Articles about Social Media

The sexual abuse and harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein are having some interesting side effects. Having temporarily banned actress Rose McGowan from its platform, Twitter today finds itself at the center of a boycott.

While it was initially thought that McGowan had been booted from the site for speaking out about Weinstein, Twitter insists it took action because she shared a private phone number in a tweet. But other users are making Friday the 13th an unlucky day for Twitter via the #WomenBoycottTwitter hashtag. Many women are choosing to boycott the site completely today to protest against the silencing of women, while others are using the trending topic to help raise awareness of abuse.

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Rose McGowan -- one of many actresses to have spoken out about Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual abuse and harassment -- has been slapped with a temporary suspension from Twitter. The sanctions came after the Charmed and Nip/Tuck star talked about the Weinstein allegations.

While Twitter has not revealed exactly why McGowan's account was suspended, it followed her speaking out about sexual abuse, and telling Ben Affleck to "fuck off" after he said he knew nothing of Weinstein's reputation for sexual harassment.

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Twitter may have a bookmarking system in the works, but there are new features that are already rolling out to users. The latest addition is called Happening Now which will be used to highlight tweets about a particular topic.

It's a feature that's not a million miles removed from the existing Moments feature, but Twitter seems to think it's what people want. To start with, Happening Now is rolling out to Android and iOS users in the US and it will highlight sports. Over time, however, it will expand to other parts of the world and cover different events as well.

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Twitter was accused of censorship after banning an "inflammatory" ad campaign by Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn. But just one day after implementing the ban, the company has backed down, saying the video -- which sees Blackburn talking about fighting to stop "the sale of baby body parts" -- can be promoted on Twitter.

Despite maintaining its belief that the video contains inflammatory language, Twitter now says that it is permissible within the context of the ad. Furthermore, the company says that it will "refine" its policies around the issue.

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Twitter has said that it is working on a bookmarking feature, overcoming one of the complaints users have about the micro-blogging service. Twitter users currently have the option of liking tweets, but this means running the risk of influencing the algorithms that control what appears in your timeline -- and perhaps making it appear as though you like something you actually disagree with, or result in you publicly liking something you'd rather keep private.

The company's head of product, Keith Coleman, made the new bookmarking revelation on Twitter, saying it is a frequently requested feature. The new 'read it later' option came out of Twitter's HackWeek, and while no launch date has been announced, it is coming "soon" and an early design has been previewed.

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Twitter has blocked an ad campaign by Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn after it was "deemed an inflammatory statement that is likely to evoke a strong negative reaction."

In the ad, Blackburn says she "stopped the sale of baby body parts" from abortions by defunding Planned Parenthood -- a false claim. The pro-lifer claims Twitter is censoring her, but the company has said the ad campaign can run without the "body parts" claim.

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Advertisers are to face increased scrutiny from Facebook as the social network attempts to clamp down on questionable and controversial ads. The move comes in the wake of the revelation that 10 million Americans saw ads during the run up to the election that had been bought by Russia.

In an email to advertisers, Facebook says that any ads that target people based on "politics, religion, ethnicity or social issues" will be subject to a manual review process.

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One of the problems with Facebook -- and the internet in general -- is that it has been incredibly democratizing in terms of who is able to publish news and other messages online. Democratization of anything is usually perceived as a good thing, but as the genuine problem of "fake news" (i.e. not the notion peddled by Trump that anything presenting an opposing idea is fundamentally untrue) demonstrates, it can also be a bad thing.

To help with this, Facebook is testing a feature that helps to add context to stories and links that appear in your newsfeed.

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It's no secret that Russia tried to influence the outcome of the US election last year using a variety of techniques including the use of advertising on Facebook. The social network recently said that it would share details of these ads with Congress, but would not be making them public.

But while the company is not making the ads themselves available for all to see, it has revealed some more details about them -- including the fact that they were seen by an estimated 10 million people in the US. Facebook also says that 44 percent of more than 3,000 Russian-placed ads were seen prior to the election.

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Yesterday, Donald Trump used his favorite medium of Twitter to complain that -- as well as some media outlets -- Facebook was opposed to him. Mark Zuckerberg has now responded, speaking out to deny the claim.

He said: "Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don't like. That's what running a platform for all ideas looks like." The Facebook founder also backtracked on his earlier dismissal of the social network's influence on the election as "crazy."

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Facebook is currently under investigation for displaying advertisements placed by Russia to try to influence the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton, but Donald Trump is convinced that the social network is against him.

In a tweet, the president set out a simple accusation: "Facebook was always anti-Trump." Dredging up his bugbear of "fake news" he also made the same claim of television networks and newspapers. More than this, he suggests that there may have been collusion between those he regards as being "anti-Trump."

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Twitter's distinctive feature -- the 140-character limit -- has been both a blessing and a curse, but out of the blue, however, the company has decided to double the limit to 280 characters. Unfortunately, the 280-charcter limit is now -- like the blue tick of verification -- some of the Holy Grail of Twitter thanks to a slow rollout.

There's no need to wait however! You can send tweets of up to 280 characters right now -- it just takes a little setting up. Here's what you need to do.

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Many people are passionate about Twitter -- including President Donald Trump. It is not hard to see why, either -- it allows you to quickly share a communication with the world in 140 or fewer characters. While some people see the character limitation as stupid and unnecessary, others would argue that it forces the user to get to the point. Heck, limitations can breed creativity too -- getting a message across in 140 characters can be a fun brain exercise.

Unfortunately, Twitter seems intent on potentially ruining its service by literally doubling the number of characters from 140 to 280. Before you run to the service to test this out, please know that it is only available to a small group of testers for now.

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Facebook -- like many companies who exist solely online -- is highly reliant on ad revenue. As such, it goes to great lengths to outwit ad-blocking tools that seek to rob it of income by giving users a more enjoyable experience.

Adblock Plus is a well-known name in this field, having already had something of a back-and-forth with the social network as Facebook took steps to block adblockers. But now Adblock Plus has a new filter available to block ads on Facebook -- and improve privacy -- and it says it is more resilient than ever.

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The healthcare industry accounted for 26 percent of security incidents in the second quarter of 2017 according to a new report.

The study from McAfee Labs sees healthcare surpass the public sector to report the greatest number of security incidents in Q2. The health, public, and education sectors combined comprised more than 50 percent of total incidents in 2016-2017 worldwide.

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