Social Media

Facebook knows mobile is its Achilles' heel, but I didn't expect the company to take such aggressive actions to solve its mobile problem.

The social network admitted to the weakness earlier this month when it amended its IPO filing. "If users increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our financial performance and ability to grow revenue would be negatively affected," the company explained in its amended S1.

Facebook … Read more

If you want to know where the most famous hoodie-wearer in the world will be Friday morning, he'll be ringing a bell in Hacker Square.

Hacker Square is more or less the center of Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, and features a giant "HACK" in the cement that's large enough to be seen from space. The man with the hoodie is, of course, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. At 6:30 a.m. PT tomorrow, a source told CNET, Zuck will stand by a big crane in the square and ring a ceremonial bell in time … Read more

Facebook is on its way to 1 billion users with an IPO around the corner. Not bad for a company with its roots in a Harvard dorm room.

But how did it achieve its grip on the global market? New findings from Nielsen offer a peek into some key milestones for the social network.

Facebook's user base currently numbers more than 900 million. But it's also one of the most visited Web sites in the world, according to Nielsen.

The site received around 152 million unique visits from people in the U.S. in March, which means that … Read more

This could be the start of a beautiful relationship.

Facebook users tomorrow will be able to watch "Casablanca" for free, directly on the hit social network. According to a release from Warner Bros., the screening is timed to the release of the 70th anniversary "Casablanca" three-disc Blu-ray and DVD set.

The movie, often referred to as the best film of all time, will be shown starting at both 7 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on the Casablanca Facebook page, although viewers must begin watching by 9 p.m. PT, and can only watch … Read more

For years, I've been doing the Gadget Boy dance. It's what you do when you get out of a taxi in NYC, tapping various parts of your clothing to make sure you have your gadgets, keys, wallet, etc., with you.

On Sunday, as I exited a cab, I forgot to do the dance and left my iPhone 4S behind. By the time I realized it, the cab had left and I was iPhone-free.

I am supposed to get the phone back this afternoon, but here's what I've learned halfway through 48 hours without a smartphone for … Read more

Commentary: Facebook isn't your typical company, so why should its IPO be any different?

In one week, Mark Zuckerberg and friends will ring the NASDAQ bell, and we will witness the largest Internet IPO in history. Facebook will likely raise more than $10 billion at a valuation I suspect will skyrocket past $100 billion.

The best part: all of this will happen under the direction of a 27-year-old CEO with absolute control over his company. Some investors are complaining about his nonchalant attitude towards the IPO (oh no, Zuck isn't wearing a suit!), but there is no shortage … Read more

This morning, three women in Starbucks turned to me, smiled, gave me their cards and suggested I come to their houses for chardonnay and vinegar chips anytime I wanted.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. I was just practicing my Facebook status updates.

Given that I don't really do that Facebook thing much, this hasn't been easy. But I have moved by research from the great university of Harvard telling me that if I want to seek sexual pleasure outside of direct carnality, I should simply boast on Facebook.

I can feel you calling … Read more

YoVille players starting posting complaints on the gaming company's forum about a month ago. Strange happenings were afoot -- players' virtual items were stolen and not returned and some players' property supply was completely depleted.

Apparently, the game had been hacked. According to the tech news site VentureBeat, hackers disrupted YoVille's gameplay for about 1,000 players during a couple weeks of April. "The Best YoVille Hackers" claimed responsibility for the hack.

"We detected unusual activity in YoVille, and it coincided with reports from a small number of users," Zynga's chief security officer … Read more

If you hate Facebook social readers as much as the next guy, you'll probably love hearing that the tools, which let you share articles you're reading, are tanking.

In a post on BuzzFeed today, we find that social readers from publications as diverse as The Washington Post, The Guardian UK, Daily Motion, and others, are collapsing. Essentially, users are abandoning the tools in droves. For example, The Washington Post, which grew its social reader to nearly 18 million users last month, has subsequently seen that number crater -- it's sitting at 9.2 million today, according to … Read more