Articles about Facebook

In the US, Facebook has been hit with accusations of having a anti-conservative bias in its news coverage. In the UK, the social network stands accused of being pro-Brexit in the upcoming EU referendum.

The Brexit-related accusations came about after it was noticed that Facebook offered a readymade status update proclaiming to be "in favour of leaving the EU", but didn’t have a balancing pro-remain option as easily accessible. Despite this, Facebook categorically denies any form of bias.

Continue reading →

Facebook has upset a lot of people by effectively forcing its Messenger app onto people by removing the messaging option from the mobile website. Today, to help soften the blow a little, the social network announces that Android users will be able to use the app to not only chat with their Facebook friends, but also to send and receive SMS and MMS.

It's a feature that has been available in the beta version of Facebook Messenger for a little while, but now it is rolling out to everyone. While it will help keen chatters to reduce the number of apps they use, there is now yet another decision to make when it comes to texting -- stick with the default app on your phone, use Hangouts, use Facebook Messenger, or use one of the endless other messaging tools. If you opt for Facebook's offering, there are a couple of things you need to do.

Continue reading →

Following prolonged talks with the Bangladesh government, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have all agreed to do more to remove 'inappropriate content' from the internet. State Minister for Telecoms, Tarana Halim, said: "After intense discussion with Facebook, Google and Microsoft, it has been agreed that they will respond to requests within 48 hours".

Agreeing to the Bangladesh government's demands comes just weeks after major tech companies agreed to a new code of conduct to combat online hate speech. In this instance, however, it has not been made entirely clear what constitutes inappropriate content, and the announcement will raise questions about the tech trio bowing to governmental demands.

Continue reading →

Following a massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Facebook has been prompted to activate its Safety Check feature in the US for the first time. 50 people lost their lives in the attack on the LGBT nightclub.

Previously used following natural disasters around the world as well as a man-made tragedy, Safety Check gives people in a trouble spot to let friends and family know that they're OK. The deadliest mass shooting in American history ended up being the trigger for the first activation of the feature on US soil.

Continue reading →

Not content with forcing people into using its Messenger app, Facebook is continuing its aggressive tactics and driving users to install its photo-sharing app, Moments. The social network has warned users that their photos face deletion if they fail to use the Moments app.

Unsurprisingly, this has led to a huge surge in interest in the app, pushing it to the top of the download charts. Facebook has announced that it is going to delete Synced Albums and Synced Photos if Moments is not installed by July 7, sending warning emails to a number of users.

Continue reading →

For quite a while, I was hesitant to embrace Facebook because of privacy concerns. While that is still a worry, I have softened a bit, coming to like its Messenger app in particular. While the logic Facebook uses to list content in my timeline still eludes me (what's wrong with chronological?), it is a satisfying experience overall.

Believe it or not, the ability to leave comments and reply to posts using video was not previously available on Facebook. This is probably because video cannot be text-mined, but I digress. Today, the social network announces that video commenting is now a reality. Want to try it yourself? It is actually very simple.

Continue reading →

Interactivity is the name of the game these days, as illustrated by the explosion of interest in VR. Facebook may not have gone quite as far as bringing virtual reality to your newsfeed, but it does now support 360-degree photos -- or 360 Photos as it has been dubbed.

Starting tomorrow, you'll be able to upload either 360-degree photos, or panoramic photos. On the web, these become interactive images that you can scroll around using a mouse, but on a smartphone you have a couple of options. You can either tap and drag your way around an image, or hold up your phone and move it around, taking advantage of the accelerometer. If you want to get really fancy, you could don a Samsung Gear VR headset.

Continue reading →

The amount of time people spent in apps of social media networks in the first three months of 2016, in nine major countries in the world, has dropped "dramatically", a new report by digital market intelligence company SimilarWeb says.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat have all seen significant drops in the amount of time people in the US, UK, Germany, Spain, Australia, India, South Africa, Brazil and Spain have spent in Q1 2016, compared to the same period a year before.

Continue reading →

People are possessive and precise about their social media. Any change that may be introduced will be scrutinized, criticized, bemoaned, and suffered -- something we've seen time and time again with changes made to Twitter and Facebook timelines. Now Instagram is going down a similar route and introducing algorithmic timelines.

While the move will disappoint -- even infuriate -- many Instagrammers, the announcement has not come completely out of the blue. Just a few weeks ago the social network started testing algorithm-powered timelines and it seems the tests went well. Starting next month, Instagram will ditch the reverse-chronological timeline in favor of one that shows the "moments you care about first".

Continue reading →

If you access Facebook on your phone, the chances are that you use the dedicated Facebook app -- but this is not necessarily the case. A lot of people prefer to make use of the mobile Facebook website, and the social network is making an aggressive change to the way messaging works that will force the use of the Messenger app.

Head to the messaging section of the mobile site today, and you'll be greeted by a large pre-emptive warning that reads: "Your conversations are moving to Messenger. Soon, you'll only be able to view your messages from Messenger". For now, you can continue to send messages through Facebook's mobile site, but this will end at some unknown date in the future. It's an aggressive tactic reminiscent of Microsoft's forcing of Windows 10 onto users.

Continue reading →

Facebook has issued a statement denying mounting rumors that the company uses smartphone microphones to listen in on private conversations. The allegations have circled for some time, but have most recently been voiced by Kelli Burns, a mass communication professor at the University of South Florida.

In her own testing, Professor Burns said that after discussing certain topics within earshot of her phone, she would then see ads relating to those topics on Facebook. Just like the OK, Google feature of Android, the Facebook app does have a feature that listens out for user input, but the company says this data is not stored and certainly not used for ads.

Continue reading →

Tech companies are falling over themselves to embrace diversity both in the workplace, and in products. The latest example of this comes courtesy of Facebook which today releases an update to Messenger complete with hundreds of diversity-friendly emoji.

As well as bringing in the full (well, fuller) gamut of skin tones, the new emoji also nod to gender equality, as well as including redheads for the first time. On top of all this, Facebook is also standardizing its emoji set so the same selection is available to everyone, regardless of the platform they might be using.

Continue reading →

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft are working in conjunction with the European Commission to try to tackle the problem of illegal online hate speech. This is something that the companies have taken steps to fight individually, but now there is a concerted effort to combat hate speech and terrorist propaganda in Europe.

New EU regulations require the companies to review notifications they receive about hate speech within 24 hours. The four tech giants have agreed to the new code of conduct, saying the 'majority' of reported content will be examined within a day.

Continue reading →

Privacy concerns have been voiced after Iran announced plans to force messaging apps and social media services to store all data about Iranian users on Iranian soil. It is common practice for user data to be stored in other counties, but the government in Iran continues to exert its authority over the internet.

Any company who wants to operate a message service in Iran has a year to comply with the data relocation requirement. With Iran already blocking access to the likes of Facebook and Twitter, privacy and security advocates have expressed worries about the implications of the new rules.

Continue reading →

When you hit Facebook today, you may well notice a new Cookies Policy warning at the top of the page. It states: "To help personalize content, tailor and measure ads, and provide a safer experience, we use cookies. By clicking or navigating the site, you agree to allow our collection of information on and off Facebook through cookies. Learn more, including about available controls: Cookies Policy". But what is it all about?

Facebook hasn’t made a great deal of fuss about it, but the social network has introduced not only a new cookies policy, but also made changes to ads. It is now possible to opt out of seeing tailored ads on non-Facebook sites. Facebook says it is all part of creating "a better online advertising experience for everyone".

Continue reading →