Social networking

SAN FRANCISCO--For a guy who's done his share of industry disrupting, Jack Dorsey is sure eager to opine on tech's softer side.

Today at GigaOm's RoadMap conference here, Dorsey took the stage for nearly half an hour and dished mostly about love, empathy, hyper-personalization, fun and whimsy--as it relates to tech of course.

And why not?

As Twitter's co-founder and Square's CEO, Dorsey, 34, is a sort of bon vivant of entrepreneurship. With his hip styling and pithy and sober delivery, he looks and talks the part. As he straddles leadership roles at two of … Read more

One thing men learn quite quickly, even when they're little boys, is just how vulnerable they are.

They're supposed to be strong, but on so many emotional dimensions, they are mere putty. It's the desperation to live up to the hype, I fear.

Who can therefore be astonished that men fall for Facebook scams more than women?

According to CBS News.com, a study by antivirus software company, Bitdefender showed that when it comes to Facebook scams, men are something of a pushover.

Of those surveyed, 64.2 percent of the women rejected, ahem, Facebook friend requests … Read more

The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are close to finalizing a settlement over a complaint about deceptive privacy practices on the social network from nearly two years ago.

The proposed settlement, which awaits final approval from FTC commissioners, would require Facebook to let users opt in to changes in the way their information is shared, rather than forcing them to "opt out" of changes Facebook imposes on them, The Wall Street Journal reported. Put formally, that would require Facebook to get "express affirmative consent" if it makes "material retroactive changes."

The agreement also calls … Read more

The U.S. Justice Department will be allowed access to WikiLeaks-related Twitter accounts, including information about what Internet and e-mail addresses are associated with them, a federal district judge ruled today.

The 60-page ruling from U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady in Virginia represents a second victory for the Department of Justice, which sought the court order as part of a grand jury probe that appears to be investigating whether WikiLeaks principals including editor Julian Assange violated American criminal laws.

"The Twitter order did not violate the Constitution," O'Grady concluded. In addition, he said, there was … Read more

Tweeting, like acting, is harder than it looks.

It relies on split-second timing, an acute sense of the moment and sufficient information in order not to expose yourself publicly to ridicule. Sadly, actor and tech entrepreneur Ashton Kutcher managed only two of the three yesterday.

Following the firing of Penn State coach Joe Paterno for his involvement in an alleged cover-up of child molestation at the school, Kutcher tweeted: "How do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste."

As many swiftly pointed out, the poor taste was Kutcher's. … Read more

It is entirely commendable that Silicon Valley's largest brains take time out from deciding which shade the color of money should be in order to become talk show hosts.

We had already enjoyed Google's Marissa Mayer boring into Lady Gaga's darkest depths.

Now I am delirious to learn to Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg will be stepping into the limelight to interview another large brain, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

I am pulsatingly grateful to TechCrunch for revealing this news, on receipt of an e-mail from Christie's office.

It is inevitable that many will wonder what … Read more

Facebook is bringing back the chronological setting for News Feed.

Users can now once again see the "most recent" stories first atop their News Feeds, Facebook noted in a blog post this afternoon.

As of late September, the chronological option was removed as Facebook moved to fully automate the News Feed with stories the company's algorithms deemed "most important." Facebook said the tweaks were designed to "help you see more of what you care about, and less of what you don't."

Clearly, Facebook's loyal user base wasn't thrilled by Facebook'… Read more

Posting on your own Facebook wall that you're headed to Anchorage, Alaska and need travel tips might not result in answers. Posting direct questions on friends' walls who have been to Anchorage does.

Uptake, an online travel planner, today announced a social travel service that sifts through Facebook to find the friends that can help answer your travel questions.

"Friends don't leave friends hanging," says CEO Yen Lee, who says customers of trip advice companies like TripAdvisor don't get their travel questions personally answered.

"Just because you have the same destination and travel budget … Read more

Companies looking to socialize through a Google+ Page may want to check out an online guide that explains how to take advantage of Google's new business feature.

Rolled out on Monday, Google+ Pages finally bring the social network to the business world, allowing companies of all sizes to post updates about themselves and their products or services. People who follow a Google+ Page can comment on or share the company's posts, creating running conversation threads. Businesses can also set up hangouts where they can chat directly with potential customers.

To help companies get started, Google has created its … Read more