In light of an investigation from the Wall Street Journal, the company announced it will pause its project to create Instagram Kids.
Social Media
Twitter Introduces 'Tips' Feature Supporting Cryptocurrency
Twitter is rolling out a Tips feature to make it easy for people to tip their favorite Tweeters. It supports tipping with Bitcoin over the Lightning Network.
5 Decentralized Services for VPN, Web Browsing, Messaging, and More
One of the promises of blockchain is that it will enable Web3. While it may not be here yet, there are decentralized services you can use today.
Twitter Experiments With 'Communities' Feature for Shared Interests
Twitter is experimenting with a feature called Communities. It would let people tweet directly to others who share the same interests.
New Twitter Safety Mode Filters Replies, Blocks Accounts
Twitter is rolling out a new feature called Safety Mode. When you enable it for your account, it temporarily blocks accounts for seven days for using potentially harmful language or sending repetitive and uninvited replies or mentions.
You can find information about the Tweets flagged through Safety Mode and view the details of temporarily blocked accounts at any time. Before each Safety Mode period ends, you’ll receive a notification recapping this information. We won’t always get this right and may make mistakes, so Safety Mode autoblocks can be seen and undone at any time in your Settings. We’ll also regularly monitor the accuracy of our Safety Mode systems to make improvements to our detection capabilities.
I think a lot of things can be said about Twitter, but at least they’re trying (unlike Facebook).
Flipboard Gives People Tools to Prevent 'Doomscrolling'
Flipboard is rolling out a series of personalization tools to help people cut back on doomscrolling.
The company announced this morning the launch of a new controller on the cover of its own main newsfeed, aka the “For You” feed, which now allows users to select new topics to follow and deselect those they no longer want to hear about. The feature, which Flipboard dubs “an antidote to doomscrolling,” allows users to customize their For You feed to deliver a wider selection of stories related to their various interests, instead of focusing their home page on breaking news and politics.
OnlyFans Has ‘Secured Assurances’ and Suspends Porn Ban
Days after it announced that it will ban sexually explicit content on its platform, OnlyFans has reversed its decision. The pressure for this ban came from “banking partners and payout providers.” But as TechCrunch notes, the decision has been “suspended” which could mean the ban may not fully be canceled.
In response to the planned policy change, some creators had already deleted their OnlyFans accounts and moved to alternate services. With this recent reversal, creators will have to decide between returning to the platform or leaving it altogether for a rival service.
Also, not to be that guy but banks exerting financial pressure in cases like this is exactly what cryptocurrency can help with.
Here’s a List of Open Source Alternative Front-Ends to YouTube, Twitter, and Others
Someone on GitHub posted a project of a list that shares alternative, open source front-ends to proprietary services.
The Social Dilemma Now Streaming Free on YouTube
A controversial examination of the good, the bad, and the ugly (but mostly the bad and ugly) of social media is now available free to stream.
Twitter Hires Crypto Developer for Decentralized Network Project
Twitter has hired crypto developer Jay Graber to lead its efforts to build a decentralized social network, dubbed “bluesky.”
Reddit Adds Video Feed Button to its iOS App to Highlight User Videos
Reddit is rolling out a video feed button in its iOS app to let users view video content in a TikTok-like feed.
Facebook Bans Accounts of Researchers Investigating its Disinformation Problem
Facebook has banned the accounts of researchers who were studying the platform’s political ads and disinformation.
The tools were the subject of a long-running standoff between the social network, which claimed scraping violates its terms of service, and the researchers, who argued that more digital advertising transparency is essential to understanding and protecting elections.
Twitter for iOS Adds Support for Sign In with Apple
Twitter is rolling out support for privacy feature Sign In with Apple to its iOS app, as well as support for logging in with Google.
Twitter Tests New ‘Shop Module’ Feature for iOS Users
Twitter is piloting a new feature on Wednesday called Shop Module. It will let brands add a shopping section at the top of their profiles. The pilot is currently limited to iOS devices for people who use the service in English.
