Facebook

Remember on "The Simpsons" when Helen Lovejoy would yell, "Will someone please think of the children?" Apparently the folks over at Facebook were listening. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the social networking giant is developing a way for children under 13 years old to use the service that won't open them up to being skeezed on by pervs. I'm pretty annoyed by this development, but not for the reasons you think. See, it's kind of crappy that all my current Facebook friends weren't around to witness my entire development.

It's hard to keep up with everything floating around about Twitter, Facebook and the like. We know. So here are a few social media noteables to keep tabs on this week. Twitter music app -- nope, still not out The new music community app from Twitter launched exclusively to music "influencers"--like Ryan Seacrest? OK ... -- last week on an invite-only basis, and, so far, it sounds promising. According to tech bloggers who have tried it, Twitter Music will have both a web interface and a downloadable app; integrate with YouTube and Vevo; pull in tracks from Spotify, iTunes, Rdio and...

When my mom joined modern-day society, my world changed. It happened when I saw a familiar message pop up on Facebook. "Jen's mom" wants to be friends with you. Do you accept? That lady in the picture looked an awful lot like the lady who gave birth to me, but there was no way she knew what Facebook was. She didn't even know how to turn on a computer. With an immediacy of a wild mongoose, I clicked "no" and closed my screen, hoping the friend invite was just a glitch in the universe - a momentary black hole whose vortex happened to be in the center of my little apartment.

After hearing Facebook had altered the news feed yet again, I opened my phone's app to check it out. The first message I saw was from a girl I know: "My heart is super heavy, I just lost one of my best friends, Chad Dorsey. " "No, no, no," I said aloud as I grabbed my laptop to check out Chad's Facebook page. Sure enough, the telltale sign of a man's death already was there: The "RIP" posts and testimonials about how awesome Chad was had taken over his timeline. It was true. My homie had passed away.

I have met this girl a couple times and I find her to be very cute. The last time I ran into the girl, I got tongue-tied and didn't want to make myself look dumb. Now I was thinking that I could go and search for her on Facebook and see if I can do introduce myself that way. What do you think? Or should I go about it in another way? - Lost and confused It's not the most direct route, but Facebook is a perfectly acceptable gateway to your crush's heart. I know because I've done it m'self a few times.

I recently found out my husband found ex-girlfriends on Facebook two years ago and they are friends. He said he kept them secret because he knew I would be upset. Well, I am upset by his disregard for my feelings. Now when they pop up on his news feed, it's a reminder to me that his curiosity or whatever was more important to him than my feelings and our marriage. I want them gone in every way possible. He says they are his past. I say they are in our present, in our marriage. He brought them in, and now I think he needs to take them out. What do...

RedEye joined Facebook in 2007 and has steadily grown its following since then--thanks to you! Last week, we hit the 15,000 "likes" mark, and we'd like to say thank you for following us throughout the years.  Meet us at the newly relaunched Rockit Burger Bar in Wrigleyville Thursday night (April 12) for a quickie, after-work get-together to celebrate our Facebook milestone. Here's the kicker: Show up, tell them RedEye sent you and get a special treat, courtesy the Rockit and RedEye crews.  Here the...

Who got fat? Who came out? Who got divorced or married (or divorced and married)? Those sorts of questions make high school and college reunions irresistible. But in an era of digital photo albums and Facebook status updates, has the idea of in-person reunions become as appealing as the prospect of watered-down drinks served in a dimly lit gymnasium? Not according to Cyndi Clamp, president of the National Association of Reunion Managers, who says there is no clear correlation between Facebook participation and reunion attendance.

Life is hard, man. Besides the daily struggles with paying those student loan s, waking up on time for work and always missing that Red Line train by just a few seconds, we counterintuitively struggle with Internet and social media dependency while constantly side-eyeing each other over passive aggressive Facebook statuses and mixed message tweets. Is anything real these days?! Sigh. OK, it's not that bad. But it's definitely annoying. Social media allows us to let our freak flags fly 24/7, but it also gives us free reign to fake happiness for others, hide...

It's hard to keep up with everything floating around about Twitter, Facebook and the like. We know. So here are a few social media noteables to keep tabs on this week. Twitter music app -- nope, still not out The new music community app from Twitter launched exclusively to music "influencers"--like Ryan Seacrest? OK ... -- last week on an invite-only basis, and, so far, it sounds promising. According to tech bloggers who have tried it, Twitter Music will have both a web interface and a downloadable app; integrate with YouTube and...

