Social Media

This could be the start of a beautiful relationship.

Facebook users tomorrow will be able to watch "Casablanca" for free, directly on the hit social network. According to a release from Warner Bros., the screening is timed to the release of the 70th anniversary "Casablanca" three-disc Blu-ray and DVD set.

The movie, often referred to as the best film of all time, will be shown starting at both 7 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on the Casablanca Facebook page, although viewers must begin watching by 9 p.m. PT, and can only watch … Read more

For years, I've been doing the Gadget Boy dance. It's what you do when you get out of a taxi in NYC, tapping various parts of your clothing to make sure you have your gadgets, keys, wallet, etc., with you.

On Sunday, as I exited a cab, I forgot to do the dance and left my iPhone 4S behind. By the time I realized it, the cab had left and I was iPhone-free.

I am supposed to get the phone back this afternoon, but here's what I've learned halfway through 48 hours without a smartphone for … Read more

Commentary: Facebook isn't your typical company, so why should its IPO be any different?

In one week, Mark Zuckerberg and friends will ring the NASDAQ bell, and we will witness the largest Internet IPO in history. Facebook will likely raise more than $10 billion at a valuation I suspect will skyrocket past $100 billion.

The best part: all of this will happen under the direction of a 27-year-old CEO with absolute control over his company. Some investors are complaining about his nonchalant attitude towards the IPO (oh no, Zuck isn't wearing a suit!), but there is no shortage … Read more

This morning, three women in Starbucks turned to me, smiled, gave me their cards and suggested I come to their houses for chardonnay and vinegar chips anytime I wanted.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. I was just practicing my Facebook status updates.

Given that I don't really do that Facebook thing much, this hasn't been easy. But I have moved by research from the great university of Harvard telling me that if I want to seek sexual pleasure outside of direct carnality, I should simply boast on Facebook.

I can feel you calling … Read more

YoVille players starting posting complaints on the gaming company's forum about a month ago. Strange happenings were afoot -- players' virtual items were stolen and not returned and some players' property supply was completely depleted.

Apparently, the game had been hacked. According to the tech news site VentureBeat, hackers disrupted YoVille's gameplay for about 1,000 players during a couple weeks of April. "The Best YoVille Hackers" claimed responsibility for the hack.

"We detected unusual activity in YoVille, and it coincided with reports from a small number of users," Zynga's chief security officer … Read more

If you hate Facebook social readers as much as the next guy, you'll probably love hearing that the tools, which let you share articles you're reading, are tanking.

In a post on BuzzFeed today, we find that social readers from publications as diverse as The Washington Post, The Guardian UK, Daily Motion, and others, are collapsing. Essentially, users are abandoning the tools in droves. For example, The Washington Post, which grew its social reader to nearly 18 million users last month, has subsequently seen that number crater -- it's sitting at 9.2 million today, according to … Read more

commentary Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson will likely come to regret his decision to declare a patent war against Facebook. Even if Yahoo does manage to win its case in the courts, he won't be sticking around to savor the victory.

The former PayPal president is under attack by Yahoo investors and the tech world for allegedly inflating his college credentials. His official Yahoo bio said he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College, when he only has an accounting degree from his alma mater.

Yahoo called the issue an "inadvertent error" … Read more

My students at Columbia Journalism School came up with a creative idea last year for a scholarship fundraiser. Instead of the usual bake sales and T-shirt sales, they decided to use social media in an unusual way.

The idea: #SilenceSree Day - getting others to donate money to keep me off Twitter and Facebook for an entire day. Last year at this time, more than 100 people contributed a total of $1,172.25. More than the total, it was more interesting to me that so many people from inside and outside the university chipped in.

Today is #SilenceSree Day … Read more

If you look under your seat, you might find a new Oprah Winfrey game designed by star game maker Jane McGonigal's Superbetter Labs.

The new project, called Oprah's Thank You Game, was announced today with the specific -- and ambitious -- goal of "spreading the positive emotion of gratitude to half a billion people worldwide."

"Once someone clicks on the 'I said thank you' button," the game's Web site reads, "they will be taken to the game on Facebook to record their thank you and participate in other exciting game elements -- … Read more