Facebook profits pinnacle $10B as its CEO exalts the ‘metaverse’

 

 Photo: Courtesy AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Concerns about a profits increase slowdown pushed Facebook’s shares decrease in after-hours shopping for and selling Wednesday, now no longer prolonged after the business corporation mentioned that its second-quarter profits doubled thanks to a large extend in advertising and marketing revenue.

But CEO Mark Zuckerberg set his sights a long way previous the 2nd half of of 2021, exalting what he sees as the subsequent part of how human beings trip the internet. What the rest of the world would per chance understand as augmented and digital actuality with a dash of science fiction, Zuckerberg and others are calling “the metaverse,” a futuristic and extraordinarily vague questioning that encompasses AR, VR and new, yet-to-be-imagined techniques of connecting to one some other through technology.

Zuckerberg expects the metaverse to be the subsequent large thing after the cellphone internet, even even though he’s had a spotty tune file when it comes to predicting most important features of the close to future. At Facebook’s f8 convention four years ago, for instance, Zuckerberg expected a future the region you will sit down in your mattress room carrying a headset and take a digital holiday with some distance off buddies and family, or use your smartphone’s digicam to barring a doubt spruce up your dinky apartment.

So far, this has now not materialized. Then there’s Libra — now viewed as Diem — a cryptocurrency assignment Facebook launched in 2019 amid super fanfare. At the time, Facebook expected Libra as an rising world digital currency; its ambitions have on account that been scaled back appreciably amid regulatory and industrial backlash.

In a convention identify with analysts, Zuckerberg referred to as the metaverse the “next technology of the internet and subsequent chapter for us as a company,” one that he mentioned will create “entirely new experiences and financial opportunities.”

For now, though, Facebook nevertheless has to contend with greater mundane matters such as antitrust crackdowns in the U.S. and some other vicinity as correct as concerns about how it handles vaccine-related and political misinformation on its platform. The enterprise agency said, as it has before, that it expects challenges in its doable to goal commercials this 12 months — such as regulatory stress and Apple’s privateness changes that make it more challenging for corporations like Facebook to tune human beings who can determine out of that structure of surveillance.

Although the social neighborhood doubled its earnings in the 2nd quarter, in area due to the truth of greater common costs it charged for the advertisements it provides to its almost three billion users. But the company noted it doesn’t anticipate earnings to proceed to boost at such a breakneck tempo in the 2nd half of the year.

“This quarter’s results are extremely strong and show little sign of impact from Apple’s iOS update as of yet,”   cited eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson, noting that in the year-ago quarter Facebook observed its slowest income enlarge due to the reality going public, so it used to be as soon as an effortless comparison. “But it’s additionally due to the fact that there is suitable sized demand for Facebook and Instagram advertising, and larger opposition leads to greater ad prices.”

Separately, Facebook mentioned on Wednesday that it will make vaccines obligatory for personnel in the U.S. who work in offices. Exceptions will be made for scientific and special reasons. Google added a same insurance before in the day.

The Menlo Park, California-based company earned $10.39 billion, or $3.61 per share, in the April-June period. That’s up from $5.18 billion, or $1.80 per share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 56% to $28.58 billion from $18.32 billion. Analysts, on average, have been searching ahead to earnings of $3.04 per share and profits of $24.85 billion, in accordance to a ballot with the aid of FactSet.

Advertising income amplify used to be pushed with the useful resource of a 47% year-over-year extend in the common fee per advert and a 6% extend in the wide variety of advertisements proven to people. Facebook mentioned it expects advert prices, now not the extent of advertisements it delivers, to proceed to energy growth.

The employer estimated uncertainty for 2021 back in January, announcing its earnings in the latter 1/2 of the year can also prefer to face big pressure. Because profits grew so quickly in the 2nd 1/2 of 2020, Facebook noted at the time that it have to have trouble retaining up that pace.

Williamson mentioned the third quarter will be an fundamental one for the company, “as the full results of the Apple change take hold.”

We will have a a excellent deal higher feel of how well Facebook has been in a role to regulate its core advert targeted on merchandise to manipulate the decreased extent of statistics it can faucet into, she said added.

Facebook had 2.9 billion month-to-month clients as of June, up 7% from a 12 months earlier.

Shares fell $11.77, or 3.2%, to $373.28 in after-hours trading. Earlier in the day, the inventory hit an all-time excessive of $377. fifty five in anticipation of the results, so the decline wasn’t unexpected. 

