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Social media and online
The latest social media news and insight on the changing internet. Verdict covers the developing technology of social media and the online world, from regulations to innovations and the business beyond. Social media has seen dramatic maturation in recent years, but has faced an increasingly challenging time as its true impact is felt. So what does the future hold?
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6 Sep
It’s Facebook official: The social media network’s foray into online dating
In 2003, student Mark Zuckerberg launched Facesmash, a website that allowed his fellow students at Harvard University to choose the “hottest” of two people based on photos.
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6 Sep
Have you heard the Amazon is on fire? The power of social media in awareness raising
Forest fires happen annually in the Amazon as a result of forest life cycles, but this year the Amazon rainforest is burning at 84% the rate it did last year, according to the Brazilian Space Agency.
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5 Sep
@Boris Johnson has left the group: WhatsApp in Westminster
From fake news to Facebook, WhatsApp has attracted the media spotlight for a number of reasons.
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5 Sep
Exposed Facebook phone numbers risk SIM jacking and robocalls
An unprotected online server has exposed more than 419 million phone numbers linked to Facebook accounts, potentially putting users at risk of cyberattacks.
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5 Sep
Social networks have “profound effects on voting outcomes”, study finds
Social networks can have “profound effects on voting outcomes”, according a study by researchers at The University of Houston and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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3 Sep
Firefox doubles down on privacy with default cookie tracking blocker
Firefox has strengthened its position as the browser for online privacy protection with a new default feature that not only blocks third-party tracking cookies but also prevents web-hosted cryptominers.
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3 Sep
Facebook ‘hide likes’ feature: Part of the social media giant’s privacy offensive?
Social media platform Facebook is reportedly building a feature to hide ‘likes’ in a bid to discourage users from comparing the popularity of their posts with other users.
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2 Sep
Gab social media study: Alt-right users show elitism and extreme social hierarchy
Alt-right-linked social media platform Gab has been found to show extreme social hierarchy and elitism among its users, when compared to Twitter, according to research published by online journal First Monday.
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23 Aug
Technology and the contemporary artist: An interview with Bryan The Girl
New Haven, Connecticut-based professional artist and educator Bryan Schiavone, known by her huge online following as Bryan The Girl, is recognised for her pen-and-ink crosshatching style, a method that dates back to the Renaissance to add depth and texture to drawings.
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21 Aug
New Instagram rule post is a hoax… It can already use your pictures
A viral post has spread across Instagram claiming that the social media platform will be able to “use your photos” from tomorrow.
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16 Aug
Sorry Facebook, you can’t claw back the public’s trust with a pop-up café
Facebook has announced that it will be opening pop-up Facebook Cafés across the United Kingdom, in an apparent bid to improve its image in the wake of numerous privacy scandals.
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15 Aug
This tool tracks how Elon Musk’s tweets impact the Tesla stock price
From announcing his ambitious plan to build a cyborg dragon, to telling the world that he would take Tesla private at $420 a share – a reference to cannabis culture – Elon Musk’s Twitter feed offers plenty of amusement.
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12 Aug
Facebook increases investment in Meesho in $125m funding round
Social media giant Facebook has increased its investment in reselling platform Meesho, as India’s ecommerce market continues its rapid growth.
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5 Aug
Cloudflare drops 8chan as thorny topic of online freedoms returns
Internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare has terminated the service it provides for far-right imageboard site 8chan in response to it being used to publish the manifesto of the alleged El Paso shooter.
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31 Jul
Full Fact asks Facebook to clarify machine learning fact-checking plans
Fact-checking charity Full Fact has recommended that Facebook be more open about how it intends to use artificial intelligence (AI) to flag fake content on its platform.
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30 Jul
Big tech must be prepared for stricter data privacy regulation: Report
Data privacy regulation will be the biggest threat to the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple over the next few years, according to a report by data and analytics company GlobalData.
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25 Jul
Facebook Ad Library API had “major bugs” during EU elections
A tool built by Facebook to increase the transparency of political adverts placed on its platform contained “12 major bugs” that prevented it from working as intended during May’s EU parliamentary elections, according to research by Mozilla.
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25 Jul
Facebook FTC fine in numbers: How does it compare to past fines, and how will it impact the tech giant?
Facebook has come to an agreement with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to pay a $5bn fine in order to end an investigation into possible consumer privacy violations.
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10 Jul
The Bank of Amazon: How big tech is disrupting banking
The announcement that Facebook was entering the world of cryptocurrency through the launch of Libra has certainly sent shockwaves through the tech sphere, with its future as the “global currency” hotly debated.
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5 Jul
Amazon at 25: What could the next 25 years have in store?
On the 5th of July 1994, Princeton graduate Jeff Bezos founded Cadabra, an online book store based in the garage of Bezos’ home in Washington.
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5 Jul
Presidents, parliaments and parties – how social is driving a new age of TV
In an age of ‘Netflix and chill’ it’s easy to imagine linear television being shoved under the covers.
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3 Jul
Social media strike: latest call for decentralised social media
Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger has called for “people with serious grievances against social media” to go on strike from social media for two days to “demand that giant, manipulative corporations give us back control over our data, privacy, and user experience”.
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2 Jul
UK falls to 34th place in global broadband speed ranking
Last year, the number of fixed broadband subscribers passed one billion worldwide for the first time ever.
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26 Jun
Instagram’s in-app shopping is “another sign of the changing nature of shopping”
Head of Instagram, and former Facebook executive, Adam Mosseri has outlined his ambitions to “connect the dots thoughtfully” and introduce in-app shopping to photo sharing platform Instagram, the Financial Times has reported.
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26 Jun
Is the internet too fragile for Google Stadia?
The first generation of game consoles opened a brand-new method of entertainment and since then, technological innovations have brought more people together across the world through gaming.
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14 Jun
Could zombie-survival e-learning boost your business?
Forbes estimated in 2018 that the e-learning industry will be worth £225bn by 2025, supported by a sharp increase in the number of entrepreneurs entering the marketplace.
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14 Jun
‘Fishwrap’ campaign recycles old terror news to sow discord
A misinformation campaign is presenting old terrorism news as new in an attempt to sow discord and uncertainty, according to threat analytics firm Recorded Future.
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10 Jun
Canada gets Facebook ad transparency tool ahead of election
Facebook has launched an ad transparency tool in Canada to tackle foreign political interference in the country’s upcoming federal election, taking place in October this year.
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4 Jun
Tesla blocks access to anonymous workplace chat app Blind amid crackdown on employee leaks
Tesla has begun blocking its employees from accessing anonymous workplace chat app Blind, according to its developers, in an apparent attempt to protect against employee leaks.
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31 May
Gen Z marketing: walking the fine line between personalisation and privacy
It’s safe to say that marketing teams today are almost unrecognisable to teams a mere decade ago.