Cubs fans and irrationally overreacting to the team's moves go together like an overpriced Old Style and the Wrigley Field bleachers. Enter @facebookcubs, a Twitter feed devoted to taking a magnifying glass to the funniest overreactions to the team's moves on Facebook. "As a Cubs fan, there's a gold mine of opportunity to feed off the comments on their page," said Mike Shoro, an Elk Grove Village native and the brains behind the feed. The 18-year-old, who is studying broadcast journalism at the University of Nebraska, created the account last week after seeing a similar Twitter feed...

I recently found out my husband found ex-girlfriends on Facebook two years ago and they are friends. He said he kept them secret because he knew I would be upset. Well, I am upset by his disregard for my feelings. Now when they pop up on his news feed, it's a reminder to me that his curiosity or whatever was more important to him than my feelings and our marriage. I want them gone in every way possible. He says they are his past. I say they are in our present, in our marriage. He brought them in, and now I think he needs to take them out. What do you think?

The requisite year-end reminiscing has begun, and thanks to Google and Facebook, we can relive all the things from this year that we didn't really actually live but watched on the Internet. Google released its list of things people had time to search for between watching cat videos and deciding if "The Walking Dead" is for them, and Whitney Houston topped the worldwide results, followed by "Gangnam Style" and Hurricane Sandy. Topping other lists were Jeremy Lin, athletes; "Hunger Games," films; iPad 3, electronics; and One Direction...

Guess what? That thing your friends, weird coworkers and confused relatives have been sharing on Facebook is pretty much a useless chain letter. Surprised? You shouldn't be. That thing I'm referring to, specifically, is the “copyright notice” being copy-pasted into Facebook statuses for the past few days that claims to claim copyright of the poster's content on Facebook, despite the new Proposed Statement of Rights and Responsibilities Facebook posted last week , along with the decision from...

Just when you thought Facebook had been taken over by the coupled up, hitched and with child folks of the world, Facebook ups the ante by updating a largely unused feature for those in relationships. Though “friendship pages” have been available for some time--a timeline of events, photos and interests you share with a Facebook friend, be it a platonic friend or someone you're in a relationship with--Facebook launched an updated look for these pages, as well as a handy URL for those in romantic relationships to view an even more...

For your friend's birthday, you don't want to buy a lame gift card but you want to do more than just write a message on his Facebook wall. Local startup Boomerang launched Tuesday in Chicago as a social gifting platform tapping into the $100 billion gift card industry to help people give more personalized gift cards that can be delivered quickly and redeemed conveniently at local businesses. Lightbank, the investment fund behind Groupon, invested about $1 million into Boomerang, said founder Zach Smith, 25, of River North.

If you ride the train Sunday, you'll need a CTA pass but you won't need pants. The annual No Pants Subway Ride kicks off at noon Sunday at 1210 W. Arthur St. The ride, which is scheduled to last three hours, is the same day as New York's annual No Pants Subway Ride, which began 10 years ago as a prank by an improv group. Chicago's event has been held for more than five years. More than 285 people signed up on Facebook to participate, as of Tuesday afternoon. More than 200 CTA riders took the Red Line last year sans pants, according to news reports.

Finally, Sh*t Chicagoans Say is in the works. After weeks of watching videos about what sh*t other people say, a Chicago filmmaker announced Jan. 23 on Reddit that he is making his own, and asked for feedback. Naturally, we posted on Facebook, and you (readers) commented. Here's what you had to say about what should be included in the Sh*t Chicagoans Say video: "where is my coat at" or "if you go, can I come with?" --Maddi Srajer "I shop at Jewels" --Cheryl Wisniewski "Dare's a foot a snow on da ground?

Life is hard, man. Besides the daily struggles with paying those student loan s, waking up on time for work and always missing that Red Line train by just a few seconds, we counterintuitively struggle with Internet and social media dependency while constantly side-eyeing each other over passive aggressive Facebook statuses and mixed message tweets. Is anything real these days?! Sigh. OK, it's not that bad. But it's definitely annoying. Social media allows us to let our freak flags fly 24/7, but it also gives us free reign to fake happiness for others, hide behind emoticons and straight up...

As the national unemployment rate tops 8 percent, I sit here pantsless with no deadlines, eating ramen, playing "Words with Friends," watching YouTube videos and blogging. I imagine this is what heaven is like. Don't hate. My job as a copywriter was "eliminated" last month due to a "bad economy. " So I got canned. Dismissed. Booted. Discharged. God bless America. After moping around the house for days, I began to realize that being laid off can be awesomely beneficial.