Facebook benefits top $10B as its CEO lifts up the 'metaverse

Worries about an income development lull pushed Facebook's offers lower in night-time exchanging Wednesday, not long get-togethers organization announced that its second-quarter benefits multiplied on account of a huge expansion in publicizing income. 

Yet, CEO Mark Zuckerberg set his sights a long ways past the second 50% of 2021, commending what he sees as the following period of how individuals experience the web. What the remainder of the world may know as expanded and augmented reality with a scramble of sci-fi, Zuckerberg and others are calling "the metaverse," an advanced and fairly dubious thought that includes AR, VR and new, yet-to-be-envisioned methods of interfacing with each other by means of innovation. 

Zuckerberg expects the metaverse to be the following huge thing after the versatile web, in spite of the fact that he's had a patchy history with regards to foreseeing significant patterns of the not so distant future. At Facebook's f8 gathering four years prior, for example, Zuckerberg anticipated a future where you will sit in your room wearing a headset and take a virtual excursion with distant loved ones, or utilize your cell phone's camera to practically tidy up your small condo. 

Up until now, this has not appeared. Then, at that point there's Libra — presently known as Diem — a digital money project Facebook dispatched in 2019 in the midst of incredible show. At that point, Facebook imagined Libra as an arising worldwide computerized money; its desires have since been downsized impressively in the midst of administrative and business backfire. 

In a telephone call with experts, Zuckerberg called the metaverse the "up and coming age of the web and next part for us as an organization," one that he said will make "totally new encounters and financial freedoms." 

Until further notice, however, Facebook actually needs to battle with more ordinary matters like antitrust crackdowns in the U.S. furthermore, somewhere else just as worries about how it handles antibody related and political falsehood on its foundation. The organization said, as it has previously, that it anticipates that challenges in its ability should target promotions this year — including administrative pressing factor and Apple's protection changes that make it harder for organizations like Facebook to follow individuals who can quit that type of observation. 

Albeit the informal organization multiplied its benefit in the subsequent quarter, to some degree in light of higher normal costs it charged for the advertisements it conveys to its almost 3 billion clients. Be that as it may, the organization said it doesn't anticipate that revenue should keep on developing at a particularly very quick speed in the second 50% of the year. 

"This current quarter's outcomes are amazingly impressive and give little indication of effect from Apple's iOS update at this point," said eMarketer investigator Debra Aho Williamson, taking note of that in the year-prior quarter Facebook saw its slowest income development since opening up to the world, so it was a simple correlation. "But at the same time it's because of the way that there is tremendous interest for Facebook and Instagram promoting, and more rivalry prompts higher advertisement costs." 

Independently, Facebook said on Wednesday that it will make immunizations compulsory for workers in the U.S. who work in workplaces. Special cases will be made for clinical and different reasons. Google reported a comparative approach before in the day. 

The Menlo Park, California-based organization acquired $10.39 billion, or $3.61 per share, in the April-June period. That is up from $5.18 billion, or $1.80 per share, a year sooner. Income hopped 56% to $28.58 billion from $18.32 billion. By and large, were expecting profit of $3.04 per offer and income of $24.85 billion, as indicated by a survey by FactSet. 

Publicizing income development was driven by a 47% year-over-year expansion in the normal cost per promotion and a 6% increment in the quantity of advertisements displayed to individuals. Facebook said it expects advertisement costs, not the measure of promotions it conveys, to keep on driving development. 

The organization anticipated vulnerability for 2021 back in January, saying its income in the last 50% of the year could confront huge pressing factor. Since income filled so rapidly in the second 50% of 2020, Facebook said at the time that it could experience difficulty keeping up that speed. 

Williamson said the second from last quarter will be a significant one for the organization, "as the full impacts of the Apple update grab hold." 

"We will have a greatly improved feeling of how well Facebook has had the option to change its center promotion focusing on items to deal with the decreased measure of data it can take advantage of," she said. 

Facebook had 2.9 billion month to month clients as of June, up 7% from a year sooner. 

Offers fell $11.77, or 3.2%, to $373.28 in night-time exchanging. Prior in the day, the stock hit a record-breaking high of $377. 55 fully expecting the outcomes, so the decay wasn't startling. 

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Facebook partnerships with Netflix, Spotify, others, and suspected access to user messages

IT seems that the Cambridge Analytica event is not the only scandal that Facebook will face. A report issued by the New York Times revealed that Facebook had given more than 150 companies - including Netflix and Spotify - access to personal data and their personal messages for years.

