Voices

When “Likes” Can Shed Light

Facebook users’ patterns of “Likes” on the social-networking site can unintentionally expose political and religious views, drug use, divorce and sexual orientation, researchers said Monday.

Facebook’s Ever-Evolving Campus Welcome Sign

Like. Poke. Search. It all ends up on Facebook’s front door at some point.
facebook_sign_search

News Byte

Facebook Continues Testing Free Wi-Fi With Cafe Partners

Facebook is in the midst of a small program with a handful of cafes in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley areas. In the program, first noticed by Inside Facebook, Facebook provides its partner cafes with free routers, and customers check in to the business on Facebook in order to access the Internet. The service is being tested inside Philz Coffee in San Francisco, according to Hunter Walk, as well as a handful of Palo Alto cafes.

News Byte

Facebook Tests Pinterest-Like Feature With Retailers

Facebook is currently testing a new layout with a handful of retailers, letting users “Like,” “Want” and “Add” product photos to a favorite list. Dubbed “Collections,” the feature is strongly similar to Pinterest’s user interface and feel, as both are focused heavily on buyable items with large potential for a move into e-commerce. Retailers in the test include such recognizable fashion brands as Nordstrom, Old Navy and Macy’s.

Voices

Why the “Want” Button Doesn’t Work for Social Commerce

People aren’t enthusiastic about broadcasting their product purchasing intentions/preferences to their social network.

You Know Twitter’s “Favorite” Button? It Could Have Been Called “Thanks.”

To “Favorite,” to “Thank” or to “Like” — that is the question.
Twitter_bird_favorite_feature

Sorry, Developers: Don’t Expect Facebook’s F8 Conference This Year

Facebook’s State of the Union address to its developers won’t be coming in 2012.
f8_2

TheFind’s Glimpse App Makes Facebook’s “Like” Button Pay Off

“Like” something just because? No thanks. “Like” something and get a discount? Why not?
facebook_like_380

Voices

If You Think “Social” Means Viral, You’ve Got It All Wrong

There are different ideas of what “social” can mean on the Web, and not everyone knows where the gold lies. (Hint: You won’t find it with the South Park underpants gnome plan.)

Fish: A Meditation on Savoring the Internet

Robin Sloan, a guy who thinks hard about the Internet while the rest of us go on blithely using it, made what he calls an iPhone “tap essay.”
photo-15-feature

On Facebook, We Get More Love Than We Give

+1 Gets a Minus

Everyone's an Innovator

Pulse News App for iPad Gets Social

PayPal Introducing "Social Way to Shop"

Myspace: A Place for Facebook Friends

Meebo Foursquarifies the Web with Check-ins