The Shop Module is a dedicated space at the top of a profile where businesses can showcase their products. When people visit a profile with the Shop Module enabled, they can scroll through the carousel of products and tap through on a single product to learn more and purchase — seamlessly in an in-app browser, without having to leave Twitter.
New Bill Would Remove Section 230 Protections for Social Media
Introduced on Thursday, a bill called the Health Misinformation Act would hold social media companies responsible for spreading health misinformation.
UK Man Joseph O’Connor Arrested for Hacking Apple’s Twitter Account
Joseph O’Connor, also known as “PlugWalkJoe” has been arrested for hacking Apple’s Twitter account in 2020. He also faces charges for “takeovers of TikTok and Snapchat user accounts.”
O’Connor openly identified himself as “PlugWalkJoe” and confirmed that the hackers had obtained Twitter credentials to take over the accounts via an internal company Slack. At the time, O’Connor was fairly bullish about his involvement and apparent safety, “They can come arrest me. I would laugh at them. I haven’t done anything,” he told the Times.
He had also compromised the Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, former President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, President Joe Biden, and a few others.
Audio App ‘Clubhouse’ Exits Beta With Over 10 Million Users
Clubhouse, the invite-only social audio platform, has exited beta on Wednesday. The new release is out today on iOS and Android and updates with appear every 1-2 weeks.
This means we have removed our waitlist system so that anyone can join. If you have a club, you can post your link far and wide. If you are a creator with an audience, you can bring them all on. If you’re hosting a public event, anyone can attend. You can bring close friends, classmates, family members, coworkers, and anyone else you like.
Tumblr Debuts ‘Post+’ Plan for Creators to Make Money
Tumblr has launched a subscription plan in beta called Post+. It’s a way to help creators make money by letting them charge for blogging access.
As a creator you’ll set up an account for payments in a quick and easy process. You’ll then be able to make a +Post (a post with a paywall), only viewable to you and your supporters. You’ll also be able to offer supporter-exclusive perks.
As a supporter, you’ll back the creators you love with a monthly subscription, giving you access to exclusive content and perks.
Instagram Launches Control for Viewing Sensitive Content
Instagram has launched a Sensitive Content Control feature for content that appears in the Explore tab.
This new feature gives you control over sensitive content. You can decide to leave things as they are or you can adjust the Sensitive Content Control to see more or less of some types of sensitive content. We recognize that everybody has different preferences for what they want to see in Explore, and this control will give people more choice over what they see.
New Twitter Feature Lets You Control Who Can Respond to You
Twitter is rolling out a new feature that lets users control who can respond to specific tweets.
Building on a 2020 feature that lets users choose who can reply when composing a message, this update could prove especially useful for folks whose posts receive unexpected attention or unwanted responses. Simply tap on the three-dot menu in the upper right corner of a tweet to modify the “Change who can reply” option.
New Russian Law Requires Some Companies to Have Offices in Country
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that requires foreign social media companies to open offices in the country.
Snap's Deal With Universal Music Group Lets Users Access Music
Snap Inc. and Universal Music Group have reached a deal that would give Snapchat users access to thousands of songs to share in messages and posts.
Snap users will be able to use songs from Universal in messages and posts in the app, the two companies said Thursday. Music fans also can share links to full songs from their streaming service of choice. Financial terms of the partnership, which includes new features that tout Universal artists, weren’t disclosed.
Twitter to Warn Mobile Users to Review Replies With Potentially Abusive Language
On Wednesday Twitter announced that it will roll out a feature for English-language users on iOS and Android about their tweets.
Twitter Launches Audio Conversation Feature ‘Spaces’
Twitter is one of the companies trying to complete with audio app Clubhouse. On Monday Twitter officially released its feature called Spaces centered around audio conversations.
Today, we’re bringing the ability to host a Space to all accounts with 600 or more followers on Twitter. Based on what we’ve learned so far, these accounts are likely to have a good experience hosting live conversations because of their existing audience. Before bringing the ability to create a Space to everyone, we’re focused on learning more, making it easier to discover Spaces, and helping people enjoy them with a great audience.