According to the report, Facebook also allows companies to see "streams" of user messages from certain users regardless of their privacy settings. In addition, Amazon has been given permission to access multiple usernames and contact information through their friends without consent.

After the report was published in the New York Times, Facebook responded a few hours later that day, saying the messaging program was limited to four partners (Spotify, Netflix, Dropbox and Royal Bank of Canada) to "integrate messaging capabilities" into their applications , Explicit activation of users, who use Facebook to get resources.

"People can send messages to friends about what they listen to on Spotify or see Netflix, share folders on Dropbox, or receive receipts for money transfers through the Royal Bank of Canada application, which has been discussed publicly." Read blog posts by Ime Archibong, vice president of product partnerships for Facebook.

This is done through API and Facebook integration which means this is an experimental partnership that has been closed for almost three years. The response, however, is real, because Facebook has repeatedly become unclear or less transparent about how they handle user data.

A spokesperson for Netflix contacted TechSpot with the following statement: "Over the years we have tried several ways to make Netflix more social, for example a feature launched in 2014 that allows users to recommend TV and movies to your friends on Facebook using Messenger or Netflix, it's never been so popular, Then we completed the feature in 2015. We can't access people's private messages on Facebook, or request the ability to do so. "

For more details, Facebook does not seem to sell someone's data. According to the accuracy of the New York Times speculation, the technology giant is more likely to share data with other companies to "promote their interests", without money actually changing hands.

Speaking of money, unfortunately for Facebook investors, this PR nightmare has a very negative (negative) impact on company profits. Facebook fell 7.3% after the latest wave of negative advertisements, with a decline of almost 35% from its historic peak in July 2018.

We will provide you with the latest information when new information comes out. For now, one thing is clear: The biggest social media platform in the US is a bad year.***

#Facebook #Partnership # Netflix #Spotify

Youtube Delete More Than 58 Million Videos

Until the third quarter of 2018, YouTube deleted more than 58 million videos and 224 million comments that violated its policies.

According to Alphabet Inc. , A subsidiary of Google, in its report, the step was taken to show their efforts to suppress content that is a problem.

Government officials and various surveillance groups from the United States, Europe and Asia have lobbied social media managers like YouTube, Facebook and other social media services to identify and identify extreme content or extreme hatred that observers say could lead to violence,

The European Union, for example, proposes imposing large fines on Internet platforms if it does not remove the extremist material ordered by the government within one hour.

The Indian Interior Ministry said many social media companies had agreed to deal with the authorities' request for the elimination of banned content within 36 hours.

This year, YouTube began publishing a quarterly report on its enforcement efforts.


"As in the past, most of the deleted content was undesirable," YouTube said in a report.

YouTube auto-discovery tools help you identify spam, extreme content, and pornography quickly.

During September, 90% of nearly 10,400 videos were removed due to violent extremism and 279,600 videos were removed due to child safety issues. YouTube claims that all videos were watched by fewer than 10 viewers before they were deleted.

But YouTube faces a greater challenge to the video ban that contains hate speech and behavior.

The auto-detection technology for these policies is relatively new and ineffective, so YouTube relies on viewers to report videos or comments with potential issues. That is, the video content may have been widely viewed before being deleted.

Google added thousands of supervisors this year, planned for over 10,000, hoping to review user reports faster.

This explains the filtering of moderators for each video that is not possible. But YouTube declined to comment on its planned growth in 2019.

In addition, there is no new data deletion in this third quarter. For the first time, YouTube revealed the number of accounts Google canceled because of three policy violations within 90 days or what the company describes as serious violations, such as uploading child pornography.

YouTube blocks about 1.67 million channels, typically called channels, and removes 50.2 million videos uploaded through the account.

YouTube mentions approximately 80% of the removal of channels related to unwanted uploads. It is feared that 13% of them have pornographic elements, and 4.5% are threatening the safety of children.

YouTube refuses to reopen a number of blocked accounts that uploaded videos, because they say this deletion is a small part.

For individual videos that have been deleted without blocking their channel because they violate the policies, YouTube provides data with about 7.8 million videos, and this deletion continues as data in the previous quarter.

Student Jailed for Becoming a WhatsApp Group Admin

BE CAREFULLY be an admins or member of WhatsApp Group. Neither the admin nor its members should remind each other that anyone should not post inappropriate messages in the group. Wrong wrong, can be dragged legal problems.

