Social Web : All Tech Considered Sites like Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized the Web, altered how we interact with each other and even changed the way news is gathered and delivered. Read about the impact of social media and its continuing evolution.

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Tech, Culture and Connection

Social Web

Tuesday October 29, 2013

Raising Social Media Teens Means Constant Parental Learning

The Ask.fm website has been linked to two bullying cases that led to suicides. Danny E. Martindale/Getty Images hide caption

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Danny E. Martindale/Getty Images

Social Web

Raising Social Media Teens Means Constant Parental Learning

October 29, 2013 • For parents of teens in the fast-changing social media landscape, which includes sites such as Ask.fm, it can be tough to figure out the balance between giving your children freedom and protecting them from danger. That dilemma was illustrated by the suicide of a 12-year-old Florida girl who reportedly was cyberbullied.

Raising Social Media Teens Means Constant Parental Learning

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Monday October 21, 2013

Online Dating Is On The Rise (But There Are Still Haters)

Wait, where can we get a heart-shaped mouse? Monkey Business Images/iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Monkey Business Images/iStockphoto.com

Social Web

Online Dating Is On The Rise (But There Are Still Haters)

October 21, 2013 • We're buying cars online, ordering groceries online and, more and more, finding love there too. Online dating, and social support for it, is at an all-time high. But whether you're beginning or ending relationships digitally, you might have some awkward encounters.

Saturday October 19, 2013

Credit Cards Under Pressure To Police Online Expression

Some advocacy groups say credit card companies should stop doing business with websites that promote controversial views or policy positions. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Behavior

Credit Cards Under Pressure To Police Online Expression

October 19, 2013 • The Web is full of sites promoting views that many find offensive — and often, those sites do business with credit card companies. Some advocacy groups are pressuring Visa and MasterCard to end those relationships, but others worry these campaigns will have a chilling effect on free speech online.

Credit Cards Under Pressure To Police Online Expression

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Tuesday October 15, 2013

A Company's Tweets Can Help Make It Creditworthy

Courtesy of Kabbage

The Industry

A Company's Tweets Can Help Make It Creditworthy

October 15, 2013 • Banks use credit scores and similar metrics to assess creditworthiness. A company called Kabbage that lends working capital to small businesses does some of that but also relies on unconventional measures, using real-time data from things like UPS shipments, eBay, Facebook and Twitter.

A Company's Tweets Can Help Make It Creditworthy

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Thursday October 3, 2013

What We Learned When Twitter Filed For Its IPO

Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Social Web

What We Learned When Twitter Filed For Its IPO

October 3, 2013 • Twitter has filed to go public, and it will sell shares under the name TWTR. The IPO will initially seek to raise up to $1 billion. A look at what else the social media giant's IPO filing reveals about the seven-year-old company.

Wednesday October 2, 2013

Social Media Detectives: Is That Viral Video For Real?

via YouTube

The Industry

Social Media Detectives: Is That Viral Video For Real?

October 2, 2013 • After the Boston Marathon bombing, Storyful helped journalists verify that a popular YouTube video was actually an eyewitness account. But it doesn't stop there — the company also hopes to change the "Wild West" model of news organizations using citizen journalists' uploaded content free.

Social Media Detectives: Is That Viral Video For Real?

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Sunday September 29, 2013

What Gets Lost In Our Carefully Crafted Online Conversations

Researchers are studying the effects of the "masks" we wear online. iStockPhoto hide caption

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Social Web

What Gets Lost In Our Carefully Crafted Online Conversations

September 29, 2013 • When we text or email, we can craft a message to get it just right. But researchers say if we get too used to doing that, we may find it hard to have face-to-face conversations.

Monday September 23, 2013

Fake Reviewers Get Zero Stars From New York Attorney General

Some reputation management companies required that its writers have a certain number of Yelp friends. Yelp says it welcomed the New York attorney general's crackdown on fake reviewers. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Social Web

Fake Reviewers Get Zero Stars From New York Attorney General

September 23, 2013 • Nineteen companies agreed to pay more than $350,000 in penalties to settle accusations that they wrote or bought phony online reviews of their products, services or restaurants.

Fake Reviewers Get Zero Stars From New York Attorney General

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Sunday September 22, 2013

The Promises And Pitfalls Of Social Media — For Police

David Oliver, chief of police in Brimfield, Ohio, maintains a Facebook page that went viral (by police Facebook page standards) earlier this year. With more than 80,000 followers, he mixes humor with blunt opinions. Tony Dejak/AP hide caption

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Tony Dejak/AP

Social Web

The Promises And Pitfalls Of Social Media — For Police

September 22, 2013 • More and more, cops are using social media as a tool to investigate crimes and reach out to their communities. And it's not just a fad of funny tweets or YouTube surveillance videos — some are saying it's becoming a necessary tool for policing.

Thursday September 19, 2013

How To Spot And Outfake Bogus Twitter Followers

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Social Web

How To Spot And Outfake Bogus Twitter Followers

September 19, 2013 • You may want to think twice before bragging about all of those Twitter followers you've racked up. Apps and websites help figure out which followers are real, fake and "inactive" users.

How To Spot And Outfake Bogus Twitter Followers

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Tuesday September 17, 2013

How Blogging And Twitter Are Making Us Smarter

Students studying on their laptops in Berlin. Writer Clive Thompson says that actively engaging with computers is making students better writers. Sean Gallup/Getty Images hide caption

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