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From HelloBeautiful

Death to Facebook and their invasive notifications! Seriously! Not too long ago, I was scrolling through my news feed and realized another one of my “friends” was engaged, and the comments kept rolling in.

“Congrats!”

“Ah man, I’m so happy for the both of you.”

“When’s the wedding? I better get an invite!”

The comments continued for God knows how long. So I did the polite thing, hit the “LIKE” button and kept it moving. I logged off and checked Instagram, and I was only two or three pictures in, and what do I see? Another college buddy of mine who posted pics of their wedding.

“You look gorgeous!”

“So proud of you two! Congrats again.”

“That dress is everything!”

By this point, I was scared to check Twitter because If I saw an I’m-expecting-my-first child-Tweet, I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle it!

I’m six years removed from college and I feel like I’m just getting started in a lot of aspects of my life. I’ve finally found my dream gig, working in the entertainment-media industry after years of trying to climb through the back window. But now that I’m finally here, folks are starting families and buying homes. It makes me wonder–Am I behind in life?

Read more on HelloBeautiful.com.

(AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

A Facebook page that degraded female troops in the Marine Corps was removed yesterday after California House Representative Jackie Speire complained to the Pentagon. Speire sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and also addressed Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos.

Speire has recently put pressure on the pentagon to take more action with sexual harassment cases and wrote in her letter, “I am confident that if you reviewed the contents of this webpage that you would be horrified by the culture of misogyny and sexual harassment depicted on the web site.” She also wrote that the Marine Corps inspector general has been aware of the site and monitoring it for over three years.

A statement was released on behalf of the Marine Corps by Captain Eric Flanagan showing that the Marine Corps appears to be taking the Facebook issue seriously stating, “Marines are responsible for all content they publish on social networking sites, blogs, or other websites. There is no tolerance for discriminatory comments. It goes against good order and discipline.”

No one knows who created the page or has been managing it to date, and even as the existence of the page was being threatened, inflammatory comments were being posted about Representative Speire, calling her vulgar names and threatening her for causing the page to be shut down.

This week the military has been getting lots of attention due to a report released by the Pentagon estimating that 26,000 troops had been sexually abused in 2012, up by 35 percent since the last survey was conducted in 2010. The removal of this Facebook page seems to be one step in the right direction, but there is certainly more to do.

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Leah: Yes. I dreamt about my father dying three months before he died. I told him to go see a doctor. He unfortunately did not listen and he died on Father’s Day fourteen years ago.
Randi: I have correctly had a dream that both my cousins were pregnant and with one, I dreamt of the sex and I was right.

Ole Spata/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

It’s hard to believe, but for the first time ever Apple cracked the Fortune 500 list’s top 10. Even though it has been a rough year for Apple, they finally cracked the list by jumping from No. 17 to No. 6, reports The Los Angeles Times.

Each year, the Fortune 500 ranks the largest corporations in the U.S. based on annual revenues. This year’s list Apple placed right behind Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and ahead of General Motors. Wal-Mart is still the largest corporation in the U.S.

It is surprising Apple took so long to make the list and that it jumped so high this year, considering the turbulence  over at the tech giant. The company’s stock saw a dramatic drop of more than $700 per share in September to $461 per share currently. “The drop in stock price comes as investors worry about Apple’s grip on the smartphone and tablet market as Samsung and others begin to gain traction against the once seemingly unbeatable Cupertino, Calif., tech giant,” reports the newspaper.  Despite this, Apple is the only tech company to reach the list’s top 10. AT&T came in at No. 11, Hewlett-Packard at No. 15 and Verizon Communications at No. 16.

Another first for the list was Facebook. It finally placed on the Fortune 500 after going public last May. The social network, which also had stock trouble this year, came in at No. 482.  And co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest CEO of a company on the list at just 28 years old. He’s also one of just two CEOs under 40, the other being Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, who is 37, notes the newspaper.

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From Black Enterprise

Thousands of new businesses are launched every day around the world. Brands with drive and abundant ideas turn their understanding of a market problem into an innovative product or service. But there is a lot more to launching a new product than a great idea—and a market in need of a solution, you have to figure out how to generate buzz and get people to buy into it.  There are many social networks to choose from and with millions of brands using Facebook to launch products; BlackEnterprise.com details how you can use the network to launch your product:

If you build it, they will come

First things first: to get the most out of Facebook, brands should focus on building a target audience.