The bitter experience was experienced by a student in India. He must be in jail for five months, for being the WhatsApp group admin.

Junaid Khan, 21, has to undergo a cage for an inappropriate message that is forwarded to the group he follows, which he becomes a "impromptu" admin after the original admins of WhatsApp group.

To the police Junaid claimed not to send the message in question. The family also insisted that Junaid only victims of "admin by default" system in WhatsApp.

As is known, the system "admin by default"
it is possible if the account that created the group out of the group and no other admin, then the position admin delegated to group members at random.

According to the family, Junaid is only a member of the group before the original admin named Irfan, quit the group after forwarding inappropriate messages.

"Junaid is a member of the group but he is not an admin, and when the problem is solved, he is in Ratlam City for family affairs," said Farukh Khan, the  Junaid's cousin.

Farukh said when the message in question was sent to the group, Junaid was not yet an admin.

 "We went to senior police officers and complained about the issue to the ministry's complaint number but to no avail.

Nobody will listen to us if he (Junaid) is not the admin when the post is sent, "said Farukh.

Police argue if actions are taken based on the evidence they already have.

City Police Talen, Rajgarh District, state of Madhya Pradesh, claimed to receive complaints from citizens about posting WhatsApp group with admin named Irfan and other admins.

When this case is investigated, Junaid has become the group's admitted WhatsApp admin.

Yuvraj Singh Chouhan, one of the police officers who handled the case, explained that during the investigation, none of the family said Junaid was a surrogate admin.

"After the case is brought to the green table, then they say it," Chouhan said as quoted by the Times of India recently.

According to him, if the family has evidence, eat them should make and bring it to court. He adds if Irfan, who is referred to as the original admin has also been arrested.

Facebook’s day of reckoning: Blip or sign of broader turn?

Facebook faced a day of reckoning Thursday as its shares plunged in the biggest one-day drop in stock-market history.

The 19 percent drop vaporized $119 billion of the company’s stock-market value; CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw his net worth fall by roughly $16 billion as a result. It was Facebook’s worst trading day since going public in 2012; the collapse eclipsed Intel’s decline of $91 billion in September 2000, without adjusting for inflation.

The plunge followed Facebook’s warning late Wednesday that its revenue growth will slow down significantly for at least the remainder of the year and that expenses will continue to skyrocket.


In a sign of just how bullish investor expectations were, though, the collapse merely returned Facebook shares to a level last seen in early May. At that point, the stock was still recovering from an earlier battering over its big privacy scandal, in which a political consulting firm with ties to President Donald Trump improperly accessed the data of tens millions of Facebook users.

Now come the big questions: Is this a temporary setback, or the start of a painful new road for the giant social network? And does a similar comeuppance await other high-flying technology behemoths?

Both the slower growth forecast and heavier spending reflect problems largely of Facebook’s own making.

New European privacy rules, inspired in part by Facebook’s relentless mining of its own users’ data, are starting to hamper the company’s advertising business. And the increased spending aims, among other things, to prevent a replay of the fake news and propaganda that Russian agents unleashed on an unguarded Facebook in an attempt to sway the 2016 presidential election.

Zuckerberg even noted during a call with analysts that “we’re investing so much in security that it will significantly impact our profitability.”

Overall, technology giants — Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon and others — have enjoyed almost unprecedented growth in revenue and stock price for years. They have seemed unstoppable, even in the face of regulatory pressure, user dissatisfaction and broader existential questions about their impact on society. Technology companies account for six of the 10 biggest companies in the S&P 500 Index.


Some see the Facebook selloff as clear evidence that nothing can grow forever, especially not the world’s biggest companies, especially not at the rate of nimble, promising startups. Facebook revenue is still growing at a rate double that of Twitter. A decade ago, almost no one could have imagined that Facebook would have more than 2 billion users, much less that its family of apps — Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger — would also count members in the billions.

“Nobody knows where the top is, where that growth slows down,” said Phil Bak, CEO of Exponential ETFs and a former managing director of the New York Stock Exchange who said he’s been warning investors of a potential sell-off in large tech stocks.

Things could get rougher still. Those European privacy regulations, known as the General Data Privacy Regulation, or GDPR, went into effect with just one month left in the second quarter. That means Facebook could feel its effects more strongly later this year.

