I lead VentureBeat’s coverage on social media news, but also cover news and industry trends in e-commerce and mobile.

Previously, I was a senior reporter at Mashable. I also have experience in broadcast television and introduced social media reporting to the NBC San Diego newsroom.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts in English from UCLA.

You can find me pretty much anywhere on the web under the handle “jbruin.” I often tweet, instagram, facebook, and path on tech and the world at large. Sometimes I get a little NSFW on these channels, so consider yourself warned.

I also abide by VentureBeat’s Ethics Statement. I don’t hold stock in any company that I cover and I don’t accept gifts of any kind for coverage (though I do possess some startup swag collected from parties and such over the years). On occasion, companies send me samples and test products, but I disclose these details in stories whenever applicable. I do have a Bruin-bred bias against USC, a fact that causes more conflict in my personal life than it does in my reporting.

stories by Jennifer Van Grove

How Facebook makes recommendations for App Center’s 220M users

Think Facebook is showing you an arbitrary or editorially driven selection of applications in its App Center? Think again.

Meet Facebook’s newest advertiser: You

Facebook today started offering some of its U.S. members a simple way to ensure that more of their friends see their super important, can't-miss status updates.

Twitter’s new solution for measuring brand campaigns: in-tweet surveys

Twitter is testing the theory that advertisers want more than just campaign impression and click-through data to understand the value of paying to promote messages on the information network.

Place bets and back up your bravado with mobile app Youbetme

Youbetme is a product for people who want to flex their muscles, intellectual or otherwise, and challenge their friends to bets big or small.

Forget influencers: Tellagence can find people who really care about your tweets

Tellagence for Twitter is a predictive tool that helps businesses tailor their status updates to the right people for the biggest impact.

AppEnsure provides big data intelligence for proactively managing enterprise apps

Enterprises that want peace of mind when it comes to applications running in cloud or virtual environments can outsource management to startup AppEnsure.

Online shoppers, this startup thinks you should be getting your goods faster

Gaxsys today released a consumer-facing application called GaxWallet that aims to simply and expedite the e-commerce experience for brands and their customers.

Maps disaster hasn’t stopped a majority of iPhone owners from updating to iOS 6

In less than two weeks, a majority of iPhone owners have updated to the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, warts and all.

TripAdvisor sets sights on social travel planning with Wanderfly buy

Today there's one less challenger trying to unseat veteran vacation destination TripAdvisor from its digital throne.

OnCam launches professional-grade video platform for brands with huge audiences

The brand, celebrity, retailer, or media company that wants to connect with and capitalize on its millions of fans can turn to OnCam, a brand new video publishing platform that enables live broadcasts to audiences of up to 10 million people.

Gravity pulls in investors, gets $10.6M for content personalization tech

Gravity is inescapable, especially if we're talking about the content personalization startup that goes by the same name.

App.net drops prices as membership approaches 20,000

As far as user milestones go, 20,000 is usually nothing to boast about. But for the App.net, the little achievement means the company can reduce its prices.

Facebook to advertisers: clicks are meaningless and here’s the proof

According to Facebook, advertisers who judge the success of their online campaigns on click-through rates are doing it wrong.

Square buys NYC U.I. design firm behind Sony and Second Life projects

Mobile payments startup Square, just two weeks after closing more than $200 million in new funding, announced the acquisition of New York design firm 80/20.

Color CEO on sabbatical as cursed startup contemplates next pivot

Forty-one million dollars in funding should be a blessing. For troubled Silicon Valley startup Color, which launched with a bang a year-and-a-half ago, the substantial investment seems to have been more of curse.

We made the iPhone and we’re sorry: 5 classic Apple apologies

Apple may not be a company accustomed to making public apologies for lacking products or services, but it does own up to its missteps on occasion, especially when its prized creation, the iPhone, is at the center of controversy.

Microsoft buys influence for Bing with Klout investment, partnership

Microsoft is buying a little influence for its number-two search engine with a strategic investment in Klout.