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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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18 Mar
8chan and the rabbit hole: Why driving extremism underground is vital to stopping it
The online forum 8chan has been in the news in relation to the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, as a key element in the radicalisation of far-right and white supremacist extremists.
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15 Mar
Facebook’s latest executive reshuffle reflects its focus on private messaging
A Facebook executive reshuffle will see Will Cathcart and Fidji Simo moving up the ladder, as product and WhatsApp executives Chris Cox and Chris Daniels announce their resignations.
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13 Mar
Spotify, Apple and digital competition: Complaint filed amid overhaul calls
Spotify has filed a complaint with the European Commission against Apple for using their leverage unfairly and stifling digital competition.
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12 Mar
30 years after Tim Berners-Lee created the web, is it too late to fix it?
Thirty years ago today, Tim Berners-Lee, then a research fellow at physics laboratory CERN, issued a proposal, titled “Information Management: A Proposal”.
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7 Mar
Could a blockchain Facebook alternative ever catch on?
With the phrase “if you’re not paying for it, you’re the product” now closely associated with the world of social networks, the assumption that compromising on privacy and data harvesting is the only way to access a free social network is now deep-rooted.
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7 Mar
While Russia sows discord online, China is on a PR offensive
China is using state-sponsored social media influence to create a distorted positive image of itself to the West, according to security researchers.
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5 Mar
95% of internet users don’t trust social media — and that could eventually hit revenues
Some 95% of internet users don’t trust social media companies, despite 37% of the world’s population having a social media account, with that figure as high as 77% in places such as the United States.
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27 Feb
Giving brands “virtual appeal”: How CGI is infiltrating mainstream media
It used to be a lot easier to know what was real and what was fake.
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27 Feb
Facebook regulation welcomed by 8 out of 10 UK consumers
Facebook regulation and wider laws concerning social media sites is looking increasingly likely.
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20 Feb
Facebook partners with Viasat to expand internet connectivity in rural Mexico
Facebook is collaborating with communications company Viasat in its latest bid to deliver high-speed internet to rural communities.
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20 Feb
How the anti-vax movement became a tech problem
According to the World Health Organisation, in 2018 there was a 30% increase in the number of reported measles cases worldwide.
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19 Feb
The SAFE Network: A dark web-style solution to the online privacy problem
The dark web is famous for keeping criminals anonymous and being used to trade drugs on forums like Silk Road using cryptocurrency.
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18 Feb
What could a code of ethics mean for social media in the UK?
The UK government’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee has published its long-awaited report on fake news and disinformation, calling for greater regulation of “digital gangsters” such as Facebook.
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18 Feb
Is Facebook being unfairly singled out over fake news?
The United Kingdom’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published its final report into disinformation and fake news, with Facebook at the centre of its fight to end “an era of self-regulation”.
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8 Feb
Could declining user numbers actually be good for Twitter?
Twitter may have made its first annual profit since it began 13 years ago, but it isn’t all good news for the social media site.
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7 Feb
Germany tells Facebook to stop mixing WhatsApp and Instagram data
Germany’s competition regulator has ordered Facebook to stop combining user data among its various services, such as WhatsApp and Instagram, without explicit consent.
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6 Feb
Snapchat is no longer losing users, but is this enough?
After a year dominated by reports of its rapidly declining popularity, Snapchat finally has something to celebrate.
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4 Feb
Facebook is 15: What could the future of Facebook hold?
Today marks Facebook’s 15th birthday, and like most unruley teenagers, the social media giant has seen its fair share of trouble.
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31 Jan
Large-scale study reveals what Gen Z wants from a digital world
Over the last decade, the generation retailers and media outlets alike have been fixated on is millennials.
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31 Jan
“Facebook is now not cool”: Why positive Facebook results aren’t enough
Yesterday’s Facebook results showed record profits for the social media giant, but as the company approaches its 15th birthday, there is trouble brewing.
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29 Jan
MIT study finds crowdsourcing effective in fighting fake news
With a study published in Science last year revealing that false stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted on Twitter than true ones, fake news, and its rapid distribution via social media, is an ever-growing problem for news outlets.
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25 Jan
Facebook WhatsApp merger has serious privacy implications for users
The Facebook WhatsApp merger poses serious privacy risks to users, and will require extensive work by the technology giant if it is not to run afoul of GDPR, a data security expert has said.
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23 Jan
Facebook FTC fine: “Zuckerberg might need to resume his apology tour”
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reportedly considering imposing a “record-setting fine” against Facebook for failing to protect users’ privacy in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
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18 Jan
Number of users affected by Twitter bug “may be larger than expected”
The number of people impacted by the Twitter bug that saw private tweets posted publically for years may be bigger than thought, according to a security expert.
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17 Jan
Snapchat shares tumble after CFO exit
Snap’s shares fell by almost 14% following the news that Snapchat CFO Tim Stone is leaving after being with the company for just eight months.
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16 Jan
Cambridge Analytica among most controversial companies of 2018
British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica has been ranked as the seventh most controversial company of 2018 by risk research firm RepRisk.
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15 Jan
Workplace by Facebook stands on the precipice of change
Facebook has struggled so far to monetise its business-focused version of itself, Workplace by Facebook, but a change of direction in security, leadership and pricing may see it successfully challenge its rivals in 2019.
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14 Jan
The majority of UK adults are unsure how to protect their online privacy
Data privacy stories exposing how the likes of Facebook and Google handle user data dominated the headlines in 2018.
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11 Jan
End-to-end encryption “likely to become standard” on social media as Snapchat becomes latest supporter
Snapchat has become the latest social media messaging platform to add end-to-end encryption, with the feature looking increasingly likely to become standard across the industry, despite law enforcement concerns.
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11 Dec
Over a quarter of Facebook employees think Sheryl Sandberg should stand down
Once praised for her outspoken avocation of women in business and even rumoured to be a future US political candidate, Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has somewhat fallen from grace.