Twitter announces new ‘transparency center’ for ads
Twitter is responding to political scrutiny over the role it may have played in spreading Russian misinformation, and to a bipartisan Congressional bill proposing new regulations for online ads, with some new initiatives of its own. So it’s launching an Advertising Transparency Center where users should be able to see all the ads running on Twitter, the content/creative of those ads,… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/4n0x2NSuifQ/
Facebook’s F8 conference returns to San Jose May 1-2, 2018
Facebook should have plenty to talk about, between augmented reality, new acquisitions, the Watch video tab and all its ongoing scandals with Russian election interference, fake news and News Feed reach. Today the company announced its annual F8 developer conference will return to San Jose’s McEnery Convention Center on May 1st and 2nd, 2018. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/Uo8O1xtzFLo/
Facebook finally adapts to 4K video
If you’re sick of your beautiful videos looking crummy on Facebook, there’s good news for you. After some super HD videos started popping up on the social network, Facebook now confirms to TechCrunch it’s testing 4K video uploads and viewing using the 2160p UHD-1 Ultra-High-Definition Television standard. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/4IGFwfdDrsQ/
Instagram now lets people add guests to live video streams
Make way for more talking heads. Instagram, competing hot on the heels of other live video broadcasting apps, is enhancing its video streaming service with a new feature that it hopes will bring out more videos both from those of its 800 million users who might be too shy to use the feature on their own, and from those who can’t resist an opportunity to be more social. Today,… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/S6HcTm8h4w0/
James Comey confirms he is Reinhold Niebuhr on Twitter
James Comey, the former FBI director who was abruptly fired in May, has seemingly revealed himself as Twitter user Reinhold Niebuhr.
In March, the account tweeted out the famous Anchorman meme — “Actually, I’m not even mad. That’s amazing!” — alongside a link to the FBI’s jobs website.
But how did anyone know to look at such a random and seemingly… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/pEKOTDRyPbg/
Omni storage now earns you money by renting out your stuff
“We want to change behavior around ownership on the planet,” says Omni co-founder Thomas McLeod. First, it built an on-demand storage business, where you can get things picked up from your place in as little as two hours, pay a monthly fee to store them depending on their size and get them temporarily returned to you for free whenever you need them. Now it wants to help you earn… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/s07AwV9y1M0/
Facebook releases new guidelines to address publisher concerns in its fight against fake news
Facebook has released new guidelines that outline how publishers can adapt to the company’s efforts to fight back against fake/false news and other low-quality content.
Head of News Feed Adam Mosseri unveiled the guidelines at an event this morning at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, where he said they don’t represent any changes to Facebook’s approach —… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/K9OTulVIGoY/
Another AI chatbot shown spouting offensive views
Yandex, Russia’s homegrown Google rival — which offers a suite of similar products in its target non-U.S. markets, from search to webmail to maps — outed another equivalent offering earlier this month: An AI assistant. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/WiZQd4stGsY/
In Europe, Facebook’s data law buffer looks to be on borrowed time
Facebook’s European business may not, for too much longer, be able to rely on its preferred privacy buffer of arguing that data protection oversight of its business is exclusively limited to the Irish watchdog on account of its European HQ being located in Ireland. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/yhYRN4LjQ34/
LinkedIn boosts its messaging with smart replies, pre-written, AI based interactions
LinkedIn — the Microsoft-owned platform for those who want to network with professional contacts and advance their own careers — has been in the middle of a long-term makeover of its social tools, as it looks to drive more usage. Today comes the latest chapter in that story: the site is unveiling a new smart reply feature in its messaging app, which gives users prompts with… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/s5EaciF48Mc/
Facebook downplays test banishing all Pages to buried Explore Feed
Facebook has caused a 60-80 percent drop in referral traffic to news outlets in six countries due to a test that removed Page posts from the News Feed and relocated them to a separate, hard-to-find Explore Feed. But now Facebook’s VP of News Feed writes “We currently have no plans to roll this test out further.” Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/jRGoOfi6o5w/
Facebook research automatically creates an avatar from a photo
Creating avatars. Who’s got time for it?! Computers, that’s who. You’ll never have to waste another second selecting your hair style, skin tone or facial hair length if this research from Facebook finds its way into product form. Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/aMjSc5gLOL4/
Snapchat dangles referral traffic with link sharing from other apps
In an update to Snapchat’s iOS app today, Snap began rolling out two important new features. You now can share links from other apps via the iOS share sheet, and rather than just turning live location sharing on or off permanently, you now can opt to hide in “Ghost Mode.” Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/b-Ny4NqB9DI/
GitHub’s scandalized ex-CEO returns with Chatterbug
Translation earbuds might eliminate some utilitarian reasons to know a language, but if you want to understand jokes, read poetry, or fall in love in a foreign tongue, you’ll have to actually learn it. Unfortunately, products like Rosetta Stone leave people feeling burned after claiming the process should be easy while never helping you practice talking with a real native speaker. You… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/zazMKDTyTXo/
Antisocial media?
As Facebook finds itself publicly on the hook for enabling Russian agents to spread divisive propaganda via its platform, be it in the form of fake news, ‘dark ads’, issue pushing Facebook pages, and even political rallies organized using its Event tools, there’s another side to the story of how tech tools are impacting the democratic process currently playing out in… Read More Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/uxzt-qRGsOA/
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/ Source: https://techcrunch.com/
