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Facebook Tests Limiting News Feed Access To Just Advertisers

While lots of people still get their news by regularly reading certain sites, doing searches to find stories of interest, or through any of the countless aggregating platforms, Facebook has increasingly become many content producers’ most important source of traffic. And while some sites pay to have their stories inserted into Facebook users’ news feeds, others are reaping the benefit of social sharing without paying Facebook a dime. In a move ostensibly intended to declutter users’ feeds, but seen by some as a way to strong-arm content companies into advertising, Facebook is now looking to possibly limit primary news feed access only to those sites that pay to be there.  [More]

Facebook

Facebook May Go For LinkedIn’s Jugular With New Resumé Features

While Facebook is, by far, the dominant “social” networking site, it’s rarely used for professional networking. Instead, people go to places like Microsoft’s LinkedIn when it comes time to look for a job or just put their resumés out there. But in Facebook’s quest to be all things to all users, it is testing new features that mimic much of what you’d see on LinkedIn. [More]

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Increased Use Of Machine Learning, Facial Recognition Outs Sex Workers’ Real Names

If you operate a video-sharing site with millions of user-uploaded clips, it sounds like a great idea to use software that is smart enough to identify some of the faces in those videos. The clips would be indexed more accurately, you might be able to more readily identify copyrighted content, but you could also be risking the privacy — and maybe the physical well-being — of those identified by the software. [More]

You Can Now Order Food From Within Facebook

You Can Now Order Food From Within Facebook

Facebook wants to be your portal to the world. It’s where you can connect (in a sense) with others, keep up with current events (through the filters of you and your friends’ personal biases), watch videos (of people doing their versions of videos previously posted by others)… and also order lunch. [More]

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Facebook Announces ‘Oculus Go,’ A Cheaper, Standalone VR Headset For $199

Despite the technological leaps forward in virtual reality, VR headsets have not yet caught on with the mass market. That may have something to do with the better ones being prohibitively priced and requiring a connection to a computer, while the less expensive ones require you to use your phone for the screen. Facebook is hoping to finally hoping to bring VR to a bigger audience with Oculus Go, a headset with a moderately affordable price point and no need to purchase a powerful PC or kill the battery on your phone. [More]

Facebook

Everyone Gives Facebook Their Data, But Nobody Trusts Facebook With It

Facebook is one of the biggest companies in the entire world. More than 26% of the entire population of Earth uses it, in one way or another, including roughly 230 million Americans… but it seems that the vast majority of us are aware that although we let Facebook have our data, we shouldn’t trust them with it. [More]

Facebook Launching Messenger Lite In The U.S. — But Only For Android Users

Facebook Launching Messenger Lite In The U.S. — But Only For Android Users

If you don’t need a special selfie lens that puts a wagging animals ears and a pink cartoon tongue onto your face when you’re communicating with your friends — or just want to save on mobile data — Facebook is now launching its Messenger Lite Android app in U.S. [More]

吉姆 Jim Hofman

Facebook May Soon Let You Unlock Account With Your Face

While two-factor authentication is a very handy tool for regaining access to your accounts if you get locked out or forget your password, sometimes getting a text message or an email isn’t possible. That’s why Facebook has confirmed it’s looking into using facial recognition as a way to verify a user’s identity. [More]

Kardashians & Jenners Continue Posting Stealth Ads, Despite Warnings

Kardashians & Jenners Continue Posting Stealth Ads, Despite Warnings

The federal government has repeatedly advised both advertisers and celebrities that it’s against the law for someone to advertise a product without disclosing that it’s an ad or that the celeb was compensated. Yet it looks like reality TV’s most well-known family either didn’t get that memo or is choosing to ignore it.  [More]

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Facebook Launching Crisis Center To Put Safety Check, Fundraising In One Place

Facebook knows that when a natural disaster or other major crisis hits, many people turn to social media to connect with loved ones, ask for or offer help in their communities, and raise money for charitable causes. The company is now putting all of those tools in one place. [More]

Facebook

Facebook, Census Bureau Disagree About U.S. Population

Big data isn’t an entirely new concept: We have an entire division of the U.S. government dedicated to quantifying our nation’s population, and the Census Bureau has been doing so in its current form since 1902. The scope, quantity, and granularity of the data has changed, though, and Facebook in particular specializes now in knowing pretty much everything about everyone. But someone is clearly wrong, because the two have population estimates that just don’t match. [More]

Facebook

Is A Facebook ‘Friend’ The Same As A Real Friend, Legally Speaking?

Thanks to Facebook, the term “friend” has been stretched far beyond its traditional definition. Many Facebook users have “friends” they have never met in person, haven’t seen in years or decades, know very little about, and who you may actually find objectionable in spite of the “friend” designation. That’s why, according to one Florida appeals court, being someone’s Facebook friend is no indication of any genuine familiar or intimate connection to that person. [More]

Facebook Cracking Down On Video Clickbait In The Newsfeed

Facebook Cracking Down On Video Clickbait In The Newsfeed

If you’ve ever clicked on what looks like an interesting video promising “17 Ways You’re Eating Cheese Wrong,” only to find yourself on a spammy website that has nothing to do with cheese, you know how frustrating such clickbait can be. Facebook is now introducing new updates aimed at keeping those deceptive posts out of your news feed. [More]

Ben Schumin

Facebook Now Helps Advertisers Target People Who Visited Their Real-World Stores

Most of us are no longer surprised to see that our online ads are sometimes directly related to websites we’ve recently visited. An even more invasive practice would be for you to go online and be bombarded with ads for a bricks-and-mortar store you just shopped at. Nevertheless, Facebook is now letting online advertisers target users based on their offline movements. [More]

Facebook

Facebook Finally Launching Long-Rumored “Facebook Watch” TV-Like Feature

“TV” doesn’t mean what it used to. We’re as likely to watch a premium drama from Netflix or Amazon as from any traditional broadcast or cable channel, and we can watch it on a laptop, phone, or tablet as easily as we can watch it from the big screen in our living rooms. And so it’s unsurprising that Facebook — the all-encompassing worldwide digital platform that once was merely a social network — is finally ready to launch its own programming channel, Facebook Watch. [More]

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Facebook Cracking Down On Scammy Ads Disguised As Legit Businesses

Fraudsters have no shortage of tricks and sleights of hand to make themselves look like a legit business venture. In an effort to root out these scammers, Facebook is rolling out new tools designed to detect when companies disguise their ads as innocent or benign for moderators, but real users see spam.  [More]

Facebook

Facebook Changing Its News Feed Again, Here’s What To Expect

Facebook is continually updating its Newsfeed algorithm and what users see, from testing auto-play ads to reducing clickbait. Now, the social media behemoth is at it again, this time giving pages that load faster higher priority in your feed and offering fact-checked articles when false news articles are posted.  [More]

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5 Questions To Ask Before Using A Peer-To-Peer Mobile Payment App

It’s never been easier to split the bill with your friends — from “Venmo-ing” $20 for a birthday gift or Facebook messaging $12 for your share of last night’s pizza. But brand new peer-to-peer (P2P) payment systems backed by big players, including established banks, are hitting app stores this year. Apple plans to debut its own P2P app this fall, while the big banks are banding together for a product called Zelle. With so many competing services, how will you decide which system (if any) to use? [More]