Alex Gilbert, 27, who works for a nonprofit in Houston that teaches creative writing to kids, is still puzzling over an old friend "a particularly masculine-type dude" who plays in a heavy-metal band and heads a motorcycle club yet posts videos on Facebook of "uber cute" kittens.

WSJ: How Facebook Can Ruin Your Friendships

And Renault, which is making the biggest push into electric vehicles, is planning to launch a scooter-type car called the Twizy (in which a single passenger sits behind the driver like on a motorcycle), a midsized family car called the Fluence and the sportier Zoe.

ECONOMIST: Rational consumer