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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.
All Tech Considered

All Tech Considered

Tech, Culture and Connection

Social Web

Friday

'Techie Computer Programmer Guy' And The Website Reddit Deliver The News

Morgan Jones, an 18-year-old from Denver, gave minute-by-minute updates Friday on the movie theater shootings in nearby Aurora, Colo. Courtesy of Morgan Jones hide caption

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Courtesy of Morgan Jones

Social Web

'Techie Computer Programmer Guy' And The Website Reddit Deliver The News

Shortly after the Colorado shootings, a Denver 18-year-old named Morgan Jones started a thread on the social media site Reddit. It built through the night into a minute-by-minute chronicle of tragedy.

Thursday

As Wikipedia Gets Pickier, Editors Become Harder To Find

The German-language Wikipedia is the second-largest edition of the online encyclopedia after English. Wikipedia is currently available in more than 285 languages. Michael Gottschalk/AP/DAPD hide caption

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Michael Gottschalk/AP/DAPD

Social Web

As Wikipedia Gets Pickier, Editors Become Harder To Find

Content in the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia can be generated and edited by anyone. But the power to delete or lock those entries lies in the hands of the site's "administrators." A rigorous screening process for new administrators has partly led to a drop in site participation. Now, Wikipedia is struggling to find new editors.

As Wikipedia Gets Pickier, Editors Become Harder To Find

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Thursday

New Online Users Have A Longer Timeline

More older adults are using the Internet, thanks in part to introductory classes offered offline. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

Social Web

New Online Users Have A Longer Timeline

WNYC

For the first time, more than half of adults 65 and older are using the Internet. Pew Center data shows that trend really picked up in the past year, particularly with help from offline outreach to senior citizens. Besides, few grandparents can resist a wall full of family pictures.

New Online Users Have A Longer Timeline

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Monday

Friday

9 Powerful Moments In The Day Of A Viral Web Editor At BuzzFeed
Audie Cornish/NPR

Social Web

9 Powerful Moments In The Day Of A Viral Web Editor At BuzzFeed

Every day, all day BuzzFeed scours the Web for click-happy material like photos of corgis and Ryan Gosling. We spend a day with Matt Stopera, one of the minds behind the popular social news site, and see what goes into making content viral.

9 Powerful Moments In The Day Of A Viral Web Editor At BuzzFeed

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Thursday

ICANN's Call For New Domain Names Brings Criticism, And $357 Million

ICANN President and CEO Rod Beckstrom unveiled nearly 2,000 proposed new "top-level" domain names during a press conference in London Wednesday. Tim Hales/AP hide caption

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Tim Hales/AP

Policy

ICANN's Call For New Domain Names Brings Criticism, And $357 Million

The corporation that regulates the Internet plans to increase the number of "top level" domains from the current 22 to 1,000 domains starting in early 2013. The proposed domains offer a cross-section of the Internet — what we use it for, and where the money is.

Monday

Thursday

Social Web

Friend Your Students? New York City Schools Say No

WNYC

This spring, the city's Department of Education issued its first guidelines about how teachers should navigate social media. The rules make it explicit: Teachers cannot friend or follow their students on Facebook or Twitter, but they can have professional accounts and pages for students to follow.

Friend Your Students? New York City Schools Say No

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Tuesday

Stolen Phone Beams Photos To Owner, Who Puts Them On Facebook

A month after Katy McCaffrey's iPhone was stolen, photographs began streaming from the phone to her "cloud" account. She used them to create a photo album on Facebook; she called it "Stolen iPhone Adventures." Facebook hide caption

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Facebook

Social Web

Stolen Phone Beams Photos To Owner, Who Puts Them On Facebook

When Katy McCaffrey's stolen iPhone began beaming her photos from a cruise ship, she posted a batch of photos from the purloined iPhone on her Facebook page, in an album called "Stolen iPhone Adventures."

Monday

We Ask The Pros: Should You Friend Your Boss On Facebook?
iStockphoto.com

Social Web

We Ask The Pros: Should You Friend Your Boss On Facebook?

Rejecting a friend request from your boss could be seen as a vote of no confidence, but do you really want his Burning Man photos showing up in your news feed? Comedian Baratunde Thurston and media technologist Deanna Zandt discuss proper workplace friending etiquette.

We Ask The Pros: Should You Friend Your Boss On Facebook?

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Military Addresses Double-Edged Sword Of Troops On Social Media

At Forward Operating Base Payne in Afghanistan's Helmand province, Marine Cpl. Jonathan Odriscoll looks at pictures of his sister on Facebook. Troop access to social media has been both a blessing and curse for the military. Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images

Social Web

Military Addresses Double-Edged Sword Of Troops On Social Media

Thanks to Facebook and other sites, American troops in Afghanistan are more connected than ever with what's going on back home. But that connectivity has also led to incendiary videos and photos getting posted online. Now, military leadership is taking steps to further educate troops on what is and isn't appropriate for public viewing.

Military Addresses Double-Edged Sword Of Troops On Social Media

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Wednesday

'What Facebook Is Selling Is Us'

A worker sits in the Facebook office in Menlo Park, Calif. The amount of information Facebook learns about its users seems to have entranced Wall Street. Jeff Chiu/AP hide caption

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Jeff Chiu/AP

Social Web

'What Facebook Is Selling Is Us'

Facebook's initial public offering — $16 billion and counting — is shaping up to be one of the largest in history. The company and its investors are betting that the social media giant can learn enough from its users so it can target ads that will be worth big, big money.

Monday

Facebook's Success Hinges On How Much More It Can Learn About Us

Investors will be betting that Facebook won't make its users so uncomfortable over privacy that they quit. Photo Illustration: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Photo Illustration: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

Privacy & Security

Facebook's Success Hinges On How Much More It Can Learn About Us

As Facebook prepares to sell stock to the public, perhaps valuing the company at nearly $100 billion, investors will be betting that the firm won't make its users so uncomfortable over privacy that they quit. Meanwhile, Yahoo, another company that also once had a bright future, continues to undergo upheaval as it struggles to define its mission.

Facebook's Success Hinges On How Much More It Can Learn About Us

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Algorithms: The Ever-Growing, All-Knowing Way Of The Future

Quid's algorithm mapping software shows where discussion of higher taxes is taking place. Yellow dots represent articles that focus on taxation, while the teal dots show articles that don't. Courtesy of Quid hide caption

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Courtesy of Quid

Social Web

Algorithms: The Ever-Growing, All-Knowing Way Of The Future

Companies are using algorithms to guess your favorite film, track the development of the Occupy movement and predict insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other things. But with great power also comes great responsibility.

Algorithms: The Ever-Growing, All-Knowing Way Of The Future

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Wednesday

A Job At What Cost? When Employers Log In To Dig In

Employers have been asking for prospective employees' Facebook username and passwords to do some extra research on whom they may be hiring. Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Privacy & Security

A Job At What Cost? When Employers Log In To Dig In

Robert Collins says he felt "violated" when the Maryland Department of Corrections asked to log in to his Facebook account during a job interview. He's now pushing back, working with lawmakers to bar employers from asking such a privacy-invading question.