In its quest to show users exactly what they want to see, when they want to see it, Facebook is tweaking its news feed algorithm yet again, this time based on user polling. [More]
social media
Crackdown Coming For Stealth Social Media Ads
By 8.5.16
We’ve seen Warner Bros. get in trouble for paying YouTubers to hype a new game without properly revealing they were paid, and we’ve seen Lord & Taylor caught paying Instagram influencers to shill for a new dress. Yet our social media feeds are still overflowing with celebrities and semi-celebrities pushing products without disclosing that they are receiving a paycheck to do so. [More]
Pizza Hut Has Hired A Chatbot To Take Online Orders Via Twitter, Facebook Messenger
By 7.13.16
If I had a pizza for every time I had a conversation about pizza, no one would see me again because I’d be buried under a pile of pizzas. To capture the essence of that experience, sans pizza burial, Pizza Hut is launching a chatbot that will allow customers to order food in a “conversational” way. [More]
What Do You Do When All Your Instagram Photos Disappear?
By 7.11.16
From that time the cat wouldn’t stop attacking its reflection in the mirror, to the gargantuan bacon cheeseburger you ate last night, Instagram users post all kinds of memories on the photo-sharing site. So when Consumerist reader Dylan was suddenly faced with losing all his pictures, he was understandably upset. [More]
Warner Bros. Paid Popular YouTubers To Post Positive Clips About Video Game
By 7.11.16
Being a “social media influencer” must be a pretty sweet deal: People send you free stuff, and pay you money just in the hopes that you’ll say nice things about their products. Problem is, those companies can get into trouble if the influencers don’t properly reveal that they were paid for their commentary. [More]
Snapchat Sued Over “Sexually Offensive Content” From Its Media Partners
By 7.8.16
While many people might use Snapchat just to share photos and videos with friends, there’s also an area for brands and media companies to post content, which you can see in the app’s “Discover” tab. But according to a new lawsuit against the social media company, that feature is showing minors “sexually offensive content” without warning. [More]
Twitter Debuting Stickers That Act Like Hashtags For Photos
By 6.27.16
In a move to be more like the cool kids over at Snapchat, Twitter today unveiled a new library of stickers that can be added to photos, which can be searched like hashtags so you can make sure you’re doing social media right. [More]
Instagram Will Start Offering Translations For Captions, Comments, & Bios
By 6.23.16
If you’ve ever wondered what that Russian cat is actually saying in her Instagram captions, or what the real story is behind your favorite K-Pop star, you won’t need to step outside the social media service to translate those posts and bios anymore. [More]
Snapchat Users Will Now See Ads Between Their Friends’ Stories
By 6.14.16
Whenever a new social media company comes around, ad-free and full of vim and vigor with a select group of devoted users, it’s only a matter of time before that clubhouse for the cool kids starts opening itself up to the masses… which in turn, leads to advertisers banging on the door. Snapchat is the latest social company to join its peers in opening up that door a little wider to advertisers. [More]
Nearly 33 Million Twitter Passwords May Have Been Leaked
By 6.9.16
Days after Twitter said that it would investigate a rash of high-profile hackings by checking its data against what’s been shared in recent leaks related to MySpace, Tumblr, and other services, it appears that the passwords for almost 33 million Twitter users were part of a separate hack attack. [More]
Twitter Looking Into Rash Of High-Profile Hackings
By 6.7.16
Days after the king of the modern internet — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg — found several of his social media accounts in the hands of hackers, similar attacks have befallen the NFL and other high-profile Twitter accounts, leading the social network to investigate. [More]
This Is How You Fail At Sponsored Social Media Posts
By 5.20.16
We’ve written in the past about how it’s illegal not to disclose when you’re getting paid to post about a product on social media like. There was nothing under-the-radar about a recent sponsored Instagram photo reality TV person Scott Disick posted, however. [More]
Report: Twitter Will No Longer Count Links, Photos Against 140-Character Limit
By 5.16.16
While Twitter isn’t ready to expand its 140-character limit anytime soon, the social media may be willing to exempt photos and URLs from that per-Tweet allotment. [More]
Tell Us All About The Strange Things Facebook Mistakenly Thinks You’re Interested In
May 4, 2016
As you’re probably well aware, Facebook tracks its users all over the internet, building up a profile of their behavior so that advertisers can target them with a higher degree of precision. While sometimes the assumptions Facebook makes about your profile are accurate, other times it results in some very bizarre conclusions about what you are interested in. [More]
10-Year-Old Receives $10K Facebook Bug Bounty For Finding Instagram Comment Flaw
By 5.4.16
Since Facebook launched its bug bounty program in 2011, the social media company has divvied up more than $4.3 million, including the $10,000 recently awarded to a 10-year-old who found a vulnerability in Facebook-owned Instagram. [More]
Lawsuit Accuses Snapchat Of Negligence For Speed-Capturing Filter
By 4.28.16
On the list of dangerous and distracting activities you should not be doing while driving, Snapchatting behind the wheel is definitely up there, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been reminding everyone this month on social media with the #justdrive hashtag. Nevertheless, the lure of a Snapchat filter that displays your speed can prove too strong for some drivers, resulting in at least one accident.
[More]
Facebook Might Allow Some Users To Add A Virtual Tip Jar To Their Posts
By 4.20.16
If you’ve ever ended what you thought was a particularly witty or entertaining Facebook status update with, “Thanks, folks, I’ll be here all week!” you may have wished you could earn extra cash with such a great comedic performance. Facebook may just allow that to happen with a “tip jar” feature it’s currently toying with. [More]
Facebook Now Lets Users Comment On Posts With A Video
There are some moments when a Facebook post cannot be answered in words, or even a photo. For those times, users can now respond to posts through the art of the moving image. In other words, video comments are coming. [More]