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Is Your Boss on Twitter?
6/25/2009 12:00:00 AM
A public relations executive recently evaluated the number of Fortune 100 CEOs who had presences on social network sites including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and online information site Wikipedia. Almost none of the chief executives were involved with the Internet destinations, which should not have been a surprise to anyone with sense. The question raised by the PR person is why executives do such a poor job managing their images online. A better question is why a CEO would want to be involved with the websites at all.
Wired For a Revolution
Mark Hosenball 6/20/2009 12:00:00 AM
Iran's mullahs are finding out the hard way that medieval methods of control are no match for 21st--century technology. According to several current and former U.S. and European security officials, Iran is too thoroughly wired for its government's efforts at disabling Facebook, Twitter and text messaging to hold back the tide of dissent. "[The Iranians are] not good at doing it," says a former senior U.S. intelligence official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive subjects, adding that while authorities have tried various stratagems to control cyberspace and cell-phone traffic, "they can't black out the opposition."
TECHNOLOGY
Walking the Cyberbeat
Nick Summers 5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
It's just before lunchtime in the sunny, high-tech headquarters of Facebook in Palo Alto, Calif., and Simon Axten is cuing up some porn. A photo of a young couple sloppily making out pops onscreen. It's gross, but not against the rules, so Axten punches a key to judge the image appropriate. Next up: a young woman in panties only, covering her breasts with her hands. "That's pretty close," Axten says, pondering the image. There's nothing arbitrary about his judgments: at Facebook, they have developed semiformal policies like the Fully Exposed Butt Rule, the Crack Rule and the Nipple Rule. In this photo there's no visible areola, he decides, so it stays. The next photo is a male clad only in a black thong and angel wings. Utterly nonplussed, Axten OKs the picture. After delivering a verdict on 75 of the 438,848 outstanding photos flagged by Facebook users—buff guy soaping up in the shower (OK); girl blowing an epic cloud of pot smoke (he deletes it); an underage user drinking from two liquor bottles at once (ditto)—Axten is off to a meeting. It's just another day at the office of the world's fastest-growing social-networking site.
Politics
The Offline Party
Kurt Soller 4/17/2009 12:00:00 AM
A police officer leaned against an unused barricade near city hall in Manhattan Wednesday night. The crowd the barriers were meant to contain was still a short walk away, gathered in front of the city's 97-year-old seat of government to vent their collective conservative anger at one of 750 Tax Day "tea party" rallies.
WORLD AFFAIRS
Fading To Black
Owen Matthews 4/10/2009 12:00:00 AM
Seen from the Kremlin, the scenes of protesters overrunning Moldova's parliament and ransacking its president's office looked chillingly familiar. More than five years ago, young pro-Western protesters toppled Moscow-friendly regimes in Georgia and Ukraine. Those "color" revolutions marked the nadir of Russia's power in the region and became the cornerstone of Kremlin policy ever after. At home, Moscow stamped out foreign-funded NGOs, abolished local elections and concocted youth groups to counter the possibility of anything similar happening inside Russia. Abroad, the Kremlin's priority has been asserting its right to a sphere of influence and fighting back the tide of Western influence. The outcome of Moldova's latest unrest, then, is about much more than a disputed election: it's a key test of both Russia's soft and hard power in the region.
TECHNOLOGY
Six Social-Networking Lies
Raina Kelley 3/14/2009 12:00:00 AM
Admit it: You're lying to yourself about why you use Facebook, or any of its myriad kin. Debunking the top social-networking delusions: