Facebook announced partnerships with 18 mobile operators in 14 countries aimed at providing users with free or discounted data access for its Messenger for Android, Messenger for iOS, and Facebook for Every Phone mobile applications.
Lisa Raphael (left), the social media producer at Katie Couric's daytime talk show Katie, is one of our featured speakers in Mediabistro's upcoming Social Media Marketing Boot Camp, an online event and workshop starting June 6, 2013. Lisa will share a case study on how the hit show uses Twitter to build interest and buzz around upcoming segments. Learn more about our our twelve event speakers and register here. 
Facebook’s initial public offering did not get royal approval from Saudi Arabian Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, founder and chairman of Kingdom Holding, as The Telegraph reported that the prince told Arabian Business magazine he was more confident in Twitter in terms of growth.
Facebook is continuing to grow, shooting past 1 billion users, but where are these people coming from? A new report from social statistics firm Socialbakers shows that many of them are coming from the Middle East and North Africa region, which accounts for an average of 21 new registrations per minute.
Back in July, we wrote about ecommerce site Limited Run, which shuttered its Limited Pressing Facebook page, claiming that 80 percent of click-throughs to its page from Facebook were initiated by bots, according to a page logger that it built when it found that only 20 percent of click-throughs were actually arriving at its site. Online advertising firm Solve Media took a closer look at the issue of bots and uncovered some alarming statistics.
When Facebook announced plans to go public, two of the most prominent concerns raised about the social network were its ability to monetize mobile and its prospects for growth in Asia. The deal it reached with Myriad Group, announced Wednesday, took aim at both of those concerns.
Thunderclap, a mass-messaging service that gained popularity on Twitter, has set its sights on Facebook. Twitter recently booted Thunderclap from operating on its network, so now its organizers are gearing up to run on Facebook.
The seemingly never-ending conflict between Israel and its Mideast neighbors has spread to Facebook, as an Israeli hacker who goes by the name of Hannibal posted the email addresses and passwords of 85,000 users of the social network from Saudi Arabia and Iran.
A Facebook page has been created to call on Saudi Arabian men to beat women who drive their cars. While I’m not sure how long the page will stick around, it illustrates just how ridiculously conservative that country is.
The joke’s on the blogosphere: Numerous bloggers missed the humorous intent of a DawnWires post claiming Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah offered $150 billion to acquire Facebook, even though the article appeared in a category entitled LoL News.
Facebook posts call for a Saudi Arabian “day of rage” on March 11, but activists in the wealthy nation haven’t had much success rallying protesters so far.
