networking
A meme gold rush? Classic viral images selling as NFTs for thousands
The image of Zoe Roth, her small face grinning somewhat ominously at the camera while firefighters work to save a burning home behind her, has made the rounds online for years. The image of Roth, taken in 2005 near a planned and controlled burn, became an iconic meme known as “Disaster Girl.” Now, 16 years after the image was snapped, “Disaster Girl” has made Roth, 21, roughly $430,000.
Source: A meme gold rush? Classic viral images selling as NFTs for thousands
Schools Use Software That Blocks LGBTQ+ Content, But Not White Supremacists
A Motherboard investigation found the algorithmic surveillance tools allow racist groups like the KKK while flagging LGBTQ health sites as ‘porn’.
Source: Schools Use Software That Blocks LGBTQ+ Content, But Not White Supremacists
Will AI Change the Game for Adtech?
The technology aided with artificial intelligence has revolutionized this industry; it has moved the advertising efforts from “brought to you by” on TV to actual relatable content to every cast and creed, making its way to several different platforms. This technology can read and understand the text while sensing the external environment.
Extremists Find a Financial Lifeline on Twitch
QAnon adherents and other far-right influencers are making thousands of dollars broadcasting election and vaccine conspiracy theories on the streaming site.
TikTok and the Vibes Revival
Increasingly, what we’re after on social media is not narrative or personality but moments of audiovisual eloquence.
Source: TikTok and the Vibes Revival
Yahoo, the Destroyer
How the historic company became known as a bumbling villain of internet culture
Source: Yahoo, the Destroyer
Shadow Bans, Dopamine Hits, and Viral Videos, All in the Life of TikTok Creators
A secretive algorithm that’s constantly being tweaked can turn influencers’ accounts, and their prospects, upside down
Source: Shadow Bans, Dopamine Hits, and Viral Videos, All in the Life of TikTok Creators – The Markup
It’s here! The winners and losers of Apple’s seismic privacy change
Apple’s long-awaited crackdown is being enforced. Starting today (April 26), people will start receiving prompts on their Apple devices as to whether they want to be tracked by various apps. Now comes the hard part: while no one can say with any certainty how this will shake it out, it’s clear that mobile advertising won’t be the same once it does.
Source: It’s here! The winners and losers of Apple’s seismic privacy change
How Big Tech got so big: Hundreds of acquisitions
For decades Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google gobbled up their competition to become behemoths of the tech industry, which has drawn attention from Congressional leaders and other critics who claim they’ve stifled innovation in the industry.
Apple’s $64 billion-a-year App Store isn’t catching the most egregious scams
Recently, I reached out to the most profitable company in the world to ask a series of basic questions. I wanted to understand: how is a single man making the entire Apple App Store review team look silly? Particularly now that Apple’s in the fight of its life, both in the courts and in Congress, to prove its App Store is a well-run system that keeps users safe instead of a monopoly that needs to be broken up.
Source: Apple’s $64 billion-a-year App Store isn’t catching the most egregious scams
Fake Famous on HBO
Fake Famous explores the meaning of fame and influence in the digital age through an innovative social experiment. Following three Los Angeles-based people with relatively small followings, the film explores the attempts made to turn them into famous influencers by purchasing fake followers and bots to “engage” with their social media accounts.
Source: Fake Famous
See also: What HBO’s Fake Famous Doesn’t Understand About Young People and Influencer Culture
Facebook’s proposed Instagram for kids worries child safety groups
An international coalition of public health and child safety advocates urged Facebook executives Thursday to abandon plans to launch a version of Instagram for children under age 13 because its members feared it would put young users at “great risk.”
Source: Facebook’s proposed Instagram for kids worries child safety groups
100 Million More IoT Devices Are Exposed—and They Won’t Be the Last
Over the last few years, researchers have found a shocking number of vulnerabilities in seemingly basic code that underpins how devices communicate with the internet. Now a new set of nine such vulnerabilities are exposing an estimated 100 million devices worldwide, including an array of internet-of-things products and IT management servers.
Source: 100 Million More IoT Devices Are Exposed—and They Won’t Be the Last
For Creators, Everything Is for Sale
A rash of new start-ups are making it easier for digital creators to monetize every aspect of their life — down to what they eat, who they hang out with and who they respond to on TikTok. Tens of millions of people around the globe consider themselves creators, and the creator economy represents the “fastest-growing type of small business,” according to a 2020 report by the venture capital firm SignalFire. But as the market gets more and more competitive — and the platforms and their algorithms remain unreliable — creators are devising new, hyper-specific revenue streams.
How Blockchain Can Simplify Partnerships
Collaborations that require information sharing and mutual trust between companies, suppliers, and clients can be tough, particularly in the remote era. But blockchain’s distributed ledger — and its use of smart contracts — can simplify the process, creating a common, reliable record of transactions and avoiding costly disputes. In doing so, blockchain changes how deals are made: Partner selection is made simpler, as establishing trust is less important; agreement formation is more important, because protocols are hard to alter once put in place; and execution is made easier, because outcomes can be automated. Blockchain isn’t a magic bullet — it works much better in some situations than others — but it can fundamentally change how collaborations work
How Snapchat AR Ignited Christian Dior’s B27 Launch
Luxury brands are flocking to augmented reality — among them, Christian Dior, whose B27 launch on Snapchat soared, thanks to the tech.
Source: EXCLUSIVE: How Snapchat AR Ignited Christian Dior’s B27 Launch
Trust in tech cratered all over the world last year
Trust in tech — including companies specializing in AI, VR, 5G and the internet of things — fell all around the world last year, the Edelman Trust Barometer found in a massive survey of 31,000 people in 27 countries.
Source: Exclusive: Trust in tech cratered all over the world last year
Clubhouse, the Shift to Spoken Social Media, and the Voices That Will Be Silenced
Real-time voice chatroom platforms must make people with speech impairments feel welcome. If inclusivity remains an unsolved problem, then millions of people will be silenced.
Source: Clubhouse, the Shift to Spoken Social Media, and the Voices That Will Be Silenced
5 Years After the Oculus Rift, Where Do VR and AR Go Next?
A lot’s happened since Facebook’s first headset brought virtual reality to the masses. Facebook might have been a first mover, but it also wants to be the last one.
Source: 5 Years After the Oculus Rift, Where Do VR and AR Go Next?
The agency that controls U.S. nukes had its Twitter account accessed by a child
An unintelligible tweet made by U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) on Sunday was produced by a small child, the Daily Dot has learned. USSTRATCOM, which is responsible for the U.S. nuclear arsenal, stirred confusion after releasing a tweet that appeared to be gibberish: “;l;;gmlxzssaw.” The tweet was deleted shortly after.
Source: The agency that controls U.S. nukes had its Twitter account accessed by a child