Will Oremus

he pithiness that makes “you are the product” so quotable risks obscuring the complex pact between Facebook and its users, in ways that make social media’s problems seem inevitable and insoluble. They’re not—but if we want to fix them, the first thing we need to do is redefine our relationship. To the extent that our personal data has become a product, it’s because we—and our representatives in government—have allowed it to happen. If we don’t like how Facebook is treating us, we shouldn’t throw up our hands and call ourselves the product of a system over which we have no control.

Google is testing a new tool for people to report and publish local news stories, called Bulletin. A website first spotted online Jan 25 describes Bulletin as “an app for contributing hyperlocal stories about your community, for your community, right from your phone.” It’s designed to make it “effortless” to tell “the stories that aren’t being told” via your smartphone. It’s not just for techie early adopters: “If you are comfortable taking photos or sending messages, you can create a Bulletin story!”, the site says.

A Q&A with Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu. 

At Facebook, privacy is back -- not just as a social norm, but as a business model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently singled out privacy features and private services like messaging and anonymous logins as keys to the company’s future growth.

Why? “Because,” he said, “at some level, there are only so many photos you’re going to want to share with all your friends.” He’s right.