Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has joined the so-called “$1 salary club." This year the tech mogul will receive no bonuses and a salary of just a buck, joining the likes of Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle's Larry Ellison, Zynga's Mark Pincus, Urban Outfitters' Richard Hayne, Fossil's Kosta Kartsotis and a handful of others, according to Mashable. Even Steve Jobs took a $1 salary when he returned to Apple in 1998. Don’t feel too bad for Zuckerberg (or the other CEOs) though—he’s still worth more than $2 billion. Zuck (like the others) makes all of his money in stock options. Though the $1 salary trend started as a publicity stunt, business experts say it is a way for businesses to not only save money, but also make sure executives always have an incentive to make their companies more valuable … Discuss

As anyone who has ever posted anything even remotely political or mildly opinionated on Facebook has inevitably learned, social media is making us ruder. A new study shows that almost 80% of people surveyed experienced an “increase in rudeness” on social media sites, and one-in-five have actually reduced real-world, face-to-face contact with a friend over an online confrontation. Almost 20% of those surveyed has blocked or unfriended someone because of an online argument. If you have a hard time believing that social media is turning a segment of society into a bunch of jerks, do your own research study: Just post your thoughts about a controversial social issue, admiration of your favorite sports team, or a negative opinion about a popular TV show … Discuss

In what will surely be the deathblow to struggling competitor Facebook, the wildly popular social network Google+ has announced a new, revolutionary technology that will let users have animated GIFs as profile pictures. While Facebook has long toiled away with features that “integrate intuitive advertising,” “streamline design” and focus on “mobile integration,” Google has instead released a mindboggling technological innovation that somehow allows profile pictures to be replaced with small, animated GIFs. A team of Google engineers has reportedly worked around the clock for the better part of 15 years, when the mysterious animated GIF technology was first unveiled, to somehow incorporate it into a social network … Discuss

Remember the point when MySpace got so overtaken with glittery backgrounds, browser-crashing animated GIFs and, worst of all, auto-playing media that it was pretty much unusable? Well, now Facebook appears to be on the same path. The social media giant has announced that in its latest efforts to drain every penny from the site, it would begin experimenting with auto-playing videos. At a recent tech conference, Facebook VP of business David Fischer said they believe “there are ways that could potentially balance user experience with advertiser experience” with auto-playing video advertisements. Nothing like a subtle, non-intrusive Toyota commercial playing unexpectedly at full blast without the user’s permission to preserve “user experience.” Next thing you know, they’re going to start doing something crazy, like charging users to send messages. Oh, wait … Discuss