26M Rainbow Their Facebook Profile

Via CNN Money:

Over the past three days, 26 million people have super imposed rainbows over their Facebook profile pictures using a free tool provided by the company. The rainbow filter launched Friday and continued to gain steam over Pride weekend, garnering more than half a billion likes and comments all over the world. Famous people including Russell Simmons, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff changed their profiles. The tool was created by two Facebook interns during an internal hackathon last week. Changing a profile picture is easily dismissed as low-effort activism. But for many people who are not typically political it was a way to quietly show support.

Gay Couple Stars In New Pinterest Ad

(Tipped by JMG reader Trent)

Caitlyn Jenner Breaks Twitter Record

The record had previously been broken just two weeks ago by President Obama's @POTUS account.

TRAILER: Batkid Begins

This Is An Ad For Something

President Obama Joins Twitter

Tweetstorm: #LoveMustWin

In the final days before the SCOTUS hearing, Freedom To Marry has launched the #LoveMustWin hashtag across social media, earning the tweeted support of politicians like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and many others. Above on the left is Broadway's Andrew Keenan-Bolger, who notes on Instagram that he remains unable to marry in his home state of Michigan.

Lambda Legal: #LoveRules

Lambda Legal has launched a social media campaign in advance of the oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Hit the link for images to use on your Twitter and Facebook profiles.

TRAILER: Brother Orange

Buzzfeed reporter Matt Stopera, whom I've met a couple times, had his cell phone stolen in an East Village bar in January 2014. What followed is probably the craziest and most amazing story about social media that you'll read this year. You might want to hit the link before watching the trailer as the many photos there set up the coming documentary beautifully.

A #BigGay Day With Bryan Fischer

As many of you know, quivering quackpot Bryan Fischer is fond of using the expression "Big Gay' to describe our beloved homofascist movement. For some reason Twitter took notice of that yesterday in a big gay way, sending the #BigGay hashtag onto the worldwide trending list. One of beneficiaries of the hashtag hailstorm was the Big Gay Ice Cream dessert chain, which won an avalanche of new followers just as pre-sales launched for their new book. Hit the hashtag stream and enjoy.

Facebook Moves Into New Office Building With Nine-Acre Park On Its Roof

From Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook page:

Today we moved into our new Facebook building in Menlo Park, California. Our goal was to create the perfect engineering space for our teams to work together. We wanted our space to create the same sense of community and connection among our teams that we try to enable with our services across the world. To do this, we designed the largest open floor plan in the world — a single room that fits thousands of people. There are lots of small spaces where people can work together, and it’s easy for people to move around and collaborate with anyone here. On the roof is a 9-acre park with walking trails and many outdoor spaces to sit and work. The building itself is pretty simple and isn’t fancy. That’s on purpose. We want our space to feel like a work in progress. When you enter our buildings, we want you to feel how much left there is to be done in our mission to connect the world.

The main room reportedly houses cubicles for 2800 staffers. Which probably feels like working in an airport terminal. More photos here.

Twitter To SCOTUS: Yes On Marriage

See the full list. Facebook is there too, of course.

George Takei: Give Alabama The Finger

Facebook Launches New Policy On Account Status Following Death Of User

Via the Washington Post:

Facebook has announced that it will grant users more control over what happens to their Facebook pages after they die. Starting Thursday, users should see a new option pop up in their security settings that will let them choose whether they want to pass their information and account management over to someone else when the time comes. As of Thursday, there will be three basic options: 1) You can do nothing, in which case the current rules apply and your account can be memorialized by anyone after your death, providing that the company gets adequate proof of your death. 2) You can ask Facebook to delete your account after you die. 3) You can designate someone -- called your legacy contact -- to manage your account. Once Facebook is notified of your death, your timeline will also change to let people know you've died. Facebook does this by adding the word "Remembering" ahead of your name -- i.e. "Remembering John Doe."

The legacy contact must be a Facebook user and will be able to do specific things, such as accept requests from those who want to befriend an account to do things such as post messages on a user's timeline. Contacts will also be able to pin posts to the top of a profile page and change the late person's profile picture or cover photo. To keep from unduly upsetting a deceased Facebook users' friends, these types of notifications will be suppressed -- meaning you shouldn't see them pop up on your own timeline, alongside normal profile updates. Facebook users can also specify whether they'd like the legacy contact to access a downloadable archive of their Facebook information after death. Sure, the information you post on Facebook probably isn't crucial -- your photos, your cheesy inspirational quotes, your bad puns -- but those little things are also often what people miss about you when you're gone.

But who do you choose to be your legacy contact?

