NEW YORK — Cracking down on hate, abuse, and online trolls is also hurting Twitter's standing with investors. The company's stock plunged Friday morning after it reported a decline in its monthly users and warned that the number could fall further in the coming months. The more than 17 percent...
Zuckerberg Loses $16 Billion in a Day. Facebook Stock Plunges.
NEW YORK — Facebook faced a day of reckoning as its shares plunged Thursday in the company's worst trading day since going public in 2012. It was among the biggest one-day losses of market value in U.S. stock market history. The 19 percent drop in Facebook shares vaporized $119 billion...
Facebook Faces UK Fine Over Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal
LONDON — Facebook is facing its first financial penalty for allowing the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to forage through the personal data of millions of unknowing Facebook users. The social media giant faces a 500,000-pound ($663,000) fine for failing to protect the personal information of its subscribers following an investigation...
Google Slants Elections. When Will It Defend Democracy?
As the 2018 midterm elections approach in the U.S., Google’s power to influence undecided voters remains overshadowed by Facebook’s personal data crisis. Facebook has “taken it on the chin” for its role in the 2016 presidential election, and organizations like the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and the Russian troll...
Will Silicon Valley's New Company Towns Boom or Bust?
Willow Village is a community planned for a 59-acre site in California’s Silicon Valley, between Menlo Park and East Palo Alto. It will have housing, offices, a grocery store, a pharmacy, and its developers say, maybe even its own cultural center. There’s one notable thing about Willow Village that makes...
FUSD Trustees Go Slow on Go Schools Advice
Go Public Schools Fresno has authored a report detailing new ways to think about education. On Wednesday (May 23), Fresno Unified trustees offered a Solomonesque solution in a tug-o-war between the group and the district's teachers union. The board voted 6-1 to receive the report, but hold off on implementing...
Big Tech Isn’t a Monopoly. Here’s Why.
Public concern about Facebook’s power in society – and in politics – has skyrocketed in the wake of revelations that users’ data was analyzed by a U.K.-based marketing firm and used to construct highly targeted political propaganda in advance of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Other technology giants have also...
With 300 Likes, Cambridge Analytica Can Figure You Out to a T
The dealings that have been revealed between Cambridge Analytica and Facebook have all the trappings of a Hollywood thriller: a Bond villain-style CEO, a reclusive billionaire, a naïve and conflicted whistle-blower, a hipster data scientist turned politico, an academic with seemingly questionable ethics, and of course a triumphant president and...
Why is Your Teen Depressed? It Could Be a Smartphone
Around 2012, something started going wrong in the lives of teens. In just the five years between 2010 and 2015, the number of U.S. teens who felt useless and joyless – classic symptoms of depression – surged 33 percent in large national surveys. Teen suicide attempts increased 23 percent. Even...
Why is Your Teen Depressed? It Could Be a Smartphone
Around 2012, something started going wrong in the lives of teens. In just the five years between 2010 and 2015, the number of U.S. teens who felt useless and joyless – classic symptoms of depression – surged 33 percent in large national surveys. Teen suicide attempts increased 23 percent. Even...