Facebook has already changed the way we communicate, creating virtual extensions of our real lives. Social networks are a microcosm of users' social worlds and a continuation of offline behaviors. But that's just for the regular folk - what about artists? How do artists use Facebook to augment their existing work, discuss ideas related to the work and think about the idea of online community?
To find out, I asked three artists who are rather active on Facebook: BRAVO art-reality TV star Young-Sun Han, San Francisco-based artist and GAP Storyteller Jason Hanasik and international artist Martha Rosler.
Looking for a quick pick-me-up in those late afternoon hours, I've found myself heading over to my Spotify account to check out what Facebook friends are listening to. While this has been a neat way to notice shared music tastes, there's still something awkward about it. Unless I've already had some sort of communication about music with a friend on Spotify, or at least some recent contact on Facebook or otherwise, I feel weird scrolling through their playlists.
Facebook must have foreseen this problem because today it announced yet another way to listen to music through your account. The catch here is that you're actually listening with your friends rather than voyeuristically peering into their playlists and, unbeknownst to them, clicking on their songs.
Whether you love it or hate it, Facebook's so-called frictionless sharing concept isn't going away anytime soon. From songs played on Spotify to articles read on the Washington Post, everything your friends consume via participating sites is broadcast to the news ticker in real time.
Today, the social TV and streaming media center service Boxee became the latest to join in on the trend when it announced a new partnership with Facebook. Users who opt in can automatically update Facebook about TV shows and other videos they watch through Boxee's interface.
Today Facebook announced the comments box plugin for mobile, which will automatically appear on the mobile version of the sites that have already integrated the Facebook comments box plugin. Gannet newspaper sites including the Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT) and the Detroit Free Press are already using the Facebook comments box plugin.
On Monday, Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin staged the first production of a play live on Facebook. The play was a stage adaptation of the novel "Effi Briest" by Theodor Fontaine.
According to Reuters, the online production, Effi Briest 2.0, "used status updates, photo uploads and wall postings from characters to relate protagonist Effi Briest's descent into disrepute." The Facebook experiment was a way to do a spectacularly different pre-dress dress rehearsal prior to the play's in-the-flesh opening this Saturday.
If you think you're different on Facebook than you are in real life, you've got some explaining to do.
A 2011 study from the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Psychology called "Manifestations of Personality in Online Social Networks: Self-Reported Facebook-Related Behaviors and Observable Profile Information" published in the academic journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking found that Facebook users are no different online than they are offline. The study also revealed strong connections between real personality and Facebook-related behavior. Social and personality processes, the study says, accurately mirror non-virtual environments.
When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone five years ago, it was a happy day for the Apple faithful. Less so for the folks at Palm, whose employer became a ticking time bomb. In one move, Apple leapfrogged its rivals in hardware and software and changed the mobile industry forever. And Palm -- a touch computing pioneer that lost its way -- was toast.
That's just one example of how quickly a company's fates can change in today's fast-moving tech industry. Every company -- even those as seemingly strong today as Apple and Google -- have clear risks and weaknesses. The iPad could drive Microsoft's decline. The government could smother Google's growth efforts. And a mobile player that doesn't even exist could be the one that takes down Facebook.
Yesterday Facebook began rolling out sponsored stories in the main news feed. At the end of 2011, when this announcement first broke, a Facebook spokesperson told us that these ads would be clearly marked "sponsored" so as not to confuse them with other stories. But it looks like - surprise! - Facebook changed its mind somewhere between the announcement and the rollout, and decided to call the ads "featured" instead of "sponsored." This is confusing for the user but rather advantageous to the advertiser.
As a writer, I write the stories that I would like to read. In my former job as an art critic, I wrote about the shows that I would have made if I had some visual talents. On Facebook and Twitter, I post stories that I would like to read - and hopefully others with similar interest will enjoy. In the online world of iEverything and me-centric filter bubbles, the virtual world can start to feel like a personal museum of mirrors. And thanks to Intel's The Museum of Me, it actually is.
But back to you for a minute.
Your Museum of Me is a white structure located in an unidentified utopia space far beyond city limits. There's a green open field, a shallow pond and clean white pavement surrounding your incubator-like museum. To enter, just click.
The Hill reports that Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), co-chairmen of the Congressional Privacy Caucus, have accused Facebook of evading questions related to whether it tracks users' online activities to deliver more targeted ads.
The congressmen were not satisfied with Facebook's response to questions raised by a February 2011 patent filing. It suggested that the social network tracked users when they were logged off and browsing other non-Facebook sites.