RELATED: Two years ago Google introduced a policy in which users can choose to have all of their accounts (YouTube, Gmail, Google+, etc) automatically deleted after a user-specified period of inactivity.

LIVE: YouTube Stars Interview Obama

UPDATE: I've replaced the live stream with the recording.

JMG Is A Shorty Awards Finalist

This here website thingy is a 2015 finalist for the Shorty Awards. From their about page:

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media, recognizing the people and organizations producing content on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Instagram, Vine, and the rest of the social web. The awards ceremony takes place in April in New York City and are livestreamed to a global audience. Previous Shorty Awards ceremonies welcomed Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Jimmy Kimmel, Retta, Jerry Seinfeld, Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Gaffigan, Amanda Palmer, Conan O'Brien, Cory Booker, Natasha Leggero, Sesame Street's Grover, Ted Leo, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephen Fry, Suze Orman, Rachel Maddow, and William Shatner.

Winners are selected by members of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences which is comprised of luminaries from advertising, media, entertainment and the internet. The group includes Apple co-founder Steve “The Woz” Wozniak, actor Adam Scott, CMO of Virgin America Luanne Calvert, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, actor and producer Nick Cannon, Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, YouTube Comedy Duo The Fine Bros, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, actress and philanthropist Alyssa Milano, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Arianna Huffington, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

Among the finalists in various categories are Neil Patrick Harris, Laverne Cox, and Ellen DeGeneres. Oh, and Beyonce. Another finalist in my category is Jason Kottke, who basically invented blogging, so....

YouTube Stars To Interview Obama

Wingnuts are having a field day with this. Via White House press release:

Every year since 2010, we’ve invited people around the country to ask President Obama their questions after his State of the Union address. You’ve asked about everything from the economy, to immigration reform, to the Affordable Care Act... and even suggestions on baby names. After President Obama addresses the nation on Tuesday, January 20, he’s once again turning to YouTube to discuss the policies laid out in the speech and answer your questions. This continues efforts by the President and his administration to speak directly to the American people online, and we're always looking for new ways to do just that.

That's why, this year, we’re trying something a little different: We’re inviting a handful of YouTube creators to the White House to talk with the President in person, and you can watch it all live on Thursday, January 22. YouTube creators Bethany Mota, GloZell, and Hank Green will interview President Obama about the issues care they most about and what they’re hearing from their audiences. What do you want the creators to ask the President? Follow the White House on YouTube, then use #YouTubeAsksObama on your social media channels -- some of your questions may be asked during the interview.

Canada Joins Twitter

I wonder how much they paid the person who's been sitting that handle all this time. Twitter officially bans the sale of its handles, but some are known to have gone for upwards of six figures.

Duggar Family Issues Kissing Challenge

"God designed marriage to be a loving, dynamic relationship between a husband and wife for a lifetime. God loves marriage and it is supposed to be full of love, joy, fun and romance. Marriage is where romance belongs! Recently, Ben & Jessa received some criticism for posting a kissing picture. We are so grateful they waited to share their first kiss until after marriage. We’ve been married 30 years and are still in love! We had fun trying to duplicate Ben and Jessa's happily married kissing picture. We challenge all married couples to take a happily married picture and post it here." - From the Duggar family's Facebook page. Well, what are you waiting for? (Tipped by JMG reader Olive)

NCAVP On Spree Of Hook-Up Murders

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has issued a statement on yesterday's news that yet another gay man has been murdered by someone he met online.

This is the sixth hook-up related homicide that NCAVP has recorded nationally since last year at this time, and the third in Pennsylvania. Hook-up related violence is violence that occurs within the context of a “hook-up” for casual sex. Hook-up related violence can occur through hook-up websites, apps, cruising, sex parties, bars, and clubs, and can be connected to overlapping forms of violence, including hate violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence.

“Stigma often prevents us from talking about hook-up related violence, that’s why at NCAVP we are working hard to raise awareness about this critical issue in our communities,” said Osman Ahmed, NCAVP Research and Education Coordinator at the New York City Anti-Violence Project. “Far too often we see LGBTQ people targeted for robbery and violence via online dating and hook-up platforms. It is imperative that more resources and programs are made available that seek to prevent such violence and promote safety online.”

NCAVP is reaching out to local organizations in Philadelphia and around Pennsylvania to raise awareness of this homicide and to support the local communities affected by this violence. NCAVP is a resource for anyone who experiences violence. For more information, or to locate an anti-violence program in your area, please contact us at info@ncavp.org or visit us online. Join NCAVP in our efforts to prevent and respond to LGBTQ and HIV-affected violence.