Rewire by Ethan Zuckerman; Untangling the Web by Aleks Krotoski – review

The internet is a great tool for cosmopolitanism – so why is it making us so insular? By John Naughton

US tech companies appeal to Obama over secret demands for user data

AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo among signatories demanding to publish 'specific numbers' of requests. By Charles Arthur

Ex-Zynga studio boss Matthew Wiggins on where social games went wrong

'Spamming someone's Facebook feed is not a meaningful interaction,' says developer, whose new venture JiggeryPokery wants to put the fun back into free-to-play. By Stuart Dredge

Kakao mobile social games made £205.8m in the first half of 2013

Korean social network now has more than 30m players, 180 games and ambitions for global expansion. By Stuart Dredge

Be your beautiful selfie – by buying into Dove

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett: Apparently 40% of women airbrush their online photos. They should just smother on some anti-cellulite gel and stop worrying

Co-op employees call for end to ‘annoying’ Christmas-style TV ad

Campaign showing child making snow angels and Andy Williams song causes Facebook and Twitter consternation from workers. By John Reynolds

How would a Microsoft-owned Zynga have affected the Xbox One?

Report claims social games publisher's new CEO tried to buy the company in 2010 when he was still Xbox boss. By Stuart Dredge

We are the 6%: Reddit use increasing in America, according to Pew study

Pew research shows 6% of adult internet users have checked out Reddit – but figures show 67% have used Facebook

Bebo and the other mega-deals that proved to be spectacular flops

The man who sold Bebo for $850m has just bought it back for $1m, meaning an $849m loss for its original buyer AOL. But it's not the only example of such a disaster in the business world

Zynga: What went wrong on mobile, and can its new CEO put it right?

As former Xbox chief Don Mattrick takes over from Mark Pincus, making and monetising more mobile hits is a priority. By Stuart Dredge

Bebo’s co-founders need to reinvent the site after a bargain buyback

Jemima Kiss: AOL bought the site from Michael and Xochi Birch for $850m in 2008 – now they have it back for $1m and a mess to sort out

Facebook to stop ads running next to offensive material

Social networking company to apply new measures from Monday following pressure from advertisers

Snapchat: self-destructing messaging app raises $60m in funding

Startup plans to add in-app purchases to product that makes users' photos and videos disappear shortly after being viewed. By Stuart Dredge

Instagram video for brands: ‘The 15-second format is killer’

Agencies see Facebook app's new features as complementary to Twitter's Vine, but warn against repurposed TV ads. By Stuart Dredge