Skout says it’s safe for teenagers to use it again

On June 12, multiple allegations of rape and sexual assault of minors caused Skout to shut down its teen forum. Now the community is back online, with new controls that the founders say will help protect the children using the …

Beautiful Google+ app now available for iPad

Google’s gorgeous new iPad app for its Google+ social network is now live in the App Store, the company announced today on its blog.

The company introduced the app for iPad at its recent I/O conference. And it’s a wonderful-looking …

Twitter set to unveil revamped search and discovery features

Popular social network Twitter will unveil significant changes to search and discovery as soon as today, according to a tweet by engineering manager Pankaj Gupta.

“Search & discovery in @twitter set to change forever after tmrw,” Gupta wrote on Twitter …

U.K. regulator investigating Facebook’s $1B Instagram buy

The U.K.’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will investigate Facebook’s $1 billion purchase of Instagram over fears that it will hurt competition among social photo-sharing apps and other social networks, according to The Guardian.

Facebook agreed to acquire Instagram back …

CTO Bret Taylor unfriends Facebook (update)

Facebook CTO Bret Taylor will leave the social networking giant by the end of the summer.

Samsung: Of course we’re not building our own Facebook

South Korean technology giant Samsung on Thursday called rumors it was building a Facebook-like social networking service “groundless.”

Rumors started flying Wednesday about the prospect of Samsung creating its own social network after the Korea Times published a report with …

Twitter enriches tweets with even more media goodness

Twitter has added a slew of partners to make tweeted content more engaging with photos, videos, and news, the company announced Wednesday in a blog post.

“You’ve probably expanded Tweets before to play videos from YouTube or see photos from …

With iOS 6, Apple and Facebook unite for non-stop social networking

At the dawn of a rekindled relationship status, Apple has deeply integrated Facebook into its latest operating system, iOS 6, to be released to consumers later this year.

“We have been working very closely with Facebook to create the best …

Will TV commercials really help Twitter go mainstream?

Global social network Twitter ran its first-ever TV commercial this weekend during a NASCAR race, but if history is any indication, commercials won’t necessarily help the service go mainstream.

Twitter’s 15-second commercial aired during the 2012 Pocono 400 NASCAR race. …

Following Vitrue buy, Oracle to acquire social monitoring biz Collective Intellect

Oracle has agreed to buy social media monitoring startup Collective Intellect, further showing that it wants to own the social management space after recently agreeing to buy Vitrue for $300 million.

In light of Salesforce’s recent purchase of Buddy Media …

Google agrees to acquire Meebo to expand its Google+ team

As expected, Google has agreed to buy social-messaging and advertising company Meebo, a move that will help the search giant fill out its growing Google+ team.

“For more than seven years we’ve been helping publishers find deeper relationships with their …

Facebook launches stand-alone camera app for iPhone

Facebook has launched a stand-alone camera application for the iPhone to help people share photos faster and easier on the massive social network, the company announced today.

Although Facebook paid $1 billion to acquire photo-sharing service Instagram, the Facebook Camera …

Google+ for Android adds beautiful layout, easier-to-start hangouts

Google has updated its Google+ app for Android with beautiful new flourishes and the ability to start a video chat Hangout on the go, the company announced today.

The app update makes a lot of sense in light of Google+’s …

Microsoft silently launches So.cl, its attempt at a social networking site

Microsoft has officially launched an “experimental” social networking site called So.cl, which combines facets of social networking, search, and media sharing with a user interface resembling Google+.

When we last heard about it, So.cl (pronounced “Social”) was being billed as …

Path CEO Dave Morin to join Eventbrite’s board of directors

Dave Morin, CEO of social-network Path, has joined ticketing startup Eventbrite‘s board of the directors, a move Eventbrite claims will help it continue innovating on the social front.

While Path had a major privacy blowup early this year, the company …

Facebook testing whether you’ll pay to ensure friends see your status updates

Facebook is testing a feature in which users can choose to pay money to highlight their status updates for their friends.

The feature is fairly simple: add a status update just like you would ordinarily, then pay to have it …

Google+ hooks into Gmail for social networking via email

Another day, another improvement for Google+, the circle social network from Google — except today’s Google+ update might actually have you spending less time on the social site.

Starting Tuesday, Google+ is getting more fully integrated with Gmail, meaning that …