For more tips, click through to BlackEnterprise.com

While you were chilling in the house last night preparing dinner, the most interesting thing happened. According to Missjia.com, Antoine Dodson, you know, the YouTube star from the “Hide ya kids, hide ya wife” bed intruder video, went to his Facebook and announced that he would no longer be presenting himself as a gay man. Why? Because he’d had a change of heart because of his faith. He claims to now be a True Chosen Hebrew Israelite descendant of Judah. Here’s what he had to say last night:

His last real Facebook status before this very big announcement was on April 1, so who knows how long he had actually been learning about this faith and going through such a transition. But despite how he might feel about himself now–while still toting a profile picture with pressed hair that looks better than most of the women I know–it seems some of his followers were turned off by his profession. Claiming that it perpetuates the idea that if you want to, you can choose not to be gay.

“…by renouncing your homosexuality you add fuel to the argument that being gay is a choice and this will in no doubt end up hurting someone young LGBTQ. Shame on you.”

But others were supportive of his decision, including one who said “all who hatin, why hate on someone willin to change….”

With people who make a living from an identity they create on YouTube, I can’t help but wonder if this could possibly be a publicity stunt of some kind to help keep his name relevant. And if it is, that’s definitely a very irresponsible thing to say and do in front of your mainy gay and bisexual Facebook followers/supporters. However, if it’s not, then more power to him. That’s his life, not ours…but what do you think?

Let us know below!

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Facebook announced quarterly profits of $219 million for the first three months of 2013, up from $205 million for the same period last year. Revenue was also up, from $106 billion for Q1 2012 to $146 billion this past quarter. But just as important as all of those facts are the traffic trends that Facebook is seeing right now.

“Facebook has lost millions of users per month in its biggest markets, independent data suggests, as alternative social networks attract the attention of those looking for fresh online playgrounds,” opens this Guardian story. The social network lost six million users in the US, 1.4 million in the UK, and more in Canada, Spain, and France, the article continues. But where it’s losing users to other networks — like Instagram and Pinterest — it’s gaining ground in the mobile space. And it’s on that that Facebook continues to charge ahead successfully.

Ad Age reports that 30 percent of Facebook’s revenue is coming from mobile ads, an increase from last year. And “[o]f Facebook’s 1.1 billion total daily active users (DAUs), 751 million of them are mobile monthly active users (MAUs),” writes Forbes.

How are you using Facebook these days? Is it still the prominent social network in your life?

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Imagine having enough money you didn’t need to collect a salary from work. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking a $1 salary this year and foregoing any bonuses. He is not alone in this business tactic. The Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, who like Zuckerberg is a billionaire, collects just $1 annually for leading New York City.

A majority of the other people who take the single-dollar salary are in the tech world. When billionaires accept a $1 salary it is not only symbolic. Workers must collect some money for law (unless they are volunteers).

According to  Quartz, Steve Jobs was paid $1 from the time he returned to Apple as CEO in 1998, and after 2003 he didn’t take any stock grants. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as well as then-CEO Eric Schmidt, reduced their salaries to $1 in 2005. Even now, Page, currently CEO, and Brin still make $1. Schmidt, currently the executive chairman, however, collects  a multimillion  dollar salary. The list continues: Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Zynga’s Mark Pincus, and H-P’s Meg Whitman.

In other industries, Capital One’s Richard Fairbank, Urban Outfitters’s Richard Hayne, Fossil’s Kosta Kartsotis, Kinder Morgan’s Richard Kinder, and Duke Energy’s James Rogers all only took home a $1 paycheck.

The trend of collecting a $1 salary isn’t new. “When Lee Iacocca was brought in to save Chrysler from bankruptcy in 1978, he took a $1 salary as a publicity stunt,” reports Quartz.

It’s not like Zuckerberg has to worry about money. Last year when Facebook went public he exercised 60 million stock options, then worth nearly $2.3 billion, buying those shares for next to nothing, reports the story. In fact, he sold half of the stock to pay off his tax bill. Zuckerberg still has another 60 million stock options that, if he chooses, he can exercise on Nov. 7, 2015, for the same amazingly cheap price of six cents.

