WikiLeaks: 2017 will 'blow you away' and, no, Russia did not hack the US election
The hatred WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange feels towards Hillary Clinton is far from being a secret. During the election campaign, the non-profit organization leaked Clinton emails in the hope that it would destroy her presidential hopes -- and we all know the result of the election.
As we slide gently into 2017, the WikiLeaks Twitter account has turned on the ignition and is about to hit the accelerator. The tweet says: "If you thought 2016 was a big WikiLeaks year 2017 will blow you away". On top of this, Assange himself is due to appear in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, denying Russia's involvement in hacking DNC emails.
So you want to edit tweets? Jack Dorsey says the option is 'definitely needed'
Unlike Facebook, Twitter lacks the option to edit what you have posted in order to correct typos or other mistakes. It's something that has been the subject of complaints and discussion for years now, and Jack Dorsey is finally starting to listen.
Writing -- on Twitter, funnily enough -- just before New Year, Dorsey said that an edit function is "def needed. But for everyone, not just those w badges". At the moment it is not known whether the feature is due to arrive, but it's clearly something that Twitter is considering. Dorsey makes it clear that he understands the pros and cons of making tweets editable.
Periscope gets 360-degree video support
Periscope was not the first service to offer the ability to live-stream video on mobile, but its popularity and success was bred from simplicity. Since Twitter owns Periscope, the streaming service can easily access the social network's data, making sharing the streams very easy. Third-party services that depended on Twitter for its livelihood -- such as Meerkat -- were quickly shut-out and died.
While Twitter could rest on its laurels, the company is continually looking to make Periscope even better. Today, the live-streaming service gains a very cool new feature -- 360-degree videos. Unfortunately, there is a small catch.
US government starts asking foreign visitors for their Facebook, Twitter and other social media info
In a move that has drawn criticisms from privacy groups, the US government this week started to ask some foreign travelers arriving in the country to hand over their social media account details.
Since Tuesday, visitors to the US arriving under the visa waiver program have been asked if they will provide "information associated with your online presence". Travellers are prompted to provide their usernames for the likes of Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, and while the handing over of information is currently marked as "optional", it's not clear what the consequences of failing to provide it may be, or if there are plans to make it mandatory.
Twitter search gets an overhaul to place more emphasis on relevance
Twitter has given its search results a tweak just in time for the New Year. The change sees a move away from displaying tweets in reverse chronological order to showing them in order of relevance instead.
The company recognizes that the site is "live and real-time, so naturally Twitter search must surface recent, yet still relevant, results", so time of posting is still factored in to determine the display order -- it is just no longer the only factor used. With a dash of machine learning thrown in, Twitter thinks it has things sorted.
Electronic Frontier Foundation reveals its privacy and security wishlist for 2017
With the end of the year approaching, many people are looking back over 2016 and picking out the highlights. Others, however, are looking back to see what can be learned for 2017; this is exactly what digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation is doing.
EFF has drawn up a wishlist for 2017, outlining some of the things it hopes technology companies like Google, Twitter, Apple and Facebook will take action on. There are lots of familiar names on the list, and while some of the requests might seem a little hopeful, there is certainly scope for some of the changes to be implemented.
Did Trump's tech meeting snub Twitter for lack of #CrookedHillary emoji?
At a meeting in Trump Tower, the president-elect brought together leaders from the world of technology, telling them: "We’re going to make it a lot easier for you to trade across borders".
But while Donald Trump was quick to lavish praise upon the likes of Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and Tim Cook, Jack Dorsey (or, indeed, any representative of Twitter) was notable by his absence. The official story is that "the conference table was only so big", but there are reports that Trump is still riled by Twitter's unwillingness to create an anti-Clinton emoji to tie in with his #CrookedHillary election campaign.
Twitter apes Facebook and brings live video streaming to its mobile apps
Twitter is rolling out a new feature to iOS and Android users that enables users to broadcast live video from within the app. If this sounds rather familiar, it's because it's a feature copied from Facebook -- and something that is already offered by Twitter-owned Periscope.
But live video broadcasting on Twitter is not replacing Periscope, it is powered by Periscope. By moving live video direct into the app, Twitter acknowledges the importance that users place on the feature, something which has been proven by the popularity of Facebook Live videos.
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter join forces to fight terrorism
Terrorism is a daily threat to our freedoms. It is unfortunate, as we used to be able to go throughout our days without the thought of violence. Now, it dominates the news. Heck, when I am in Penn Station in NYC, I see soldiers with machine guns. Sigh.
Unfortunately, terrorists thrive on the internet too. Using social media and video platforms like YouTube, these evil-doers look to recruit new members while sharing propaganda. Today, Google announces that it is partnering with some major players -- Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter -- to fight online terrorism with a special database. The partners will look to protect user privacy in the process.
Right-wing Breitbart blocked by AppNexus ad exchange for hate speech
Right-wing website Breitbart -- the darling of the so-called alt-right movement -- has been blocked by a leading ad exchange. The site, home to Milo Yiannopoulos (also known as @Nero and banned from Twitter) will no longer be permitted to sell ad space via AppNexus.
The move comes after an audit by AppNexus found that Breitbart was in violation of its policies on hate speech and incitement to violence.
Twitter accidentally suspends its own CEO's Twitter account
It’s a funny time to be the CEO of a social media site. First Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was "Killed" by his creation (along with a bunch of other users), and yesterday for a short time, Twitter suspended the account of its CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey.
It may not be quite as bad as "killing" its CEO, but Twitter mistakenly suspending the account of the person who helped create it is still hugely embarrassing.
Could alt-right account bans spell the end of Twitter?
Abuse and trolling has been a serious problem for Twitter for some time and continues to be so. Various measures have been introduced to help with the issues, but now the site is going down a more drastic route, banning prominent alt-right accounts.
This is not something that is entirely new; earlier in the year Breitbart's Milo Yiannopoulos (also known as @Nero) was permanently banned from Twitter. In the wake of Donald Trump's astonishing rise to presidency, the alt-right movement has enjoyed a major boost. The question is, does Twitter risk cutting off too many of its users if it continues its alt-right cull?
Twitter expands Mute feature to help combat its troll problem
Twitter has promised for some time that it will do more to tackle the problem of trolling, abuse and harassment. Today, the company announces that it is expanding its Mute features, giving users the ability to mute keywords, phrases, and conversations.
This comes in response to feedback from people who have long-asked for a way to prevent notifications about topics they are not interested in, from people they don’t want to hear from, and so on. Twitter also says that it has retrained its staff and improved systems to make it easier and more efficient to report and deal with cases of abuse.
New emoji revealed: breastfeeding, vomiting, and naked sauna users
The emoji lexicon is one that continues to grow month after month, year after year. Once little more than a collection of smiley faces and a few symbols, there are now emoji representing just about everything imaginable -- and they're even considered works of art.
At the moment, Unicode is considering which of a number of proposed new emoji should be added to the collection in 2017. Included in the list of proposals are a swearing face, a vomiting face, an exploding head, emo hair, a breastfeeding mother, a hajib wearer and a couple of naked sauna users.
WTF?! Twitter saw a significant rise in swearing following Trump's win in US election
If you spend a lot of time on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, you probably thought Hillary Clinton was a shoo-in for president, and that Donald Trump had next to no chance of beating her.
As my colleague Ian Barker explains, social networks can create something of a bubble, that pops when the real world intrudes, as it did in both Brexit and the US election.
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