Facebook and Instagram Now Let You See How Many Minutes You Use Them
Facebook and Instagram are giving users an idea of how much time they’re spending on the platform. The data shown details how many minutes users spend per day on the apps and gives a weekly average as well. But, while this is a noble quest to help us become more aware of how we spend […]
Facebook Opens Up Data for Election Research
Facebook’s recent involvement with London-based analytics firm Cambridge Analytica revolved around the 2016 Presidential election in the U.S. The controversy surfaced after it came to light that a developer sold data from his Facebook quiz app to Cambridge Analytica. Instead of plugging the data leak and fixing the problem at its root, Facebook recently opted […]
Facebook Removed 583 Million Fake Accounts Since the Start of 2018
Facebook’s recent embroilment with Cambridge Analytica has brought to light the importance of data privacy and transparency from tech giants like Google, Twitter, and Apple. No company is safe from consumer scrutiny, and that has been pushing tech companies to make changes in operations, data storage, privacy policies, and more variables surrounding user data. One […]
Everything You Need to Know from Facebook’s F8 Conference
A few days ago, Facebook held their annual developer conference, dubbed “F8” for Facebook’s 8-hour hackathons. This conference was highly-anticipated (for more than one reason, but mostly due to Facebook’s recent data scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, a data research firm). The event was held in San Jose, right outside of San Francisco. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced […]
Will Augmented Reality Drive the Next Big Social Media Platform?
It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that social media is going through a bit of a rough spot. More people than ever are abandoning Facebook over issues of data distrust. It also wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the development of augmented reality (AR) is still in its experimental stage. But one startup is […]
SXSW 2018 Tackled the Tough Topics Surrounding Tech
South by Southwest (SXSW) is many things to different people. But although it’s touted as the “the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries,” there is always one underlying central theme running through all of the various subject matters encapsulated in the event — progression. SXSW 2018 was no different in this regard. The past year […]
Human Nature Spreads Fake News Faster Than the Truth
Who’s to blame for the spread of fake news? Common suspected culprits are Russian bots and social media platforms propagating false information without any checks in place. A recent study from MIT hints at a more disparaging truth — we don’t have anyone to blame but ourselves. The Numbers Don’t Lie “Falsehood diffused farther, faster, deeper, […]
Blockchain Could Solve Social Media’s Problems
By now, you’ve probably heard of blockchain technology. Thrust into the spotlight last year, blockchain development forms the backbone of popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. In fact, many celebrated facets of Bitcoin are actually due to blockchain — security, decentralization, and validation all stem from this technology. But blockchain is quickly growing out of its cryptocurrency niche […]
Facebook Will Likely Have to Testify About Those Russian Ads
Any banking app developer online during last year’s contentious U.S. presidential election knows that the social media landscape was a mess. In the era of Facebook and Twitter, civic debate is now powered as much by memes and the dreaded fake news as much as it is an exchange of thoughts and ideas. But since […]
Tech Companies Stamp Out Neo-Nazis After Charlottesville
The events this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, shocked the nation, and Trump’s equivocating response threw salt in the wound. For many years now, the trend of political polarization has made common ground harder and harder to find, but it used to be that denouncing Nazis was as American as hot dogs, sparklers, and apple pie. […]