You can now PayPal friends in Messenger and get help via chat
PayPal users in the U.S. will now be able to send and receive person-to-person payments over Facebook Messenger, the company announced this morning. The deeper integration with Messenger’s platform, which will also include PayPal’s first customer service bot for handling customer questions and requests for help, follows a series of tie-ups between the two companies. Last year,… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/x2NWI90CgHo/
Twitter bans ‘Hateful Display Names’ and shares Safety road map
Twitter has committed to a specific timeline for rolling out changes to its Safety features, and announced new policies, including a ban on hateful display names, and improvements for second-hand “witness reporting” of abuse. By January, Twitter plans to have implemented all the abuse changes outlined in the internal email published by Wired earlier this week, as well as the new… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/VeHHk29E5Ic/
Facebook attacks Pinterest with ‘Sets’ of posts
Identity is prismatic. You show different sides of yourself to different friends in your life. Now Facebook wants to let you share the niches of your interests while stealing thunder from Pinterest’s boards. Facebook is now testing a feature called Sets that lets you select several status updates, photos or videos and share them as a themed collection to everyone or specific friends. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/VEF4nBwWU5k/
Facebook Messenger lets games monetize with purchases and ads
Facebook is finally giving developers a reason to build games for Messenger while also opening a new revenue stream for the chat app. After launching HTML5 ‘Instant Games’ inside Messenger, like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Words With Friends Frenzy in November 2016, today Facebook is allowing developers to add in-app purchases as well as interstitial and rewarded video ads. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/GUAMJ6jhG6A/
Facebook is now testing paywalls and subscriptions for Instant Articles
A few months ago we reported that Facebook may begin testing paywalls and subscriptions for Instant Articles beginning in October. Well now it’s October, and surprise – Facebook has started testing subscription support for instant articles! Here’s how it will work: Facebook will start with two paywalled options for publishers to choose from: The first option is a metered… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/CvQmIuT--OM/
Truffle now lets you share your food tips via iMessage
While you’ve already got Yelp and other apps to help you figure out where to eat, Truffle is designed specifically for sharing recommendations with friends and other people you know. A new update should make that sharing even easier. The big addition is an iMessage app, which means (you guessed it) that Truffle is now integrated with iMessage. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/Yd1PsjSIFGM/
Facebook and Google competed for anti-immigration ad dollars during the 2016 election
In a textbook illustration of the conflict of interest between Facebook and Google’s ostensible dedication to free speech and their ostensible espousal of progressive values, the internet giants reportedly took millions in advertising money from a major anti-immigration group at the same time as both were engaged in pro-immigration advocacy. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/Axpiq7yIRvc/
Facebook’s response to Russian election interference: ‘Bad things happen’
Facebook has come under fire for its role in influencing the U.S. presidential election, particularly when it comes to “fake news” and Russian-sponsored ads. When asked about this at WSJ D.Live in Laguna Beach on Wednesday, Facebook VP David Marcus at first deflected, talking at length about all the positive impacts that the social media giant has had on the world. “When… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/u_dKPmc2gUE/
Facebook officially rolls out its discovery-focused ‘Explore Feed’
Facebook’s tests of an alternative News Feed dubbed the “Explore” feed have progressed to a full rollout, the company now confirms. Previously available on mobile devices in the main navigation, Facebook’s new Explore Feed is now appearing for users on the desktop, as well. Facebook tells TechCrunch this is the beginning of the official rollout of the Explore feed. On… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/UdWqZlJzuHA/
Twitter is done with hate symbols and violent groups
Twitter, a platform infested with trolls, hate and abuse, can be one of the worst places on the internet. As a followup to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s tweetstorm last week, in which he promised to crack down on hate and abuse by implementing more aggressive rules, Twitter is gearing up to roll out some updates in the coming weeks, Wired reported earlier today. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/YC-I-A6SmY8/
WeChat begins censoring users ahead of China’s National Party Congress
Expect to see plenty of censorship news coming out of China over the next week. The country’s National Congress is a hugely influential political summit that takes place every five years, and includes the selection of central party leadership. It is also a time when Chinese censors are on high alert, particularly when it comes to online media. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/yCuOta-6GXE/
Facebook’s Building 8 head, Regina Dugan, is leaving the company
Facebook’s Regina Dugan, who led the company’s secretive Building 8 hardware lab, is leaving the company after just 18 months in the role. Dugan detailed in a Facebook post that she would be leaving to focus on “building and leading a new endeavor.” She will be staying in her position until “early next year” to help the team transition into 2018. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/o3AGINtYno4/
Vine’s founders are back with HQ, a live trivia game show app
“It’s a way to give people a chance to have fun, maybe win, maybe learn something new.” That’s how former Vine co-founder Rus Yusupov describes his new trivia game show app HQ, which feels like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire meets Facebook Live. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/ar2QnfhIjvU/
SelfMade helps you post better photos online
SelfMade brings professional photo editing to your phone — yes, literally. The startup, which is announcing that it has raised $11 million in funding, was founded by CEO Brian Schechter and CTO Zach Lloyd. Schechter was previously co-founder at IAC-acquired dating startup HowAboutWe, and he points to HowAboutWe as the starting point for his interest in photo editing. After all, he… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/n22F8WBPc4A/
UK spies using social media data for mass surveillance
Privacy rights group Privacy International says it has obtained evidence for the first time that UK spy agencies are collecting social media information on potentially millions of people. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/XVt7R2H3nek/
Twitter introduces a new video-centric ad format
While there’s a larger debate swirling around Twitter’s problems with abuse and harassment, the business side of the business is still chugging along. Today, the company is unveiling a new ad format called the Video Website Card, which it describes as “a creative format that combines the power of video with the ability to drive users back to a site to learn more or take action… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/gliRyI2AiOk/
Snap and NBCUniversal team up on Snapchat scripted shows
Snapchat parent co. Snap is working with NBCUniversal on its first scripted series, with an initial effort led by the Duplass Brothers – Mark and Jay, to those in the know. The duo will create scripted programming for Snapchat through Donut, their own creative production venture. It’s maybe a weird choice for Snap and their youthful audience, but it’s a team with a proven… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/ZWpXnV-_X3Y/
Facebook tests a resume “work histories” feature to boost recruitment efforts
As LinkedIn ads in video and other features to look a little more like Facebook, Facebook continues to take on LinkedIn in the world of social recruitment services. In the latest development, Facebook is testing a feature to let users create resumes — which Facebook calls a “work histories” feature — and share them privately on the site as part of their job hunt.… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/A5uBNajo9k8/
Facebook acquires anonymous teen compliment app tbh, will let it run
Facebook wants tbh to be its next Instagram. Today, Facebook announced it’s acquiring positivity-focused polling startup tbh and will allow it to operate somewhat independently with its own brand. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/yGNFK-7C4D8/
Silenced by ‘free speech’
There’s a fundamental incongruency between being pro ‘free speech’ and operating a global social network for civil public discussion. Twitter is struggling with it. Facebook is struggling with it, too. And it can’t be solved by a little more transparency or by hoping average citizens will do the right thing. The principle of free speech on which the United States… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/urFIv0yM-uM/ Source: https://techcrunch.com/
