The Feed: Social Media Small Ball

Social Media Small Ball: The pendulum always swings. I can remember four years ago pundits predicted the social media hegemony of MySpace would be split be specialized social networks around interests. (Remember Gather, the social net for the NPR set?) Never happened. Now there’s another set of niche competitors that target specific problems. CBS does a general report on these, including Squabbler.com for petty quarrels and Foodily for finding recipes that don’t have foods you’re allergic to. The difference this time around the niche social services tie into the big networks, ie Facebook. CBS News

The Day in Twitter: Lots of important things going on in the world. The budget debate continues. The Libyan war rages. The national mood has hit a new low. But on Twitter, the hottest topic is apparently topless shots of two Jonas brothers. Alas. Celebuzz

Thank You, Onion: Everyone is overloaded with too much information. Even if you want to keep up on important, worldly matters, it’s daunting. The Onion sent up the Economist with a brilliant article announcing the Economist would cease publishing for a month to “let readers catch up.” The Onion

Privacy Paradox: The word that Apple knows where you are at all times thanks to the iPhone isn’t exactly shocking. I bet most people would figure that. But it’s sure to ignite a privacy firestorm now that top news outlets are trumpeting it. The funny part of all the privacy outrages to pop up over digital technology is the greatest threat to consumer privacy in the current era remains consumers themselves making dumb decisions with technology. The amount shared online is clearly unhealthy in many cases. That’s not some secret invasion of privacy happening behind peoples’ backs. It’s their choice. CNN

A Year of Liking: It might seem like forever, but we’ve been liking things on the Internet for just a year. Well, we’ve been declaring our likes via Facebook for a year. The uber social network is celebrating the 1st anniversary of the like’s debut with a bevvy of stats that basically add up to: Facebook is swallowing the Internet. But there’s more! Inside Facebook gets the inside scoop that Facebook will expand its option of three like button designs. It’s good to know creativity won’t die with Facebook in charge. Inside Facebook