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.
Need personalized #Election2016 voting information? Direct message @Gov on Twitter
November 8, 2016 is Election Day, and I am excited. While neither of the two major presidential candidates are exceptional in my eyes, I have decided on one of them. It is my responsibility and duty as an American to vote, and when I cast my ballot for her/him, I will do so proudly -- not holding my nose as I pull the lever.
If you are still undecided about choosing a candidate, or simply don't know where to go to vote, I have good news. Twitter is making it all very easy. Simply direct message the @Gov account, and you can obtain useful information. You can also use the #Election2016 hashtag when tweeting about the election.
Suck this! Razer cuts Apple with below-the-belt MacBook Pro attack
The latest addition to the MacBook Pro range has seen Apple heaped with praise -- for the most part. While the reception has been largely positive, there have been pockets of criticism.
One thing for which the late-2016 MacBook Pro has been mocked is its lack of an SD card reader. Some critics have said that the absence of such a port means the laptop is not worthy of its 'professional' tag. Razer, the company behind high-end gaming laptops, today took to Twitter to take a swipe at Apple with a taunt that raised eyebrows and caused a degree of offense.
GIPHY has a tool to save all of your favorite Vines as GIFs
Twitter's decision to shut down Vine disappointed many people, but there was some reassurance that while it is not going to be possible to create any more Vines, existing ones will be saved on the website for the foreseeable future.
Recognizing the potential for things to change, GIPHY has announced that it is actively developing a tool that will make it possible to further safeguard the future of your favorite Vines. The animated GIF company is working on a tool that will convert Vines into GIFs. "Long live the loop!" exclaims the company.
Twitter shuts down Vine
Twitter today announced that it was doing everything it could to bring in some profit, and this was swiftly followed by the announcement that the company is to close down Vine.
Vines that have already been created will live on via the website, but the mobile apps will be shuttered, and no more Vines can be created. The precise date of the closure has not been revealed, but it is some time in the coming months.
Twitter shareholder letter: 'meaningful' safety update, machine learning, timeline changes, and redundancies
Twitter's troll and harassment problem is well-documented, and the social media site has faced mounting criticism over its apparent inability to keep users in check. In a letter to shareholders, Twitter today announced that it will be making "meaningful updates" to its safety policy -- but it doesn’t say what they might be.
The letter says that Twitter wants to "drive value" across three key areas: audience, content, and revenue. For the audience side of things, this means timeline tinkering and contextualizing content. For content, it means partnerships, streaming video and syndication. To make the most of revenue, some fat must be trimmed, and this means internal restructuring and job losses.
US Presidential debate launches latest Twitter meme
The US has perhaps grown used to the political season, complete with its ugly mudslinging. The name-calling-laced tirades become something that many just tune out, sometimes in fear for their own sanity. 2016 has become an example of gutter-talk that will be held up for many years and it has fueled late night comedians like no previous campaign.
If nothing else, the debates alone have kept Saturday Night Live relevant, though one candidate no longer thinks a show he once hosted is very funny anymore and has even stated that it should be taken off the air.
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.
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