For at least a year, the biggest page on Facebook purporting to be part of the Black Lives Matter movement was a scam with ties to a middle-aged white man in Australia.
Source: The biggest Black Lives Matter page on Facebook is fake
As Facebook reels from a privacy scandal, some of its most popular users are lashing out over declining traffic, policy changes and financial complaints.
Source: Facebook’s Other Critics: Its Viral Stars – The New York Times
“We are on the verge of a new era of human-computer interaction,” says Keiichi Matsuda, Leap Motion’s VP of design and global creative director.
Source: Leap Motion’s “Virtual Wearables” May Be The Future Of Computing
A recent Verge survey discovered that 60 percent of respondents didn’t know Facebook owns Instagram, and Google searches containing the question “Does Facebook own Instagram?” reached an all-time high the week the Cambridge Analytica story broke. Comparing the two platforms, you can see why people might not assume they’re connected. Facebook presents as a minefield of circa-2007 “wall posts” and comment threads in which distant friends and relatives reveal themselves to be conspiracy theorists. Instagram, on the other hand, is a relatively simple experience. There are no features that automate nostalgia, no trending topics or sprawling groups—just a stream of carefully edited flat lays, food, and matcha latte foam art. The less cute ephemeral content is relegated to Instagram Stories, which disappear after 24 hours. Text on the platform is minimal compared to Facebook, and comes in the form of intentionally opaque captions and comments. Overall, a relatively low-fi image-centric medium just feels safer.
Source: How Long Can Instagram Distance Itself From the Facebook Backlash? – The Ringer
Facebook said Wednesday that most of its 2 billion users likely have had their personal information scraped and shared by third-party developers without their explicit permission.
See also: Accessing Your Facebook Data
The streaming company proved it could get the Napster generation to pay for music. But will Spotify’s paywall make it profitable?
Source: Spotify Subscriptions Helped The Streaming Company Win Listeners | WIRED
Instagram is bailing on Apple Watch. Slack, eBay, Amazon, Google Maps, and Whole Foods have already abandoned the device. Companies are figuring out that they do not all need to be on a device with such a limited set of functions.
Source: Instagram stops support for Apple Watch – Business Insider
Zuckerberg has an unusual amount of control of Facebook.
Source: Mark Zuckerberg should quit as chairman, Facebook shareholder says – Business Insider
What’s really going to kick the addressable revolution into overdrive is the rise of ACR (automated content recognition) data. If you’re unfamiliar, ACR is a technology used to automatically detect and index content that is playing on television in real-time. As a result, brands are able to use this information to determine when a given consumer sees their ad. As ACR data becomes more widespread, the sky’s the limit for addressable TV.
Source: How an Acronym You’ve Probably Never Heard of Will Change TV Advertising Forever – Adweek
Podcasting continues to evolve as it engages and entertains growing audiences. And avid podcast fans can play a crucial role for marketers and advertisers looking to identify what’s next for this burgeoning medium.
Source: Connecting Advertising: How Avid Podcasters Influence Purchasing Patterns
As Spotify prepares to float itself on the stock market with a valuation of between $6-$20 billion, who will be receiving a slice of the cash?
Source: What Streaming Music Services Pay — Information is Beautiful
How much do streaming apps like Spotify, Apple, Tidal and Pandora pay the music industry? How likely is it that a musician can earn minimum wage from streaming?
Source: What Streaming Music Services Pay — Information is Beautiful
The difference between getting news from an RSS reader and getting it from Facebook or Twitter or Nuzzel or Apple News is a bit like the difference between a Vegas buffet and an a la carte menu. In either case, you decide what you actually want to consume. But the buffet gives you a whole world of options you otherwise might never have seen.
Source: RSS Readers Are Due for a Comeback: Feedly, The Old Reader, Inoreader | WIRED
The more benign leaks merely cost Facebook a bit of competitive advantage. We’ve learned it’s building a smart speaker, a standalone VR headset and a Houseparty split-screen video chat clone.
Yet policy-focused leaks have exacerbated the backlash against Facebook, putting more pressure on the conscience of employees. As blame fell to Facebook for Trump’s election, word of Facebook prototyping a censorship tool for operating in China escaped, triggering questions about its respect for human rights and free speech. Facebook’s content rulebook got out alongside disturbing tales of the filth the company’s contracted moderators have to sift through. Its ad targeting was revealed to be able to pinpoint emotionally vulnerable teens.
In recent weeks, the leaks have accelerated to a maddening pace in the wake of Facebook’s soggy apologies regarding the Cambridge Analytica debacle. Its weak policy enforcement left the door open to exploitation of data users gave third-party apps, deepening the perception that Facebook doesn’t care about privacy.
Source: The real threat to Facebook is the Kool-Aid turning sour | TechCrunch
A diagram included with an Amazon patent application showed how a phone call between friends could be used to identify their interests. Credit United States Patent and Trademark
Amazon and Google have filed patent applications, many still under consideration, that outline how digital assistants can monitor more of what users say and do.
Source: Hey, Alexa, What Can You Hear? And What Will You Do With It? – The New York Times
This chart shows how important streaming has become for the music industry.
Source: • Chart: Music Streaming Accounts for 65% of U.S. Music Revenues | Statista
How accurately can you be profiled online?
A fascinating survey details the migration patterns of pop-culture obsessives.
Source: Why did fans leave LiveJournal, and where will they go after Tumblr?
They exploit our data and make us unhappy. They spread misinformation and undermine democracy. Is salvation possible for social networks?
Apple sent the iPad back to school, literally. At an event at Chicago’s Lane Tech High School on Tuesday, Apple unveiled a new model of its entry-level tablet designed to appeal to teachers and students.
The new iPad got a speed boost and support for Apple’s Pencil stylus, but keeps its familiar design and $329 price. The changes are welcome, but stop short of a full-on assault on the simple — and inexpensive — Google Chromebook laptops that have stolen Apple’s thunder in American schools.
Source: Apple Chicago event: New iPad announced at same price – The Washington Post
