acebook will soon be listening to its users -- literally -- but some of them wish it would cover its ears.

Facebook users annoyed with posts from their friends about what songs they're listening to or which earrings they want will soon have less to complain about.

Rich Narasaki is global manager, digital marketing in the GE corporate global brand marketing group and, as such, works with and supports the digital strategy efforts of the company's eight primary business divisions. While not a member of the IT team, Narasaki works with IT and marketing constantly, so Network World Editor in Chief John Dix tracked him down to get his perspective on how digital strategy plays out in such a huge operation.

Facebook has announced the global availability of its Premium Video Ads and supporting video metrics for advertisers across the social media site.

Facebook is said to be building a video-messaging app to rival the Snapchat messaging service.

Facebook will extend its advertising business by distributing ads from its marketers to third-party mobile apps.

The social networks are falling apart -- breaking up into multiple sites and apps that do in a scattered way what used to happen centrally.

Facebook reported a nice 72 percent boost in sales for the first quarter, as the company continues to make strides expanding its advertising business on mobile devices.

Mobile users of Google's search and YouTube service will soon see more targeted ads that take them straight to the installation pages for advertisers' mobile apps.

Comments and shares are becoming a larger percentage of the social engagement mix for brands, Adobe’s Social Intelligence report claims.

Twitter has taken a slow approach in the rollout of new ad products and changes to the user interface, but that's beginning to change. Following its deeper integration with MoPub, Twitter is expected to reveal a series of new ad products alongside a refined and more feature-rich user experience.

In space, they say, no one can hear you scream. Some marketers feel the same way about Facebook.

Facebook can't be faulted for following the same path as other mass media channels that came before it with regards to advertising, but there are many marketers who are still hoping for something different this time around.

KLM Dutch Royal Airlines is using social media to support its Meet & Seat boarding experience, which is designed to make it easy for passengers to connect with one another on flights, whether it's for business or social reasons.

Facebook has reached a surprise deal to buy Oculus VR, developer of the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset, for about $US2 billion, according to the social network.

The benefits of Facebook as a platform for communication between organisations and their fans or followers is well established. But Australia’s largest private distance education provider is taking that one step further by using Facebook as a primary platform for supporting students.

TED talks have been inspiring people for the last 30 years with big ideas on technology, entertainment, design, and a slew of other topics. Now TED is taking over Facebook's Paper app with exclusive content to coincide with its annual conference, which kicked off in Vancouver, Canada, on Monday.

An assortment of video ads will soon start appearing in Facebook users' feeds as the company grasps at a larger slice of the lucrative TV advertising market.

Deliberate status updates are losing luster as quick, impromptu, short-lived activity on social media gathers momentum. If the first phase of social media was a massive effort to share our online identities, this current wave is all about fleeting encounters.

As tech companies increasingly rely on analyzing and selling user data to boost revenue, trust is emerging as one of the defining issues of the year for the IT sector.

Users of Yahoo services will down the line have to use a Yahoo username to sign on to its services, as the company plans to phase out signing up to these services using Facebook and Google credentials.