Restaurants may soon have chefs who know all about you before you walk in the door
Chef Eric Rivera started serving multi-course meals to two people at a time inside his home. He recently expanded with Addo, a combination of restaurant and incubator for unestablished chefs and bakers. Using Instagram, a ticketing system, and questionnaires, Rivera thinks he has some ideas on how young chefs can attract new customers.
A lot less clutter! Twitter relaunches purely chronological timeline
If you still miss the reverse-chronological timeline that Twitter ditched two years ago and are fed up with all of the extra tweets in your timeline, there's some good news for you. You now have the option to once again see the most recent tweets first without any of the algorithm-generated clutter.
Facebook is paying cash rewards if you find vulnerabilities in third-party apps
Determined to put its recent data scandal firmly behind it, Facebook says it's expanding its bug bounty program to third-party apps and websites that could potentially misuse its data. Researchers are invited to report vulnerabilities they find with services that let people log in with their Facebook credentials.
Instagram’s shopping stickers for businesses see wide rollout
As the Stories format continues to grow, Instagram is allowing users to shop the items inside a Stories photo or video. Instagram recently expanded stickers that let people shop inside a Story by tapping on the sticker. The update expands Instagram shopping from tags in the news feed to Stories.
Twitter makes it easier to find and watch live broadcasts
Twitter is promoting livestreams and broadcasts on its service. Rolling out globally, live video broadcasts from accounts that you follow will now appear at the top of your timeline. They'll only start playing when you tap on them, and you can hide them from your timeline in a couple of taps.
Facebook expands fact-checking net to try to catch doctored photos and videos
Facebook is now fact-checking images and video along with articles, using third-party organizations. New A.I. helps flag potential fakes for human review, but user flags and comments still help recognize what content might not be accurate.
As Twitter and Facebook growth slows, Pinterest hits 250 million users
Pinterest is now home to 250 million active users, despite a pattern of slowed growth and even reduced numbers among the latest reports from other networks. Pinterest also now boasts more than 175 billion pins and growth in several different categories.
Yesterday’s viral celebrities, where are they now?
Viral videos are a thing we have come to know and love, but whatever happened to the first viral video stars? From a man who really loves Britney Spears to a young girl who really liked Fridays, we take a look at 10 viral videos from the past and what those stars are up to today.
Snap tries again — Snapchat Spectacles 2 have a new look
Snapchat has launched a new version of its Spectacles camera-equipped sunglasses -- and now the same tech comes in different styles. Spectacles 2 are water resistant, come in different colors, and are thinner and sleeker than their predecessor. They'll set you back $150-$200 if you're interested.
Vimeo thinks regular stock video stinks, launches alternative for creatives
When creators told Vimeo existing stock video options weren't enough, the video platform decided to launch its own. Vimeo Stock includes exclusive content from filmmakers and animators, while creators are being promised a higher-than-average cut of the revenue.
Instagram said to be prepping a stand-alone shopping app
Enjoy shopping on Instagram? If a report this week is to be believed, the Facebook-owned company is in the middle of building an app dedicated to ecommerce, which could provide a new home for the 25 million businesses that already use the main app. Instagram introduced shopping to its app in 2016.
Are Facebook, Instagram taking a Labor Day break? Users report downtime globally
Facebook, the world’s number one social media platform, and subsidiary Instagram are apparently taking some holiday breaks on Labor Day. As of this writing, Facebook and Instagram were facing more than 30 minutes of downtime, with Twitter users taking to their feeds to share the news.
How to Use Facebook: The unofficial user manual
With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become the go-to social network. If you're new to the site, or are interested in some of the basics of the site, you may have some questions about how all this Facebook stuff works. Our guide will get you liking, sharing, and posting in no time.
Instagram now lets everyone apply for a verification badge
If you're a prolific Instagrammer with lots of followers, you now have a better chance of getting yourself a verification badge as the photo-sharing service now lets you apply for it from within the app itself. Instagram is also adding detailed "About" pages, and support for third-party authenticator apps.
How to make money on Instagram (even if you don’t have a bajillion followers)
You see the posts all over you're feed: #sponsored. But how do they actually make money, and do you have to have thousands of followers before you get started? Learn the different options for cashing in and how to create a strong profile with our guide on how to make money on Instagram.
Google responds to Trump’s tweet-rage: We didn’t rig search against you!
President Trump is waging a new war with Google. Early Tuesday morning, August 28, Trump accused Google of political bias in its search results. Trump claims that Google is using its position to suppress the voice of conservatives, a view that Google denies.
Facebook responds to Myanmar genocide report, bans accounts that reached millions
The UN has released a report accusing the military in Myanmar of crimes against humanity -- and Facebook banned 20 people and organizations shortly after. The social network is widely used in the country and was criticized for a slow response after false news on the network sparked a riot.
