Race and Social Media: How to Push the Conversation Forward

"2014 was the year everyone started talking about race," said Jenna Wortham, a New York Times technology reporter, at the Theorizing the Web conference in Brooklyn on Saturday. "Let's not let 2014 be the only year that everyone started talking about race."

Wortham's sentiment embodied the conference's keynote plenary, called "Race and Social Media," which considered how social media can amplify — and hinder — discourse about race, how we use social networks for social justice, and whether they're even the right tools to use.

See also: How Diverse Are Your Social Networks?

Lisa Nakamura, professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and the author of Digitizing Race: Visual Cultures of the Internet, said that in recent years, race theory has focused more on feeling: bodily experience, affects and trauma. Read more...

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Social Media-Driven 'Chef' Movie Is Tribeca Film Festival Darling

A story about how delicate and powerful the social-media world can be for both growing and squashing a business was awarded the audience choice award for Best Narrative at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday night.

Written and directed by Jon Favreau (Swingers), Chef made its New York debut this week at the festival, and features a cast of Hollywood heavy hitters including Favreau, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo and Dustin Hoffman.

See also: 'Breaking Bad' Death Scene Got Way Too Personal for Bryan Cranston

Social media serves as a significant character throughout the film. Not only does it advance the plot (and is also responsible for some of the film's peaks and valleys of success), it also captures today's culture and what's needed to get a startup business off the ground. Read more...

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20 Twitter Short Stories Written by Mashable Readers

If Twitter has taught us anything, it's that a lot can be said in just 140 characters. Jokes? Check. Breaking news? Check. What you ate for lunch today? Check.

But can you write the next great piece of literary fiction on Twitter?

See also: 25 Twitter Accounts to Make You Laugh

We were wondering that very question after reading this month's MashableReads book, B.J. Novak's story collection One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories . Throughout the collection, Novak explores the funny side of life in stories that are sometimes as short as the length of a tweet

Inspired by Novak's pithiness, we asked readers to write a short story in a single tweet for this month's MashableReads challenge. Submissions ranged from quippy tales of millennial misadventures to poetic musings on love and death. Our favorite submissions won signed copies of One More Thing or the chance to participate in our MashableReads Google Hangout with B.J. Novak. Check out the winning submissions and some of our favorite runners-up, below: Read more...

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13 Photos of Airy Pastel Colors to Brighten Your Mood

We welcomed springtime and warm weather with last week's Mashable Photo Challenge, which centered around pastel colors. New York City photographer William Joos guest-hosted.

See also: 44 Photos of Lovable, Huggable Babies

Joos incorporates a lot of light and airy colors in his photography as well. You can see some good examples on his Instagram account.

"It was beautiful to see the various arrangements of color combinations that were presented in the images; they were remarkable, and I think played into the pastel theme quite well," he said. "And the locations where the images were taken are truly breathtaking. I think I need to start visiting some of these places soon!" Read more...

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Ronald McDonald Loses the Jumpsuit, Is Ready for His Selfie

Ronald McDonald is taking a page out of the millennial playbook.

The 51-year-old clown revealed an updated wardrobe and a hashtag of his very own Wednesday, an effort which is meant to make the fast food mascot appear more modern and sophisticated while highlighting his work in communities around the world.

See also: 15 Happy Meal Toys That Made Your McChildhood

Ronald's threads have been updated periodically since his debut in 1963. This time he is trading in a voluminous yellow jumpsuit for more form-fitting cargo pants and a vest. On special occasions he will sport a bow tie and a bright red blazer featuring the Golden Arches on the front pocket and his signature on the back. Some iconic elements will remain, however, including his red-and-white striped shirt, clown shoes and shocking red hair. The new look was created by Tony Award-winning designer Ann Hould-Ward. Read more...

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Coming to Your Twitter Feed: Ads That Preview Company Websites

11 Tips for Breaking Up With Someone on Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool that allows human tools to break free of all relationship commitments from the comfort of a screen

Although using services like Instagram to, say, break up with your girlfriend using a hashtag is arguably thinking outside of the box, the least you could do is end things #nofilter.

See also: An Unofficial Guide for #ThrowbackThursday Etiquette

This kind of behavior probably inspired some out there to seek out more ways to finally get rid of that ball and chain in a quick and painless way, so we racked our brains for a few social media-savvy ideas on how to get the deed done. Read more...

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