When Sunday kicks off with a man leaping from space and gathering enough speed to break the sound barrier, the rest of the week is bound to feel like a bit of a letdown. But as inspired as we were by daredevil
Mashable this week covered everything from your smartphone to your vote to your kids. Next week may be full of new things, like the much-anticipated launch of the iPad Mini (iPad Air?) and a mystery event from Google, but this week showed that even things that have been around forever are constantly demanding our re-evaluation.
Take Facebook. This week it rolled out emoticons in comments, experimented with profile completion meters and inspired the best brand response of all time. All in week's work for the social networking giant. As always, our readers offered a unique and varied set of responses to Facebook's latest antics.
Facebook was also front-and-center during the second presidential debate. Fewer people turned to Twitter than did for the first debate, favoring Facebook to express their views. Of course, the debate hype expanded far beyond just Facebook, with Mitt Romney's comment about "binders full of women" going viral moments after he uttered it.
It's not just politicians who have to worry about social media mishaps. Online activity is emerging as one of the top areas of concern for parents. This week we learned about Amanda Todd, who was cyberbullied to the point of committing suicide. Stories like these scare parents everywhere, but it can be hard to draw the line between being a good parent and spying on your kids. And as we expose children to technology at younger and younger ages, how much are gadgets becoming substitutes for parenting? It's a discussion that needs to be had, and it started this week on Mashable.