media giant moves to put the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal behind it. Facebook said Wednesday that it took a $3-billion charge related to... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-24 22:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$5 billion #privacy practices


Facebook says settling FTC investigation could cost up to $5 billion

Facebook Inc. estimated that it will cost as much as $5 billion to resolve a U.S. investigation into its privacy practices, as the social-media giant moves to put the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal behind it. Facebook said Wednesday that it took a $3-billion charge related to... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-24 22:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$5 billion #privacy practices


Facebook uploaded email contacts of 1.5m users without consent

Company says it has stopped using password verification feature that collected data Facebook has admitted to “unintentionally” uploading the address books of 1.5 million users without consent, and says it will delete the collected data and notify those affected.The discovery follows criticism of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Netflix Literary Connection

The streaming service is on a book-buying spree as it seeks more content for its ever-growing global subscriber base. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dozens of cybercriminal groups used Facebook to set up shop

Facebook Inc. housed dozens of cybercriminal groups that set up shop on the platform as online marketplaces to sell a variety of illegal services, such as stolen credit card information, account theft and spamming tools, a team of researchers found. Cisco Systems Inc.’s Talos security unit... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to finally bring Facebook to account | Letters

We must redefine Facebook as a publisher and not a platform so it bears responsibility for its content, says Pam Rudd. Tobacco was once ubiquitous yet many managed to quit, says Bob Walsh. We must view social media the same wayI do not believe we need to rewrite most of our regulation to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Study: Facebook ad targeting may discriminate—even when advertisers don’t want it to

Despite researchers’ efforts to target every race equally, they found that Facebook’s platform targeted by race anyway A new research paper published on Wednesday shows that Facebook’s ad targeting can discriminate by race and gender, even when advertisers request that their ads should be shown... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hundreds of millions of Facebook user records exposed on Amazon cloud servers

Facebook Inc. user data is still showing up in places it shouldn’t. Researchers at UpGuard, a cybersecurity firm, found troves of user information hiding in plain sight, inadvertently posted publicly on Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud computing servers. The discovery shows that a year after the... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-03 20:45:00 UTC ]
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Facebook might pay for 'high-quality news,' NYMag vs. WaPo, Cameron Dallas explained: Publisher's Brief

If you're wondering about that leading "Afraid Of?" headlineright off the bat New York Mag seems to be suggesting something unflattering about the Post, right?well, here's a sample summary of Carmon's piece via Twitter:(Adam Penenberg is director of New York University's American Journalism... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook may add a dedicated news tab later this year

Mark Zuckerberg has revealed he may add a dedicated tab for "high-quality news" to Facebook, perhaps by the end of the year. The section would reportedly be free for users, though Facebook might pay publishers whose work is featured. Zuckerberg moote... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2019-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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