Last year, Zuckerberg’s received a $266,101 bonus in addition to his $500,000 base salary. And there are lots of perks to being the boss. He gets use of Facebook’s private planes. His personal trips on Air Facebook last year cost more than $1.2 million.

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From BlackVoices

Offensive posts and comments are rampant on the internet, but they don’t make for particularly good business when associated with a restaurant. A Delaware eatery is learning this after derogatory comments and inappropriate photos popped up on its social media accounts earlier this month.

The News Journal reports that someone recently posted racial slurs and photos of receipts with low tips on Facebook and Instagram accounts associated with Padi Restaurant in Hockessin. The accounts have since been removed, but Daily Mail posted screen captures of the offensive posts.

Among the photos in question is an image of a paid bill of $53.80 with a tip of $5.20, which is less than 10 percent, from a customer with an Indian surname. It was accompanied by the caption, “What do you expect from a last name like that? Sand ni****s will never change #cheap #jew.” Another reads, “Cheap a**, order takeout and eat it at the bar. #notip #monday #cheap #trash.”

Read more at BlackVoices.com

Source: Instagram

Over the past few years, we have been allowed to enter the Queen Bey’s Hive. Through Beyoncé’s social media accounts, we are able to scroll through her most priceless moments with family, stunning performances, and selfies. Like all of us, Beyoncé controls how she wants to appear to her audience. Therefore, when Beyoncé banned independent photographers from her Mrs. Carter tour, I didn’t understand why people began to ask: “Is Beyoncé not secure in the skin she’s in?”  When what we should be asking ourselves is: As consumers (and human beings), do we allow others the same non-judgmental agency when controlling their Internet personas?

From Clutch Magazine:

“Beyoncé may run the world, but the diva is going to extremes to have some serious control over her internet personification. The decision was indubitably prompted by this year’s Super Bowl fiasco, after Buzzfeed published unflattering photos that propelled Beyoncé’s publicist to issue an emailed request for removal. Instead of taking the pictures down or replacing them, the site reposted the images and the email with the headline: “The ‘Unflattering’ Photos Beyoncé’s Publicist Doesn’t Want You to See.” Visitors of Buzzfeed are familiar with the comedic and playful tone to the popular site, but Bey wasn’t laughing.”

Yes, people are interested in a Beyoncé who does not “wall” herself in, at her convenience. We want to see those stank-faces while she is dancing so we can feel the passion, blood, sweat, and tears of every practice session that make her concerts so noteworthy. But if she is not comfortable with sharing a less than flattering picture of herself, can we find it in ourselves to let her live? If a friend uploads an undesirable photo of you on a social network, you would want it to be removed. “Take away the power to un-tag and how many women would be orchestrating an online petition to permanently ban Facebook from ever seeing the light of day?” When people become celebrities, do we set and require new societal expectations? Our implications show we demand total transparency from celebrities even if it is embarrassing because we are far removed from the actual life they live.

Beyoncé’s appearance of flawlessness has helped her brand come off as all-s*xy and all-sassy all the time, consistent, and never messy. With Beyoncé we know what we are paying for – her talents and not antics. Though her brand is constantly evolving, we must also remember her rise to fame did not occur during the social media age.  “The Beyoncé we’ve come to know has constructed an entire empire based off of seeming perfection and trying to keep the focus on her music, her acting endeavors, her business ventures. She receives million dollar endorsements solely from her pristine beauty and body. I’m not sure how it feels to be labeled one of the most beautiful women in the world, but in addition to her already gargantuan self-standards, one can only imagine the pressure she’s put under. And her rule number one is to never let them catch you slipping. And we can all agree that the one thing Beyoncé demonstrates in her career is to “be a brand first, human second.”

Fans are always thirsty (even the anti-folks who go to every story about her to down her) for her to send out bow-down tweets to other artists or to hear the juicy, most intimate details of her marriage to Jay-Z. The want for Beyoncé to find the perfect medium between her private and public self for the entertainment of others is alarming. We tend to forget we all have inner-Beys. Privacy settings, makeup, and filters have allowed us to leverage between who we are and who we want to expose ourselves to. Are we really out here posting our bad photos and embarrassing ourselves through social media? Of course not–we want people to see us at our best. In reality we are controlling how our “audience” (aka, our friends, family and foes) views our authenticity just like Queen Bey. So what’s the problem?