socialmedia

Facebook's new Timeline program allows users to review everything they've ever shared on Facebook and showcase what they think is most worth remembering. It's fully customizable -- but there are some downsides.

Here's yet another reason to watch what you say and do online: Insurance companies are already surfing social media sites to get the scoop about their customers, and what their data-miners find may soon be compiled into a new way to rate you as a risk: a social networking score.

Are you hungry for a piece of the Facebook IPO? If so, then pull up a chair. There's plenty of room at the table ... because the other guests are fleeing. After months when all we've heard is that this (eventual) stock sale will be the hottest thing since Google, the hype trend has reversed.

It's a classic tale, retold a million times: The brash young gunslinger rises to the top of his craft, only to find himself facing a new generation itching to unseat him. But for Zagat surveys, the most famous name in restaurant reviews, the revolution is far from over.

There's a new threat on the horizon for Internet radio leader Pandora: Facebook has plans to partner with music streaming service Spotify. The good news for Pandora is that Spotify isn't online in the U.S. yet. They won't compete head to head for years. But when they do, what might it do to Pandora's stock value?

Back in July 2005, the deal seemed so promising. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp bought MySpace parent Intermix Media for $580 million. The social media pioneer was, by some measures, the fifth most-visited website in the U.S. This week, MySpace was sold for a fraction of that amount.

To get me and the masses of Americans to check in more often, I think Gowalla, like Foursquare, will have to find a better way to show me the do-re-mi.

Is iTunes Ping, the latest in music-based social media, nothing more than an excuse by Apple to get students to spend more? In September, Apple announced iTunes Ping -- a new social media network for people who like music. It's an experiment similar to Lala.com, the music store website that was...

With teens flocking to social media sites to express themselves and connect with friends out of school, some are learning all too well the dangers of letting it all hang out. Rochester High School in Springfield, IL, suspended some students from athletics and other extracurricular activities after...

Just last week, I wrote about how Sears Holdings has become more Internet savvy, using social media for promotions and Twitter in particular to recruit new hires. But it seems as though Sears is still at the beginning of its learning curve when it comes to marketing online, with its Kmart stores...