How Facebook robbed us of our sense of self

Fifteen years ago, the social network site was set up to connect people. But now, with lives increasingly played out online, have we forgotten how to be alone?‘Thefacebook is an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges. We have opened up Thefacebook for popular consumption at Harvard University. You can use Thefacebook to: search for people at your school; find out who are [sic] in your classes; look up your friends’ friends; see a visualization of your social network.”On 4 February 2004, this rather clunky announcement launched an invention conceived in the dorm room of a Harvard student called Mark Zuckerberg, and intended to be an improvement on the so-called face books that US universities traditionally used to collect photos and basic information about their students. From the vantage point of 2019, Thefacebook – as it was then known – looks familiar, but also strange. Pages were coloured that now familiar shade of blue, and “friends” were obviously a central element of what was displayed. However, there was little on show from the wider world: the only photos were people’s profile pictures, and there was no ever-changing news feed. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #basic information #vantage point #central element #wider world

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British spies are allowed to intercept Google and Facebook traffic, official says

British spies are authorized to spy on British citizens’ Internet communications transiting through servers outside the U.K., a civil rights group has discovered.Privacy International uncovered the information as part of a lawsuit it filed against the U.K. government over its alleged involvement... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Is Beginning to Look Like a Bona Fide Online Ad Network

Now that Facebook will include users’ Web behavior to fine-tune targeting, it’s only a matter of time before it expands its ad network to outside publishers, according to marketing experts. Facebook has said that it will gather Web surfing data on users to help advertisers understand... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#FreeTheNipple campaign leads to breastfeeding nipple-shot ban reversal by Facebook

Facebook comes under fire for all manner of things -- it's just part and parcel of being a social network. When users are not up in arms at the site's privacy policies, they are found voicing their disapproval at the types of content they're not allowed to publish on their timelines. There are... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2014-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook to Use Web Browsing History For Ad Targeting

Through its ubiquitous "like" buttons on publisher sites across the web, Facebook has long been able to watch the web surfing behavior of its 1.28 billion monthly users.Soon it will begin to use that information for ad targeting on Facebook.Facebook already enables retargeting to users who've... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PayPal's David Marcus Will Lead Mobile Messaging at Facebook

PayPal president David Marcus has left to steer mobile messaging at Facebook. Facebook claims that its standalone messaging app, called Messenger, is now used by more than 200 million people monthly. And the company's blog post today suggested that Marcus would lead that specific part of the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Seeks Patent for Tech to Let Kids on Its Network (Legally)

Facebook restricts users to those over the age of 13, but anyone who's talked to a tween lately knows how effective that is.But now it appears Facebook wants to create a way for young people to go legit on the network -- and still comply with the law.In a patent application filed in November of... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook announces listening feature

Facebook is to release a new feature on its mobile app that will listen to and identify your music and TV shows before publishing them in a status update. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2014-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MediaMashup 2014: Facebook’s New Rules for Engagement

New York—In the 10 years since Facebook launched, it has changed the face of communications and media. In doing so, it also made itself a tool for content publishers for both encouraging engagement and driving revenue. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2014-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Algorithm Tweaks Hurt Viral Sites More Than Other Publishers

Publishers are claiming that content they share on Facebook pages isn't reaching as many readers as it used to. Adweek reached out to comScore to find out how referral traffic through Facebook has changed from Nov. 2013 to Feb. 2014 for several top properties. For reference, we also tracked the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Boom or Bust with Facebook

Science magazine Discover had 69,000 Facebook likes at the beginning of 2013. Growing steadily, that audience had doubled by September. Then in October, it doubled again. November? Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2014-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook takes hands-off approach to sponsor posts

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[ Digiday | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zuckerberg responds to 'frustrating' reports of NSA spoofing Facebook, while the agency denies them

Yesterday a report from The Intercept exposed NSA documents apparently showing how it could infect "millions" of computers with malware and even masquerade as a Facebook server. Now, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the NSA have both published... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Film buy for Tom Rob Smith's The Farm

The film rights to Tom Rob Smith’s newly published The Farm (Simon & Schuster) have... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Can A Startup Help Publishers Cut Out Twitter, Facebook, And Flipboard?

Connecting content creators and consumers would be an enormous coup for news sites, magazines, TV networks, and other media. We look at three startups that could help.At magazines like Fast Company, we rely on distribution networks to get our articles to our readers. In print, the primary... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook rewards brands for tagging

Facebook is allowing to Pages to tag one another, but brands and publishers need to judicious in how they use the new feature.The post Facebook rewards brands for tagging appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Neknominate needs health warnings on Twitter and Facebook, say councils

Local Government Association calls on websites to highlight dangers of drinking game linked to several deathsTwitter and Facebook should introduce warnings about the drinking game neknominate, which has been linked to several deaths, councils have said. The Local Government Association (LGA),... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WhatsApp is the first of several big acquisitions for Facebook

If the announcement of Facebook paying $19 billion in cash and stock for WhatsApp surprised you then maybe you’d forgotten this prediction I published on January 8th: #6 -- Facebook transforms itself (or tries to) with a huge acquisition. I wrote long ago that we’d never see Facebook in the Dow... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2014-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook must comply with German data protection law, court rules

Facebook has to comply with German data protection law, the Higher Court of Berlin ruled in a decision that directly contradicted an earlier decision by another court.The Berlin court confirmed a 2012 verdict that found that Facebook’s Friend Finder violated German law because it was unclear to... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Withdrawal: Viral Publishers See Traffic Plunge

Publishers that rely on Facebook to drive large portions of their traffic are at constant risk of having the rug pulled out from under their feet. A recent algorithm tweak may have done just that. The post Facebook Withdrawal: Viral Publishers See Traffic Plunge appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook: 10 years of social networking, in numbers

Ten years today, the social networking giant has notched up some interesting numbers along the way• How Facebook became the world's biggest social network1.23bn monthly usersBy the end of 2013, Facebook boasted 1.23bn monthly active users worldwide, adding 170m in just one year. According to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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