Social Hour: Facebook hashtags, editor’s indictment and TweetDeck surprises

Welcome to Social Hour – a column that will focus on social media startups, digital news, mobile apps and stories trending on social media platforms.

The federal indictment was filed on Thursday and identified Matthew Keys, 26, as a former web producer at KTXL Fox 40, a Sacramento-based television station that is owned by the Tribune Company.

He is accused of providing a user name and password to hackers associated with Anonymous to hack The Los Angeles Times’ website after he was terminated from the Fox station in October 2010.

I am fine. I found out the same way most of you did: From Twitter. Tonight I’m going to take a break. Tomorrow, business as usual.

— Matthew Keys (@TheMatthewKeys) March 14, 2013

According to the indictment, Keys identified himself on an Internet chat forum as a former Tribune Company employee and provided hackers with access to the company’s server.

After providing the login credentials, Keys allegedly encouraged Anonymous members to disrupt the website. Changes ultimately appeared on a LA Times web story, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors say Keys could face up to 25 years in prison, if convicted. His attorneys claim that he was acting as an “undercover” journalist.

In other news, Google announced last week that it will shut down Google Reader on July 1, 2013.

I wrote a story on NewsOK Thursday about some alternatives to the feed service. Another option to consider is Feedly, which reportedly has picked up more than 500,000 Google Reader users since the announcement.