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Story Archives of 'Facebook'
Refusing to Join Facebook
By Virginia Prescott on Monday, October 26, 2009.
While it seems like everyone and your grandma is on Facebook at this point, there are some holdouts. Even people in their 20s and 30s are refusing to join the ranks of the social networking site’s 300 million members. As the Washington Post reports, these so-called Facebook refuseniks cite privacy and data ownership among their concerns, but avoiding Facebook can lead to real social alienation.
We're joined by Washington Post staff writer Ian Shapira, and by Mary Flanagan, the chair of digital humanities at Dartmouth College.
The Washington Post: In a Generation That Friends and Tweets, They Don't
(Photo by Laughing Squid via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Facebook Jealousy
By Zach Johnk on Monday, August 17, 2009.
Social networking sites have undoubtedly made us more connected, but is there a downside to being constantly linked in? After all, more and more personal information is posted online – information that can be read by romantic partners.
The Gooey Decimal System
By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, August 5, 2009.
Nothing eases the pain of an overdue notice like…ice cream. In fact, one librarian in New Jersey is so passionate about Ben & Jerry’s that he is petitioning for a new flavor of library-themed ice cream.
The Tangled and Twisted Story of Facebook
By Abby Goldstein on Sunday, August 2, 2009.It began as the brainchild of two unpopular Harvard undergrads looking to get themselves accepted with the University’s elite and quite possibly, a girlfriend. What followed was a story of greed, sex and the eventual breakup of a longtime friendship. We’ll look at the history of one of the world’s most popular websites.
Guest
- Ben Mezrich, author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal
Defending Narcissism
By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, July 22, 2009.
Sarah Palin’s been called one. So have Rod Blagojevich, Mark Sanford, investment bankers, people who Twitter, celebrities in Us Weekly, and just about everyone’s ex-husband or wife.
The word is narcissist, and it gets thrown around a lot these days – so much so that a previous guest on this show declared a “narcissism epidemic." But could there be a bright side to having all these self-absorbed people running around?
Emily Nussbaum, editor-at-large for New York magazine, joined us to talk about it. She’s written an article called "In Defense of Narcissism."
(Photo by sing me a song via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Slactivism
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, July 9, 2009.
Virtual virtuousness...if you were counting on changing the world through a Facebook cause, you might consider a new tack.
“Click through activism” on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube follows a pattern: initial flurry...and a fizzling out faster than you can say Neda Agha Soltan, angel of Iran. Neda was the young Iranian woman whose apparent murder was captured on film. She became an inspiration for marchers and a symbol for thousands online.
Only rarely does online activism make the jump into the real world. Worse yet, some feel so vindicated when joining Facebook causes that there is little pressure to make political or social change in the real world. Mary Joyce is the co-founder of Digiactive.org, an online organization that helps grass-roots activists boost their impact with digital technology.
The Washington Post: Facebook's Easy Virtue: "Click Through Activism" Broad But Fleeting
(Photo by Andreas Hunziker via Flickr/Creative Commons)
The Racial Politics of Web 2.0
By Martha Poole on Wednesday, July 1, 2009.
The recent uprisings in Iran may prove that social media sites have changed the way we communicate for good. But while many laud Facebook and Twitter for giving a voice to citizen journalists around the world, one expert has voiced her reservations.
Blogging Iran's Uprising
By Abby Goldstein on Monday, June 15, 2009.Violent post-election protests surged over the weekend in Iran. Police in riot gear used batons and tear gas against thousands of protestors who complained that president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the presidential election from opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavvi.
The demonstrators are mostly young, educated and wired Iranians who hoped for more freedom, a better economy and an improved image of Iran throughout the world. Moussavi’s campaign emulated some of President Obama’s tactics by using Facebook, text messages, YouTube and Twitter as organizational tools, despite frequent government shutdowns. Now, watchers the world over are following the riots moment-by-moment using Twitter, in spite of jammed phone lines and restricted servers.
To talk about this, we’re joined by Babak Rahimi. He is assistant professor of Iranian and Islamic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. He’s been in Iran since March, keeping an eye on how Facebook and micro-blogging have influenced the election and he joins us from Tehran.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Facebook brings big changes to Iran politics
Huffington Post: Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live-Blogging The Uprising
openDemocracy: The politics of Facebook in Iran
(Photo by John McNab via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Should Facebook Own Your Photos?
By Avishay Artsy on Monday, April 20, 2009.
Facebook’s claim to legal ownership of user-generated content caused a popular uprising in cyberspace this February. Now Facebook is trying a more democratic approach. Through April 23rd, users have a chance to vote on new terms of use for the site.
"URGENT HELP" For Facebook Users
By Virginia Prescott on Monday, January 26, 2009.
Public radio listeners have likely been warned that college admissions officers and prospective employers can find you on social networking sites. So, yes, keep those pictures of Jell-O shot contests and that wild Mardi Gras trip off of Facebook and MySpace. But who else is looking?
Facebook users have been targets for phishing and spammer scams in the past, but scammers are getting more clever, sometimes hacking into accounts and posting as friends in need to extort cash or other personal information. Facebook is currently being investigated by New York's attorney general's office for responding too slowly to user complaints about harassment and pornography on the site.
NHPR's New Media Coordinator Brady Carlson is here with a warning to Facebook users on how to detect scams and viruses that could compromise you.
Brady's links from the show:
- To keep up on phishing scams and other nefarious online trickery, visit Threat Level, a blog from Wired Magazine, or MSNBC's Red Tape Chronicles.
- To track your own online trail, try Google Alerts, which will check websites, blogs and news stories for any mentions of your chosen name or keyword and will send you regular e-mail updates with what it finds. Another option is Social Mention, which also follows microblogs like Twitter, online comment threads and photo sites like Flickr.
(Photo courtesy Old Shoe Woman)