For more than a year — ever since Zuckerberg published a 5,000 word manifesto arguing that Facebook needs to make the world a better place by bolstering civic engagement and addressing social ills — the company has seemed torn between its philosophical mission and its economic one. Wednesday may have been the first time this tension really broke into the open, probably because it threatened the one thing all investors care about: Money.

Michael Connor, whose Open Mic group helps investors push tech companies to address privacy, abuse and other issues, said it’s “far too early” to see if Facebook’s efforts to improve itself will prove fruitful. But the real question, he said, is whether the company can “continue to do what they are doing in the face of criticism from Wall Street.”

Siva Vaidhyanathan, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia and author of the new book, “Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy,” dismissed the significance of the stock plunge.

“Mark Zuckerberg isn’t panicking,” he said. “The Facebook board isn’t panicking. Most of its large institutional investors aren’t panicking. They know they’re in it for the long game.”

___

Source: AP
Writer: BARBARA ORTUTAY, and Matt O’Brien contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island.

Facebook has signed an agreement with Washington State to complete discriminatory adv. targeting

 


Facebook has signed an agreement with Washington State to stop third-party ads in the United States from excluding protected groups from seeing their ads, Washington's attorney general said Tuesday.

Facebook confirmed the agreement with the state and said the message is part of a long process to ensure that tools used to target ads on the social network are safe, civil, and fair.

"We have removed thousands of categories relating to potentially sensitive personal qualities - such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion - from our goal of exclusion," the company said, pointing to efforts over a year and a half.

The legally binding agreement with the state of Washington requires Facebook to make changes to its advertising platform within 90 days, according to Attorney General Washington Ferguson.

"The Facebook advertising platform allowed illegal discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, disability and religion," Ferguson said.

The agreement ends with a 20-month survey of Ferguson's office, which began after non-profit organization ProPublica published an article on Facebook's advertising targeting, Ferguson said.

"Discriminatory ads have no place on our platform and we will continue to improve our advertising products," says deputy citizen and local policy, Castleberry.

You can send group messages using Siri on WhatsApp for iPhone

Since WhatsApp for iPhone has been updated to version 2.18.80, you can send messages directly to WhatsApp group using Siri.

Basically you can extend Siri's integration into WhatsApp and send individual WhatsApp messages in 2016 using voice for the first time.

WhatsApp for iPhone not only supports Siri through group messages, it also displays images and GIF directly in the notification banner.

You can also use notification banner, scan notification, and preview GIF Peek and Pop gestures without accessing WhatsApp.

With the latest update, you can send messages to the WhatsApp group using Siri and WhatsApp for iPhone.

You do not need to access Apple's WhatsApp and enter messages from the WhatsApp group.

Instead, you can use voices to send important messages to any group of instant messaging applications. This is an extension of Siri's integration with WhatsApp since September 2016.

To send a group message using Siri, ask "I will send a message to WhatsApp Group [name]" while holding down the Syl! "Home" button. If there are several groups with similar themes, Siri displays a list of groups.

After entering the appropriate group in the list, you need to enter a message and have the voice assistant send it to the group.

At the same time as WABetaInfo will be able to send group messages via Siri, WhatsApp for iPhone now displays images and GIFs in notification banners.

This is different from the general "photo" and "GIF" labels. It has also been reported that images and GIFs can be downloaded directly from notifications when the automatic photo download option is turned off.

In addition, users can preview GIFs on iPhone 6 or later using Peek and Pop gestures, or drag and preview notifications. WABetaInfo claims that this feature will work on iOS 10 or later.

However, we could not find the function reported on our iOS device. This could be a switch on the server side.


You can download WhatsApp for iPhone from Apple App Store. This application is compatible with devices with iOS 7.0 or later and is 166.3 MB in size.

No, Twitter will not ban Trump, here’s why

CALLS to ban Donald Trump from Twitter are at least as old as his presidency. But it's not going to happen, at least not while he's in office.

The latest strive involves an all-caps tweet sent late Sunday warning Iran of "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKE OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE."

So, does threatening nuclear annihilation upon an entire country get you the boot from the social network? Twitter's policy states that threats of violence can get you kicked off. For instance, if somebody were to tweet a threat to kill his neighbor with a sawed-off shotgun, they could easily be kicked off for violating Twitter's policies.

But not if you are Trump — or another world leader. Here's why:

Twitter treats Trump differently than a "regular" user.

