Could Facebook follow Vox into the void?

Originally posted to the Vox Neighbourhood on Facebook, without links Key to the 2009 calendar. Yellow: days when Vox worked normally. Pink: days when the compose screen took minutes or hours to load. Red: days when Vox would not allow me to compose at all. I gave up on December 13, 2009, and consolidated all […]

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When it comes to mass surveillance, forget specificity

Be careful what you say on social media in Britain.    English law permits mass surveillance of the big social media platforms, according to Charles Farr, the director-general of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, in a statement published last week responding to a case brought by Privacy International, Liberty, Amnesty International, the American Civil […]

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Facebook reaches its limits again: ‘Sorry, something went wrong’

Mea culpa: OK, I was wrong. Facebook got things back up in about 20 minutes for some users, who are Tweeting about it. However, as of 8.37 a.m. GMT, I am still seeing Tweeters whose Facebooks remain down.    Looks like some people do work there after hours. What a surprise!    However, I reckon […]

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Ikea tries to shut down its biggest fan site, showing us how the company thinks within

In an age of social media, you would think it was the most stupid thing to try to shut down the biggest online community you have.    Ikea has done just that, on IP grounds, against Ikea Hackers, by getting their legal department to send Jules Yap, its founder, a cease-and-desist letter after her site […]

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Creating real value, and that’s not what Facebook and Twitter do

My forced Facebook sabbatical came to an end in the late morning. So what did I think of it all?    One of my Tweets last night was: ‘I hope [it is temporary], though I have found people out for 7–12 days now. Now it’s Monday I hope they have got over their hangovers!’ At […]

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I might not have Facebook, but I do speak Ebonics

Forty-nine hours and counting, which makes it the beginning of day three without Facebook.    I didn’t really need it yesterday, so there’s something to be said about habits breaking after a couple of days. However, for work, I have needed to go on there: while Sopheak is covering for me as far as Lucire’s […]

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My forced Facebook sabbatical

It’s been an interesting day with a forced Facebook sabbatical: I can no longer post, comment or like on the site, and it’s been that way since 3 a.m. GMT.    I’d say I’m a fairly heavy Facebook user. There haven’t been that many days when I haven’t posted since I was sent an invitation […]

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Polarization in US politics: doesn’t that go against their idea of “rugged individualism”?

There have been a few articles lately on the polarization of politics in the US, where the middle ground—people with views from both Democrat and Republican sides—has been eroded. William Shepherd linked this one on Twitter, from the Pew Research Center.    My theory, sent on Twitter, was this: You are correct, and it is […]

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The religiosity of the superbrands

Another friend asked the Windows laptop v. Macbook question on her Facebook today.    You can predict what happens next. The cult came by. As with the last time a friend asked the same question.    The cult always comes and proclaims the superiority of the Apple Macintosh. And it is a blinding proclamation, of […]

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The real privacy policy

Documentaries such as Terms and Conditions May Apply (embedded here) and Doc Searls’ The Intention Economy got me thinking about our privacy policy.    We have one for our company, but how do we really use your private data? It got me thinking.    Since we’ve been online for longer than most people, we have […]

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