• Quick, What's The Largest Digital Social Media Platform In The World?
    What's that you say, "Facebook?" Not even close. "YouTube," closer, but still off by a mile. The largest digital social media platform in the world is (drumroll please) email. About 80% of all social interactions between people online is still done via email, and according to Tynt.com, a corresponding percentage of links, content and copy are still spread by good old-fashioned email exchanges.
  • Judges Tell Juries Not to Blab on Social Media
    Anyone who has served on a jury can probably remember the judge's multiple, repeated warnings not to talk about the trial before a verdict is rendered and accepted by the court -- with anyone (even each other), via any means, at all, ever, period. But apparently in the age of social media these injunctions aren't enough for some jury members, who are left wondering, "If I post something on Facebook about the case, does that count?"
  • Diaspora Turns Itself Over to the Community
    Diaspora, the social network founded by NYU students as an alternative to Facebook with funding from Kickstarter in 2010, is continuing to chart a non-Facebook-esque course with its decision to turn the network over to the community -- in other words, giving its members collective control of the platform. Not exactly a move Mark Zuckerberg will be copying anytime soon.
  • Indian Government Criticized for Online Censorship
    Demands for security are clashing with the need to maintain freedom of expression and open communication in India, where the government is being roundly criticized for online censorship in the wake of a major social disruption that was fueled, at least in part, by digital rumor-mongering.
  • California Bill Will Stop Bosses, Schools from Asking for Passwords
    Well, thank goodness for that: California lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to make it illegal for employers to ask job applicants or employees for their social media passwords; it also forbids retaliation against employees who refuse to share passwords. The bill, AB 1844, was passed in a unanimous vote by California's Senate, 37-0. The bill next goes to the State Assembly for a vote, where it is almost certain to be passed.
  • Most Parents Like Social Media
    While they share understandable concerns about online predators, bullying, and unwise activities like "sexting," most parents have a mostly positive view of social media's impact on their children's lives, according to a new national survey by Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO.
  • Facebook Visitors Decline YoY in June
    Facebook had fewer unique U.S. visitors in June 2012 than it did in June 2011, according to comScore, marking the first time that the world's dominant social network has experienced a year-over-year decline. In June 2011 Facebook attracted 160.9 million unique visitors; the number declined by 1.1 million, or 0.7%, to 159.8 million unique visitors in June 2012. The peak number of users was achieved in January of this year, when Facebook attracted 168 million unique U.S. visitors, also per comScore.
  • India Blames Pakistan for Social Media Mischief
    Social media is now intertwined with geopolitics, and not always in a good way, as illustrated by rising tensions in south Asia, where India is accusing Pakistan of contributing to rumor-mongering which provoked a mass exodus in India last week. As noted in a post last week, the situation in India traces back to ethnic and religious conflict in the country's northeast, where some 80 Muslims, many of them settlers from across the border in Bangladesh, have been killed by locals in the northeastern state of Assam. As a result, northeastern Indians living in other parts of India feared that …
  • India Watches Social Sites After Communal Violence
    While social media has contributed to the fall of dictators and the hunt for war criminals, it can also help catalyze civil disorder arising from various socioeconomic, religious, and ethnic tensions. In the latest example, the Indian government is asking security and law enforcement agencies to monitor social media sites for inflammatory content and rumor-mongering following another bout of communal violence.
  • Won't Get Fooled Again: There Was No Social Media Bubble
    The abysmal performance of social media stock is prompting tech and finance writers to churn out a lot of stories about the "social media bubble" which "popped." I will admit to contributing to this pile of verbiage with some doom-y predictions of my own. But unless I am missing something -- and tech-y finance people, please correct me if I'm wrong -- this was the social media bubble that wasn't.
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