In January, Twitter published a blog post publicly codifying what had already been company policy, saying that "Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate."

Twitter's view is that keeping up political figures' controversial tweets encourages discussion and helps hold leaders accountable. The comments, the company argues, can either happen in the open, on Twitter, or behind closed doors.

The blog post, written a year after Trump became president, does not reference him. But it's a clear response to calls to remove him, by liberal activists, writers and Twitter users even before he became president. And it nods to criticism that Twitter is only keeping on Trump because as arguably the world's best-known tweeter he's made the service more visible.

"No one person's account drives Twitter's growth, or influences these decisions. We work hard to remain unbiased with the public interest in mind," the policy says.

So what about regular users?

Twitter bans "specific threats of violence or wishing for serious physical harm, death, or disease to an individual or group of people." It also prohibits users from affiliating with organizations that "use or promote violence against civilians to further their causes." This policy is in part to keep what Twitter calls "extremist groups" off its service. It defines them as groups that subscribe to violence to advance their cause.

But there's a big exception: "This policy does not apply to military or government entities."

Since the president is obviously a government entity, and, as commander in chief, a military entity as well, a nuclear threat won't get him kicked off Twitter.

That leads some to wonder if there is anything Trump could say on the platform to get himself banned.

It's unclear, but unlikely.

Twitter would not say whether it has ever deleted a tweet by the president, and it appears that it has not. While the company says it reviews tweets by world leaders within their political context and "enforce our rules accordingly," this leaves a lot of room for interpretation, likely just as the company intends.<<***>>

Source: AP

Zuckerberg’s Holocaust comment puts Facebook on the spot

Mark Zuckerberg

DENYING the Holocaust happened is probably OK on Facebook. Calling for a mob to kill Jews is not.

Mark Zuckerberg’s awkward and eyebrow-raising attempt this week to explain where Facebook draws the line illustrates the complexities social media platforms face as they take on the unwanted role of referee in this age of online misinformation, manipulation and hate speech.

Facebook, with 2.2 billion users, disallows such things as nudity, the selling of guns, credible threats of violence, and direct attacks on people because of their race, sex or sexual orientation.
Hours after the Facebook founder’s comments about Holocaust deniers aired on Wednesday, the company announced it will also start removing misinformation that could lead to bloodshed. The policy will begin in Sri Lanka and expand to Myanmar, where Facebook users have been accused of inciting anti-Muslim violence.

But beyond those guidelines, there are large gray areas. What, exactly, qualifies as supporting terrorist groups versus merely posting about them? Or mocking someone’s premature death — something that is also prohibited?

If Facebook were to ban Holocaust denial, it might also be called on to prohibit the denial of other historical events, such as the Armenian genocide or the massacre of Native Americans by European colonizers. This, Facebook might argue, could lead to a slippery slope where the company finds itself trying to verify the historical accuracy of users’ posts.

So, where it can, Facebook stays out of policing content.

While thousands of Facebook moderators around the world are assigned to review potentially objectionable content, aided by artificial intelligence, executives like to say the company doesn’t want to become an “arbiter of truth” and instead tries to let users decide for themselves.

This is why fake news isn’t actually banned from Facebook, though you might see less of it these days thanks to the company’s algorithms and third-party fact-checking efforts. Instead, Facebook might label disputed news stories as such and show you related content that might change your mind.

YouTube recently started doing this too. Twitter has been even more freewheeling in what sorts of content it allows, only recently ramping up a crackdown on hate and abuse.


“Facebook doesn’t want to put time and resources to policing content. It’s costly and difficult,” said Steve Jones a professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “It’s a difficult job, I’m sure an emotionally draining job, and given the scale of Facebook, it would take a lot of people to monitor what goes through that platform.”

At the same time, Jones said he has his doubts that throwing more moderators (Facebook’s goal is to increase the number from 10,000 to 20,000 this year) and more technology at the problem would make a difference. He said he has no idea how Facebook can fix things.

“If I knew,” he said, “I’d probably be sitting next to Mr. Zuckerberg asking for a big fat check.”

Why these companies try to stay out of regulating speech goes back to their roots. They were all founded by engineers as tech companies that shun labels such as “media” and “editor.” Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, even said in an interview last year that, as a tech company, Facebook hires engineers — not reporters and journalists.

Then there’s the legal shield. While a newspaper can be held responsible for something printed on its pages, internet companies by law are not responsible for the content others post on their sites. If they start policing content too much — editing, if you will — tech companies risk becoming media companies.

