Warning: Mark Zuckerberg decides what's newsworthy, making him the world's most powerful editor
Facebook has stated time and time and time again that it is not a media company, despite appearing to act very much like one. The company's protestations become all the more difficult to swallow when one looks at the way it handles news. In reality, Facebook wields far more power and influence that it's willing to admit.
There have been countless instances of Facebook censoring posts from individuals, groups and organizations. Facebook appears to have an unwritten (or largely unpublished) set of rules defining what can be posted on the social network, and just this week Facebook staff wanted to censor posts by Donald Trump because they were considered hate speech. Zuckerberg disagreed, overruled his employees and allowed them to go ahead. One rule for us, another rule for them.
Social logins -- the convenience and the risks
Increasingly people are suffering from password fatigue, so when signing up to websites it's very tempting to use existing social media accounts.
However, according to a survey from customer identity and access management specialist Janrain, 93 percent of people are concerned about how their account data and activity are being shared and used.
Facebook on the frontline: livestreaming Iraqi and Kurdish forces trying to wrestle Mosul from ISIS
When Facebook Live launched as a service available to everyone (after a celebrity-only debut) it didn’t take long for people's fears of terrible incidents being broadcast to come true. We've had celebrities livestreaming, we've had death, injuries and accidents livestreamed. What next? War.
Over in Iraq, the city of Mosul is currently under the control of ISIS. Iraqi and Kurdish military forces are in the process of attacking the city to regain control. What's unusual -- and particularly disturbing -- about this is that the whole event is being livestreamed on Facebook by Kurdish media group Rudaw -- complete with viewers' reactions in the form of cartoon emoji.
Game of Thrones actress Faye Marsay is bullied into quitting social media
The latest high-profile victim of online abuse is actress Faye Marsay, famous for her portrayal of the Waif in Game of Thrones. After finding herself on the receiving end of hate and harassment, she has announced that she is to quit Facebook.
Marsay's decision comes after guidelines were unveiled to help determine whether criminal proceedings should be brought against individuals engaging in online hate crimes.
Twitter experiments with replacing Moments with a new Explore feature
The Moments feature could be set to disappear from Twitter's mobile apps. Having only recently announced the roll out of a curation option to everyone, Twitter is now experimenting with replacing it with a more inviting Explore feature.
Speaking to Mashable, Twitter confirmed that a "content discovery"-focused Explorer tab could replace Moments in the future. For now, though, there is an experimental change visible to some iOS and Android users that sees the Moments and Explore tabs show up side by side.
Workplace by Facebook exits beta, bringing social networking to the enterprise
You may not have heard of Workplace by Facebook, and that could be for one of two reasons. Firstly, it used to be known as Facebook at Work but, more importantly, it has been in closed beta for nearly two years.
Today, Facebook announces that Workplace is now available all over the world, giving enterprise users a way to stay connected with co-workers. Promising "the best of Facebook plus new features", Workplace can be used by any company or organization that feels a personalized, internal social network with messaging capabilities could be beneficial.
Trolls, sexters and doxxers could face prosecution for social media hate crimes
The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has today published new social media guidelines that set out online offenses for which people could be prosecuted. Launched as part of Hate Crime Awareness Week, the guidance will be used to decide whether criminal proceedings should be brought against individuals.
Among the offenses outlined in the document is 'virtual mobbing' -- encouraging others to engage in online hate campaigns. The CPS points out that anyone doing this could face charges under the Serious Crime Act 2007. Also published today is the Public Policy Statements on Hate Crime which is due to be put to public consultation and will focus on hate crimes against disabled people, as well as attacks of a racial, religious, homophobic and transphobic nature.
Algorithm-powered sorting comes to Google+ Communities
Just about all of the key players in social media have turned to algorithms to control the order in which posts appear in users' timelines. Google has already introduced algorithmic sorting for Google+, and now it is rolling out to Communities.
Just as with Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, the decision to move towards algorithms rather than a simple chronological timeline is one that will be divisive. But Google has made it easy to toggle the setting, helping to keep everyone happy.
Facebook's new Events app helps you discover what's going on near you
If you're a keen Facebook user, you may well have accepted invites to events advertised on the social network. To help make your life a little easier, Facebook has now launched a new, dedicated app called simply Events from Facebook to more easily find out what's going on nearby.
More than this, the app can pull in information from your existing calendar so you can see all of your events and appointments in one place to avoid double-booking yourself. It's iOS-only for the time being, but an Android version of the app is in the pipeline.
Everyone now has access to Facebook's Secret Conversations, so take control of your privacy
Facebook has been testing its privacy-focused Secret Conversations feature with a select, and then wider, group of users for a little while now. Today the end-to-end encrypted messaging system rolls out to everyone. If you're concerned about your privacy (firstly, why are you using Facebook?), it's your duty to use it.
Secret Conversations remains an opt-in feature, and once enabled it means that only the sender and recipient are able to see messages -- there is no scope for interception by Facebook or any other third party. There's also an important self-destructing messaging option, but there's one glaring problem.
Facebook massively miscalculated video viewing figures for two years
The social networking giant has managed to attract the ire of advertisers after it revealed that it overestimated video viewing figures for two years. A flaw in the tool used to measure the number of views meant that figures relating to video viewing times were inflated by between 60 and 80 percent.
Just how long people spend watching videos is important information for advertisers, but Facebook managed to miscalculate average viewing times by ignoring views lasting under three seconds. With so much of Facebook's incoming revenue derived from advertising, and the importance the company places on video, the snafu is an embarrassing one that advertisers will take some time to forget.
European workers vulnerable to social engineering attacks
Hackers are using social media to gather information about their next victim. They use that information to form sophisticated strategies and deliver advanced threats into networks.
These are the results of a new Blue Coat Systems report, based on a poll of 3,130 workers in various industries in Great Britain, France and Germany. Key takeaway from the report is that user behavior has not improved much since last year. This year, 42 percent of respondents say they only accept friend requests from people they know.
Twitter releases free video app for Microsoft Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV
When people think of Twitter, their minds might conjure images of short-form messages filled with emoji. While it is much more than that, it is how some people view the social network. Lately, however, the company is looking to expand into other markets, such as streaming media. As a publicly-traded company, Twitter could be looking to rejuvenate a relatively stagnant stock.
Today, Twitter announces that its streaming video is no longer limited to your phones and tablets. Yes, folks, it is finally time for Twitter's video in your living room, as the company releases a free app for three popular TV-connected media devices -- Microsoft Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. While the experience on all three will be similar, it looks like Apple's device will be slightly better thanks to an exclusive side-by-side split-screen feature.
In less than a week Twitter will allow longer tweets
Twitter 140-character tweet limit has been one of its defining features for a number of years now. Originally introduced because of the limitation of SMS, the restriction has frustrated many users who find it too much of a constraint.
On 19 September it all changes. Unlike what it has done with Direct Messages, Twitter is not dramatically increasing the maximum length of a tweet, but it is changing what counts towards that limit. Images and other attachments, for example, no longer use up characters, leaving more for messages.
New features for Twitter Direct Messages transform it into a chat platform
The market for chat and messaging tools is a busy one, with the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and countless others all vying for attention. Keen as ever to appeal to as many users as possible, Twitter is constantly trying to reinvent itself, and it's currently doing this by revamping its Direct Messages feature.
Having already dropped the 140-character limit some time ago, Twitter has now introduced even more features that make it more chat-friendly. Among the changes is a typing indicator which lets chat participants know when others are responding to messages.
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