Danah Boyd, principal researcher at Microsoft Research, thinks that Facebook’s reign will be short-lived. “The idea of everybody going to one site is just weird,” she tells The Verge. “Fragmentation is a more natural state of being.” More troubling for Facebook is the fact that Boyd has a strong following among marketers, because of her scholarly take on tech-crazed teens and her insistence that young people should be given free rein online. 

Determined to resuscitate its photo-sharing service, Yahoo is reportedly ready to relaunch Flickr for the third time since 2012. “It is yet another effort to slickify the offering, put sharing front and center and remove the dreaded Yahoo tool bar above the service,” Re/Code’s Kara Swisher reports. “Sources inside the company said that the reason for the redo is the lack of pickup of the old new Flickr.” 

While Twitter explicitly allows anyone -- be they a reporter, marketer or regular Joe -- to share other users’ public content, The Daily Dot raises the question of whether it is always ethically right to do so. “It is important to consider how the choice to embed someone’s tweet will have an impact on them in real life,” it writes. “Will it put their life in danger? … If the answer is yes, it is still legal to republish, but you might consider a bit of discretion.”  

Twitter is going to start sprinkling desktop user Timelines with “Promoted Accounts,” each of which will clearly feature follow buttons. “Promoted Accounts already appear officially in three different places: in the margin of the Timeline on desktop, in users’ Timelines when accessed on mobile devices, and (most recently) in search results,” TechCrunch reports. “Adding Promoted Accounts to the Timeline on desktop, however, is new.” 

Amid increasing concerns over cyberbullying, anonymous messaging app Yik Yak is blocking younger users from accessing its application while on school grounds. “Anonymous communication platforms and the pre-teen-to-teenage brain are two things that don’t mix all that well,” TechCrunch writes. Yik Yak, for its part, “began to realize the severity of the problem as the app was banned at a number schools, and even became the subject of police investigations.”  

Social news start-up Banjo has raised a fresh $16 million led by Balderton Capital, along with BlueRun Ventures and Vegas Tech Fund. “The start-up has evolved from a mostly consumer-focused product that let you view the social media updates of people around you, to a cross-platform product that allows both consumers and media companies to experience and share real-time events and headline-making news as they unfold across the social Web,” according to TechCrunch. Banjo has now raised $21 million to date. 

With its interest in “future social experiences,” Microsoft's FuSE Labs is trying to figure out how hyper-local content can encourage community engagement. As part of the effort, a new site, HereHere NYC, will serve as a platform for as  many as 40 New York City neighborhoods to generate opinions, based on New York City's 311 non-emergency data stream. “Those interested can receive this stream of information by daily email digests, Twitter feeds and/or status updates on an online map.” 

Whisper -- one of several poplar “anonymous” (or “anonymish”) social networks -- has raised nearly $30 million -- and just six months after its last capital raise. “The round … places post-money valuation on the company of around $200 million,” Re/Code reports, citing sources. “The Los Angeles area-based Whisper is part of a backlash to the braggy, social-climbing, buzzy nature of the social-media era … It’s trying to encourage people to say what they really think and feel, by taking away the pressure of their permanent online record.” 

Instagram is not an ecommerce site by design, but the picture-sharing network is increasingly informing shoppers’ habits and brands’ selling strategies. As for its appeal, Jenna Wortham writes in The New York Times: “There is something undeniably charming about flicking through photographs that are carefully curated and personally posted by some Instagram sellers, who regularly offer one-of-a-kind treasures.” 

Like other emerging media platforms, Vine has its own celebrities, along with brands trying to ride their creative coattails. Take 16-year-old Lauren Giraldo, who boasts about 2.4 million followers on Twitter’s video-snippet-sharing service. “Brands who want to grow their followings or promote their products are throwing money at girls like Lauren,” Business Insider reports. Ad agencies like Niche have also popped up to connect Vine stars with brands.