And just like that, everyone’s Newsfeed was cluttered with murmurings about how they need to buy Facebook stock now. According to the Wall Street Jounal, Facebook is currently targeting its initial public offering launch for early next year.
Word is, Facebook’s finally getting into the smartphone business, something everyone’s assumed would happen at some point, but no one’s made unambiguous claims about until now.
A new study tracking the use of social media to promote small businesses in the U.S. seems like a lesson in counter-intuitive thinking; while 88% of small businesses believe that social media does or will impact their impact their business, a full 67% of those same businesses have no plans to make any additional investments in social media during 2012.
No, it doesn’t remedy Skype’s kludgy, five-steps-backward Mac interface, but the new Skype beta for OS X (and standard version for Windows) will allow you to call Facebook friends if you so desire.
In the next few weeks, you’re going to have to make a decision: switch over to the new Facebook Timeline or keep your current profile. While there is plenty to like about Timeline, there are also privacy concerns galore. Luckily, you can protect yourself if you just spend some time going through your profile.
The days of typing “Facebook.com” into your browser’s address bar? Gone! Bookmarks? Pah! Shortcuts? Those require double clicks. Two clicks? Did we lose a war?! There’s got to be a better way! HP might have the answer with its new X7000 Wi-Fi Touch Mouse.
Is it safe to go back in your favorite social network’s waters? Perhaps.
Novelist Salman Rushdie, after having his Facebook account deactivated because Facebook didn’t believe it was really him. The account was reactivated after he’d sent the company a copy of his passport. The only problem? His given first name is Ahmed. Salman Rushdie wins name tiff with Facebook [Washington Post]
It’s not affecting everyone on Facebook, but some users are finding their feeds overrun with “explicit hardcore porn images, photoshopped photos of celebrities such as Justin Bieber in sexual situations, pictures of extreme violence and even a photograph of an abused dog,” according to security firm Sophos.
Social media has some distance to go in terms of convincing people of its trustworthiness, apparently. A new study has found that most people in the U.K. and U.S. prefer old media when it comes to news, with only 19% of Americans considering Twitter and Facebook trusted news sources.
Advertisers aren’t the only ones exploiting social-networking sites — now scientists are tapping into Facebook’s trove of personal data to find lab rats online.
