Technology, Social Media | featured news

Zynga announced plans to offer a central hub to connect players of multiple games who use various devices.

Facebook has changed your email address. At least that's how many felt after a quiet but vast change in the way the company displays users' contact information. Facebook replaced the email address users chose when they signed up and changed it to a facebook.com address. The Facebook email accounts allow users to communicate with outside email addresses via Facebook.

Over the weekend, Facebook added a stalkerish feature called "Find Friends Nearby" to its mobile website; on Monday, it was gone. "Find Friends Nearby" let users of iOS and Android devices locate BFFs — and perhaps nBFFs (never BFFS) — who were within range.

Microsoft agreed to buy online social network firm Yammer for $1.2 billion in cash, which will allow the software company to offer a service like Facebook's to corporate customers.

Facebook said it has begun placing ads on Zynga's website, another move by the social network to add revenue sources on the heels of its flawed IPO.

Some of the results are predictable: yeah, we know, ladies loooove Pinterest (15.4 million more monthly female visitors!) and Reddit is inundated with sexist dudes. (74% of users are men.) But did you know that 62% of Twitter users are women? Or that a shit ton of men are still refusing to give up on Google+?

Coca-Cola's marketing chief, Joe Tripodi, said that advertising with Facebook probably helps drive sales. The comment marks a powerful endorsement at a time when some advertisers, such as GM, have expressed doubt about putting ad dollars into Facebook.

Social media's quippy queen Kelly Oxford goes from tweeting to screenwriting on the strength of her posts, snagging a book deal and reeling in Hollywood fans like Jimmy Kimmel. From a snow-crested corner of Alberta, Canada, Kelly Oxford made her Hollywood screenwriting dream come true. She did it without leaving her close-knit family or giving up her free nationalized healthcare. She did it 140 characters at a time.

After about a month of speculation, Facebook has finally announced its acquisition of Israeli facial recognition technology Face.com. We’ve heard from multiple sources that the acquisition price was around $100m, with others reporting that the price was between $80m-$100m. (Update: We’re now hearing from a source familiar with the matter that the price was between $55 and $60 million, and that it was a mix of cash and stock. The exact value of the deal will be changing depending on the price of Facebook’s stock.) This is absolutely not an acqui-hire, as Facebook will be taking full advantage of the company’s technology and the advancements it’s made on mobile — perhaps to finally include mobile tagging options for photos.