Media Mob got an e-mail a few minutes ago from a publicist at Simon & Schuster informing us, in the subject line, that "Facebook is subject of new S&S acquisition." Holy cow, we thought! Mark Zuckerburg finally agreed to sell? To Simon & Schuster? They've had a pretty good year, sure, but what would a publishing house want with Facebook? Maybe someone up high thought they were really buying a book?

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The other weekend I went to a housewarming party that an editor I know was throwing in Prospect Heights. It was one of those parties where everyone there is someone you’ve seen at another media party but never hung out with one-on-one and the conversations tend to veer toward industry gossip (stuff like: “Well, I’m considering taking the editor-at-large position”), what I like to call byline stalking (“I loved your profile of Chelsea Clinton, but your blog post on your corner deli was hysterical”) and not-so-subtle undermining (“That Web site seems like a really good place for you right now”).

One woman, who is always wearing the types of dresses I wish I owned because they seem perfectly suited to media parties—simple, black, vaguely vintagey-looking, knee-length, very flattering—made a beeline for me.  read more »

Last week was my worst week ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but definitely my worst week in 2008.

The trouble started on a Tuesday night. Shortly before I entered a bar to meet a friend for drinks, I updated my Facebook status on my BlackBerry, with an opinion about the upcoming Clinton-Obama debate.

As soon as my friend and I parted ways, I immediately whipped out my BlackBerry to check Facebook again. (Yes, I’m one of those people.)  read more »

Move over Facebook, there’s a new social networking site in town! Only this one’s geared exclusively towards entertainment professionals. Yesterday, the industry trade pub Dailey Variety unveiled “The Biz” (variety.com/thebiz), which it’s billing as the first social networking Web site for the entertainment business.  read more »

My dad recently got on Facebook. My mom’s helping him build up his profile. She sent him a number of family photos. So far four have made it on to his site. One is of my college graduation. I’m wearing the cap and gown and appear to be gazing at something off in the distance, possibly a mountain peak. He’s even begun “friending” my friends. The situation is dire.

In other disturbing Facebook news, on Jan.  read more »

Paris Hilton once said: “All you have to do in life is go out with your friends, party hard and look twice as good [as the woman next to you.]” But according to an article in today’s Times, it’s now far more complicated. A new social era has dawned, one in which first impressions are often made in a digital context.

Facebook, anyone?

For most members of the behemoth online networking community, high time for silly, drunken or even unattractive profile pictures ends sometime around college graduation. Hitting the mean streets of adulthood can be brutal, after all, and putting your best face forward can—for better or worse—prove rewarding both socially and professionally.  read more »