social networking

Facebook heavyweight Ben Blumenfeld is stepping down from the social network, according to a blog post he wrote today. Blumenfeld was the company's design manager and had been at Facebook since 2007. He is leaving to co-direct the Designer Fund.

This news comes as three high-level managers and directors left the company last week, including the director of platform partnerships Ethan Beard, platform marketing director Katie Mitic, and mobile platform marketing manager Jonathan Matus.

Blumenfeld was tasked with making Facebook's platform more accessible. "We were building great products, but not doing a great job of guiding people … Read more

One of the Internet's most popular social networks pushed its doors wide open today -- Pinterest has started open registration.

This means users can sign up for an account without having to wait for an invite, the company said in a blog post. Before today, people had to request an invite from Pinterest or be invited by a friend who already had a Pinterest account. Invites allowed the site to control the volume of new users so that its servers were not overwhelmed, according to Pinterest.

Now, the site can handle any new traffic that comes its way.

"… Read more

LinkedIn is updating its developer platform with several new changes revolving around discussing and sharing professional content.

Over the last year, LinkedIn asserts it has been working closely with more than 75,000 developers to build innovative developer tools that leverage the LinkedIn platform across the web. Some of the developer partners getting involved and might have a heavier presence on LinkedIn soon include WordPress, Evernote, and Flipboard, among others.

The primary way more sharing is going to be done is with LinkedIn's upgraded share API, which is essentially designed to be a win-win for developers and users … Read more

The world's largest online professional network LinkedIn may claim to have over 160 million members globally, but it has yet to convince the majority of chief executives to get on its bandwagon -- with 93 percent of them absent from the platform.

Recruitment firm CTPartners Executive Search released a study today stating that 93 percent of CEOs from the world's largest companies choose not to post their profiles on LinkedIn. In Asia, only 3 percent are on the network, it noted.

Of those with a LinkedIn profile, all are male and are not predominantly from the technology sector. … Read more

Twitter's decision to suspend The Independent reporter Guy Adams' account might have actually benefited the site.

After the suspension and subsequent outrage among Twitter users was aired in mainstream news outlets and became an international discussion surrounding the Olympics, Twitter's signup rate actually increased, TechCrunch is reporting, citing a source. According to that source, Twitter believed that there was a silver lining to the controversy and that was "a good thing."

The trouble started last month when the Olympics kicked off in London. Adams criticized NBC for not airing the opening ceremony live. However, he also … Read more

Professional network LinkedIn is making some investors on Wall Street awfully happy.

In premarket trading this morning, LinkedIn shares were up over 10 percent to $102.90. In early morning trading, the company's stock has risen to $106.83, helping it to boost its market capitalization to over $11 billion. Since the beginning of the year, LinkedIn's shares are up 70 percent.

LinkedIn's strong showing today has resulted from its impressive performance during the second quarter. The professioinal network yesterday reported that it earned a $2.8 million profit during the second quarter on $228.2 million … Read more

It was a three-in-one blow today for Facebook execs announcing their departure from the company.

All Things Digital reports that Director of Platform Partnerships Ethan Beard first said he was planning to leave the company; then, Platform Marketing Director Katie Mitic said she had plans to leave too. And finally, Facebook's Mobile Platform Marketing Manager Jonathan Matus also announced his departure.

All three employees made the announcements on their Facebook timelines and said that they've had good experiences working at the social network. Beard wrote, "I've had the pleasure of helping build an ecosystem of incredible … Read more

This story has no light.

40-year-old, 310-pound Lowell Turpin allegedly doesn't know how to treat women, nor what Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney looks like.

The New York Daily News reports that the man from Clinton, Tenn., allegedly saw a picture of a rival on his girlfriend's Facebook page and was consumed by jealous anger.

The Anderson County Sheriff's Department's incident report states that the man in the picture was Mitt Romney.

Turpin's alleged ignorance led him to allegedly grab his girlfriend's laptop, smash it against a wall and then physically assault her with … Read more

Most of us would probably do less Web surfing if everyone in the world could see all the items on sex, drugs and nasty diseases that we spend time reading.

Question-and-answer site Quora is adding a new Views feature -- one that's enabled by default -- today that reveals the identity of people who view posts, excepting adult topics and items you're not "following" on the site in some way. So if you follow a person or a subject to an item on "How to get rid of those pesky hemorrhoids," anyone who visits … Read more