All too often the fact that human lives are increasingly enmeshed with and dependent on ever more complex, and ever more inscrutable, technologies is considered a good thing. Negatives don’t generally get dwelled on. And for the most part people are expected to move along, or be moved along by the tech. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/DITEFcs1LHU/
Researcher Emilio Ferrara talks about the rise of fake news and botnets
Emilio Ferrara has been thinking about botnets for over a decade. As the first social networks climbed out of the mire, he noticed that they were very easy to game. Now, it seems, all of those early tools have finally been weaponized.
I spoke to Ferrara about his research work as well as his fascinating study that found that Twitter bots can be used for good. In this episode of Technopia we… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/2kWpbL6Mu3A/
Facebook can unlock your account with facial recognition
Facebook has its own version of Apple’s Face ID. If you get locked out of your Facebook account, the company is testing a way to regain access by using your face to verify your identity. That could be especially useful if you’re somewhere that you can’t receive two-factor authentication SMS, like on a plane or while traveling abroad, or if you lose access to your email… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/_5UWyeyUawI/
After a 4% pop, Rovio closes at a lackluster €11.50, level with its IPO price
Rovio, maker of the Angry Birds gaming franchise, saw a small pop of 4.3 percent in its first day of trading as a public company, but like the very birds that get catapulted in Rovio’s original blockbuster game, the rise was not to last.
After pricing its IPO at €11.50 per share — the top of its range — to raise €30 million, today the stock opened on the Nasdaq Nordic… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/RwryezkFYX4/
Facebook partners with ZipRecruiter and more aggregators as it ramps up in jobs
Facebook has made no secret of its wish to do more in the online recruitment market — encroaching on territory today dominated by LinkedIn, the leader in tapping social networking graphs to boost job-hunting. Today, Facebook is taking the next step in that process. Facebook will now integrate with ZipRecruiter — an aggregator that allows those looking to fill jobs to post ads to… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/cukwqnIHNSU/
Twitter is briefing Congress today in election probe
Congressional investigations into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election are looking at the spread of misinformation on a number of online services — not just Facebook. In fact, Twitter is meeting with Congressional staffers today. Recode’s Tony Romm says Twitter’s Vice President of Policy Colin Corwell is currently in a closed-door meeting with the… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/Vyz-F9UHypc/
Tech giants pressured to auto-flag “illegal” content in Europe
Social media giants have again been put on notice that they need to do more to speed up removals of hate speech and other illegal content from their platforms in the European Union. The bloc’s executive body, the European Commission today announced a set of “guidelines and principles” aimed at pushing tech platforms to be more pro-active about takedowns of content deemed… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/sZJ_pIiIAXQ/
Anchor raises $10 million for podcast platform
A quarter of Americans listen to podcasts each month, but far fewer make them. Anchor is a startup that is looking to change that with its app that makes it easy to record and distribute content. Anchor also has a discovery platform, which allows users to find audio across categories like news, sports, music and tech. The New York-based team is announcing $10 million in Series A funding, led by… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/6YeLKsO5TyU/
Snapchat launches sponsored 3D World Lenses, starting with Blade Runner
Snapchat is taking its World Lenses augmented reality feature and opening them up to brands. Snap’s Imran Khan just announced the availability of the new advertising product on stage at Advertising Week New York, along with launch partners Warner Bros and Bud Light, both of which will be debuting branded 3D World Lenses as part of marketing campaigns. The new sponsored 3D World Lenses… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/IdwTp3U0_6I/
Facebook helps blood donation go viral
Facebook doesn’t just want to make it easy to sign up to be a blood donor from the News Feed. It’s also creating a special kind of post for requesting blood donations of a certain type in a certain location, and then notifying nearby donors that qualify. While many people are interested and willing to give blood, they might not know how to sign up, where to go, or have the… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/FT16AbVhsy8/
Zuckerberg details Facebook’s response to Puerto Rico’s humanitarian crisis
Tech companies — and the nation — have been slow to mobilize in response to the devastation wrought by last week’s catastrophic Hurricane Maria that decimated Puerto Rico, but today Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg detailed the company’s response. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/uQIvG64ncUA/
Mark Zuckerberg responds to Trump’s claim that ‘Facebook has always been against him’
What a country some of us live in. Earlier this morning, President Donald Trump said Facebook “was always anti-Trump.” Now, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has responded, posting on Facebook that the point of Facebook is to “give all people a voice and create a platform for all ideas.” Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/m0zsMmsnj30/
The brilliance of Amazon’s Echo sh*tshow
Whether you call it fragmentation or flexibility, there are now seven Amazon Echo devices from which to choose. Today Amazon launched a slew of new smart home devices, so there’s one for every conceivable use case. That leaves competitor Google Home looking like a one-size-fits-none solution. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/2e24MaLxIJA/
11 ways Facebook tried to thwart election interference in Germany
Facebook may have dropped the ball with the U.S. presidential election, but it was much better prepared for last weekend’s federal election in Germany. Today, Facebook outlined all its efforts to prevent malicious actors from meddling in the election. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/v47FCzXVBVM/
Trump calls Facebook “anti-Trump” so it goes soft on him
Trump may have found a way to tie Facebook’s hands as it investigates Russian interference into the election.
Without citing any evidence or even a reason, Donald Trump today declared that “Facebook was always anti-Trump”. That’s despite Trump’s campaign heavily relying on targeted Facebook ads during the election to rally citizens sympathetic to his brand of… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/VdAvj2JmObM/
Twitter’s Apple Watch app has disappeared
The big Twitter news currently may be the expansion of tweets to support 280 characters instead of just 140, but a number of Twitter users recently spotted another notable change, as well: the Twitter Apple Watch app has disappeared. The app’s iTunes App Store page no longer notes compatibility with the Apple Watch, and users who have updated to the latest versions of iOS and watchOS… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/ePig7D2pLiM/
Surreal wants to be the one-stop shop for 3D virtual objects
Don’t expect the ARKit app rush to end any time soon. MojiLala, the betaworks-backed marketplace for emojis and emoticons, is today launching their second app. Meet Surreal, a marketplace that lets users buy virtual objects. The app opens up to an outward-facing camera and lets users choose animated virtual objects, which they can place in a photo or video. Right now, Surreal only… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/gC4I0zKZSTA/
So why oh why is Twitter doing #280?
Late yesterday Twitter announced the unthinkable for time-pressed journalists everywhere by revealing it is testing doubling the character length of tweets. Farewell sweet brevity of 140chars. Hello pointless extra blah-blah-blah #280. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/UQCKub4dYuQ/
Twitter trials expanding tweets from 140 characters to 280
Twitter for the first time is expanding beyond its 140-character limit, the company announced today. The social network says it will now try out a longer limit of 280 characters in select languages, including English, in order to allow people to share their expanded thoughts without running out of room to tweet. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/8FLtsA-YRqM/
Workplace, Facebook’s enterprise edition, snaps up Walmart as a customer
Workplace — Facebook’s bid to take on the Slack, Microsoft and the rest of the players in the market of business chat and collaboration — is getting a big push today by way of a significant customer win. The company has signed on Walmart, the retailing giant and the world’s biggest employer with 2.2 million employees on its books. Walmart is rolling out Workplace to… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/plqEnJOvcQQ/ Source: https://techcrunch.com/
