Facebook has filed a legal petition in opposition to the teaching-based social media platform Teachbook for employing the suffix ‘-book’ in its brand name. (more…)

After your initial surge of people connecting to your social graph what do you do to strengthen it? Launch a “who to follow” feature. (more…)

Bill Gates

With little fanfare, Bill Gates joined the ranks of celebrities on Twitter this week. But if 140-character tweets aren’t enough for you, the software-mogul-turned-philanthropist Wednesday started sharing his more complete thoughts on a Web site dubbed “The Gates Notes.” (more…)

Facebook slims down

Facebook is testing out a pared-down “Lite” version in an aggressive move to attract more content-sharing. It comes a day after the company launched a real-time search and bought FriendFeed, showing that the company is incredibly focused on moving into the real-time space. The service is in beta testing and invites were sent to specific users. (The photo comes from Twitter and was spotted TechCrunch.) (more…)

Facebook Acquires FriendFeed

Facebook has acquired FriendFeed, we’ve learned. We’re gathering details now.

At this point details on the acquisition are still very sparse, but it’s clearly a good match. Over the last year or so, Facebook has “borrowed” quite a few features that FriendFeed popularized, including the ‘Like’ feature and an emphasis on real-time news updates. (more…)

Twitter’s new malware filter is a sign the social media site is stepping up efforts to stem attacks, but the measure has its shortcomings, say security experts. (more…)

They’re here–sort of. Twitter has launched the early beta phase of its “verified accounts” program, a background-check for celebrities and other prominent users of the service to weed out impersonators and fake accounts. If they pass the test, they get a graphic “badge” much like a PayPal verified account’s. (more…)

Facebook and Think Computer have settled a dispute over whether the former actually owns the term “facebook.” (more…)

Almost immediately following Twitter coming back from a planned downtime this afternoon, co-founder and current Chairman Jack Dorsey sent out a tweet letting his followers know that he was, “Getting ready to embark on something new and entirely different. Excited!” Dorsey is getting ready to launch his next startup, he’s confirmed to us. As the guy who actually invented Twitter, this is notable. (more…)

Facebook stopped a phishing attack on Thursday, its second day in a row of dealing with a worm on the site that lures people to a fake Facebook page and prompts them to log in. (more…)