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Alt-social network Gab booted from Google Play Store for hate speech
Gab, the conservative social network that has acted as a haven for people banned from the usual platforms, has been removed from the Google Play Store for violating the company’s hate speech policy, the company announced on Twitter. Apple removed it from the App Store in June for similar reasons. Read More
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Facebook downranks video clickbait and fake play buttons
Ever gotten tricked into clicking a fake play button on Facebook that opens a link instead of starting a video? I did, repeatedly, and wrote a story in 2014 titled “Yo Facebook, Ban Links With Fake Video Play Buttons”. Now Facebook is doing just that. Today it started downranking the News Feed presence of links that display a fake play button in the preview image, as well as… Read More
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Skype’s much-debated redesign hits the desktop
In June, Microsoft introduced a completely revamped version of its Skype app, designed with a heavier focus on media-sharing, and other social expression tools, like emoji, reactions, and even a Snapchat-like stories feature. Now that new experience is rolling out to desktop users, but in a more limited fashion, Microsoft announced this morning. The new desktop app introduces an updated… Read More
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Android newbie HMD’s Nokia 8 flagship lets you livestream ‘frontbacks’
Rebooting the venerable Nokia smartphone brand has not been a rush job for HMD Global, the Foxconn-backed company set up for the purpose of licensing the Nokia name to try to revive the brand’s fortunes on smartphones. But after starting with basic and mid-tier phones, it’s finally outted a flagship Android handset. Read More
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Tech is not winning the battle against white supremacy
Content warning: This post contains racial slurs, homophobic language and very graphic depictions of racism and violence. Read More
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Run to the rock
The past week has been a tough one for lovers of freedom. Slippery slopes have been slid down and a side of the human mind that once remained in shadow has reared its head. Charlottesville is just the first step down a dark road. In real life, on the public square, our support of freedom of speech and public assembly – a freedom that has long helped hater and lover alike – is… Read More
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Pinterest users can now pinch-to-zoom on photos in the app
Pinterest is adding a new feature today that allows users to pinch a photo to zoom in and out on various Pins, matching a feature that’s available on a lot of other services. As the company becomes increasingly focused on mobile and discovery centered around photos, users will start expecting the kinds of behaviors that exist on other services to exist on Pinterest. Read More
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45 million people send birthday wishes on Facebook each day
Roughly 1 in 30 Facebook users tells someone Happy Birthday each day, showing Facebook’s first major emergent behavior is still going strong. Now Facebook is equipping the 45 million people sending birthday wishes each day with some new features. Now instead of just posting a soulless “HBD” or “Happy Birthday!” on someone’s wall with no personal message… Read More
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The most-liked tweet in history says a lot about how the world is doing
The events that unfolded this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia have sparked reactions from all corners of the internet. But one Twitter user, former President Barack Obama, had a response that resonated with millions. Last night, this tweet from Obama became the most-liked tweet on the platform ever, with more than 3 million likes at the time of writing. "No one is born hating… Read More
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What Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others are doing to tackle hate speech
For all the talk about the internet as a great uniter across geographical and ideological divides, it’s just as often used as a tool to deepen divides, as many users are content to stay within their ideological echo chambers. There’s no easy fix, but when hateful rhetoric begins to manifest itself as real-world violence, a failure to take a stand moves beyond theoretical. Read More
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Facebook and Instagram get redesigns for readability
Taking inspiration from line drawings, Reddit and Messenger, Facebook is overhauling the design of the News Feed to make it more legible, clickable and commentable. Meanwhile, Instagram today got a little redesign itself with comment reels now being threaded so you can have sub-conversations in public. Read More
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Facebook adds eBay’s Daily Deals to its Marketplace on mobile
Facebook is again getting into the daily deals space, this time in collaboration with eBay. The company has launched a new feature within its Marketplace section on its mobile app, where a selection of inventory from eBay’s Daily Deals program is now available. The deals can be shopped directly in Facebook’s app, but checkout takes place on eBay’s website through an… Read More
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Facebook boosts snubbed Stories Camera with Live, GIF & text sharing
Despite the tepid reception for Facebook Stories, the social network is doubling down on its full-screen Camera feature. Today Facebook added the ability to go Live, shoot two-second GIFs and share full-screen text posts on colored background from Facebook Camera, which lets you share to Facebook Stories, Direct messaging and the traditional News Feed. Read More
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Snapchat “Crowd Surf” stitches together everyone’s concert videos
Snapchat’s got a new trick to stay one step ahead of Instagram by turning everyone’s quick video clips from concerts into a much more watchable music video you control. Snapchat “Crowd Surf” uses artificial intelligence machine learning technology to analyze when lots of people are all recording the same musical performance at the same time. It can then lace together… Read More
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Facebook is rolling out a Trending News section on mobile, now with its own link
Facebook is rolling out a “Trending News” section on mobile that includes its own link in the app’s main navigation. This follows the company’s earlier announcement this spring of a redesign for Trending Topics, an increasingly important part of Facebook’s social network, where it tracks the news stories that are buzzing across its service. That redesign is… Read More
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Snapchat now lets you Pikachu yourself
Snapchat is teaming up with The Pokémon Company to introduce a new Pikachu filter to the app. The official Pikachu filter applies the electric mouse’s trademark rosy cheeks, pointy ears, black nose and big eyes to faces in the app, and when users open their mouth the iconic Pikachu cry rings out as an animated version of the characters leaps into frame. The Pikachu filter is a… Read More
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Another record low for Snap after 14% drop post-earnings
Snap, the Snapchat parent, has had a very difficult ride in the stock market since debuting in March. After pricing its IPO at $17 and then reaching highs of $27, the company has fallen to less than half that. After losing 14 percent of its value in a single day’s trading, Snap closed Friday at $11.83. Read More
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