YouTube expands unskippable ads to more creators
More ads, or at least ads you can't avoid, are coming to YouTube. The company has announced that it is now offering unskippable ads to all content creators who are currently eligible for video monetization. This will likely mean that you'll be seeing more unskippable adds soon.
College students — Instagram is testing a new feature that’s just for you
Instagram is testing a feature that helps students connect with others studying at the same college. If a student chooses to join their group, they'll have access to their particular community, allowing them to send direct messages to community members and view Stories straight from the group list.
Amazon is paying employees to tweet nice things about its warehouses
Amazon is paying employees to say nice things on Twitter about working in the company's fulfillment centers following reports of poor working conditions. The "FC Ambassador" accounts all share a standardized format and make similar, positive comments about working for Amazon.
Algorithm outperforms humans at spotting fake news
Researchers have created an A.I. system that can tell the difference between real and fake news — often with better success rates than its human counterparts. Such a system may help social media platforms and search engines filter out articles meant to misinform.
MIT, Adobe’s new A.I. could bring one-click background removal, social filters
Separating objects from the background is a time-intense process used in a number of different photo edits. But MIT, Adobe, and Microsoft recently published research that could eventually turn the process into a one-click, easy edit. Here's how the A.I. works.
Spurred by a federal discrimination lawsuit, Facebook is cleaning up ads
HUD has filed an official complaint claiming Facebook's ad targeting options violate discrimination laws, saying Facebook hasn't done enough to stop discriminatory housing ads on the network. Facebook has responded, saying it would be removing 5,000 ad-targeting options.
Facebook has suspended hundreds of Cambridge Analytica-like apps
Experts predicted that the app behind the Cambridge Analytica scandal, thisisyourdigitallife, wasn't the only one using third-party app permissions to underhandedly track user data. Now, the social network has suspended 400 apps pending further investigation into their data use.
Facebook, Twitter boot accounts tied to Iran, Russia for coordinated deception
Around a million users followed Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to coordinated groups that misrepresented themselves and had ties to Iran and Russia. The social networks said that the groups were removed for coordinated deception. Many of the accounts were based in Iran.
Facebook’s ‘trustworthiness’ scores weed out fake news, false user reports
Do you report posts that are actually fake, or just the ones that you don't agree with? Facebook is now keeping track. Users who have a higher "trustworthiness" score will get flagged posts reviewed sooner than users who just report posts they don't like. Don't expect Facebook to reveal your scorecard, though.
The top 10 most-Instagrammed locations are bound to give you the travel itch
Looking for inspiration for your next destination? Here are the top 50 destinations in the Americas, according to Instagram hashtags anyways. From Disney to Yosemite, these are some of the most Instagrammed locations to visit (or to avoid for something more original).
Instagram’s test of Recommended Posts is designed to not interrupt your feed
Instagram is testing Recommended Posts -- but it's not what you're thinking. Unlike Facebook's feature, the posts won't be inserted into the middle of the feed. Instead, the suggestions pop up once you've seen everything else from your network feed.
Tinder wants to help you make friends at school this year with Tinder U
Going back to school not only means new classes, textbooks, more -- it also means new friends. To help make socializing less overwhelming, Tinder is launching Tinder U -- for students. The new feature is only available for iOS users attending a four-year accredited college or university in the U.S.
Airport’s low-tech solution to digital chaos involves the humble whiteboard
A U.K. airport has suffered a major computer error, caused by data connection problems, which has stopped flight boards from showing crucial passenger information including flight gate numbers. The solution is wonderfully low-tech, proving the old ways of doing things still have a place.
18 seconds of fame: Giphy’s quirky new GIF film festival has a $10K prize
Got a knack for creating GIFs? Someone is going to win $10,000 for a video that's 18 seconds or less at the Giphy Film Festival. The new contest is set to recognize the top creator for the short micro-films, with or without sound, in five different categories. The festival is open to entries until September 27.
New deal suggests Facebook is looking to add sweet interactive tools for Live
Facebook now owns a company that specializes in creating interactive live video experiences with polls, viewer comments, and more. Vidpresso says the change will help it bring the interactive tools to more users. The move suggests that Facebook users could soon be seeing more tools for Live.
Instagram hackers are changing account info into Russian email addresses
Have you logged in to your Instagram lately? A hack circulating this month has Instagram users locked out of their accounts because a hacker changed all the profile data, according to a report. Instagram, however, says it hasn't seen an increase in the number of hack reports.
Kids can now initiate a friend request on Messenger Kids by using a password
Facebook's messaging app for the under-13 crowd required parents, not kids, to initiate the process of adding a friend. Now kids can start the process by using a unique passphrase -- a feature that still requires parental approval on both sides. The feature began rolling out today.