Zeynep Tufekci, a prominent techno-sociologist, said on Twitter that the notion that you can “fight bad speech with good speech” doesn’t really work in a Facebook world, if it ever did.

“Facebook is in over its head,” she tweeted Thursday, but she also confessed that “nobody has a full answer.”

In an interview with Recode , Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, said posts denying the Nazi annihilation of 6 million Jews took place would not necessarily be removed. Zuckerberg said that as long as posts are not calling for harm or violence, even offensive content should be protected.

While this has been a longstanding position at the company, Zuckerberg’s statement and his reasoning — that he doesn’t think Holocaust deniers are “intentionally” getting it wrong — caused an uproar.

The Anti-Defamation League said Facebook has a “moral and ethical obligation” not to allow people to disseminate Holocaust denial.

Zuckerberg later tried to explain his words, saying in an email to Recode’s Kara Swisher that he personally finds “Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that.”

Still, for now the policy is not changing.

___

Source: AP Technology 

 

Internet penetration rates are high in North America, Europe and parts of the Asia-Pacific

Teen, social media and technology 2018

YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat is the most popular online platform among teenagers. 95% of teens have access to smartphones and 45% say they're "almost always" online

Until now, Facebook dominates the social media landscape among American youth, but according to a new Pew Research Center survey, this is no longer the most popular online platform among teenagers. Today, it is said that about half of American teenagers aged 13 to 17 years (51%) use Facebook significantly more than sharing using Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.

Changes in the use of social media from this teenager, 2014 - since 2015 amid the latest investigation of teenagers and the use of technology, not just one example has evolved for how the evolution of technology youth. Most notably, smartphone owners are an almost ubiquitous element in teenage life. Currently, 95% of teens report smartphones and permissions. This mobile connection promotes more permanent online activity. Today, 45% of teenagers are online almost constantly.


In this survey, we also learned that there is no clear agreement among adolescents about the impact of social media on the lives of young people. Some ethnic teenagers express the effect is mostly positive (31%) or predominantly negative (24%), the largest share (45%) of the positive impact is not even negative.

These are some of the main findings of a US adolescent household survey conducted from March 7 to April 10, 2018. Throughout the report, "teens" refer to people aged 13 to 17.

Facebook is no longer the dominant online platform among teenagers
The social media situation in which young people live is completely different from three years ago. According to the Center's survey of social media use by teenagers from 2014 to 2015, 71% of teenagers were reported as Facebook users. Half of the adolescents (52%) answered that they used Instagram, and 41% said they used Snapchat.

Three non-Facebook online platforms, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, are used in 2018 for most of this age group. Meanwhile, now say that 51% of teens use Facebook. The teens who use Twitter and Tumblr are almost identical to those in the 2014-2015 survey.

In most cases, adolescents tend to use the same platform regardless of demographic characteristics, with the exception. In particular, low-income young people are more likely to be attracted to Facebook than high-income households - a tendency to agree with previous center studies. The family's annual income is 36% above $ 75,000, while the family teenagers living in households earning less than $ 30,000 per year say they use Facebook. 

It is important to note that there are questionable changes between the Pew Research Center 2014-2015 survey and the 2018 adolescent social media usage survey. In surveys from 2014 to 2015, YouTube and Reddit are not included as an option but are included in the current survey. In addition, select those in the 2014-2015 survey, it is necessary to explicitly answer to the respondents about whether to use each platform, in the 2018 survey, which presented the list of sites to the respondents, using I can do 1. The social media environment is currently less focused on one platform compared to three years ago.2

Snap charts (35%) and YouTube (32%) are the most used online platforms of this online platform, and 15% say they are the same as Instagram. In contrast, 10% of teenagers are online platforms most frequently used by Facebook and say that Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr are never quoted most often.

Again, low-income teens are much more likely than the most frequently used online platform on Facebook (22% versus 4%) than high-income households. There are differences related to gender, race, ethnicity, but this is the most popular teen site. Girls are more inclined than girls (39% versus 25%), Snatcher is said to be the most used site (42% vs. 29%). In addition, Caucasian teenagers (27 percent) of Hispanics (29 percent) and black and white teenagers (23 percent) claimed to be the online platform for the most frequent use of Snapchat, black and white teens Facebook was the largest (26% versus 7% .

Teens share opinions about the impact of social media in their lives.

Despite the ubiquitous social media penetration there is no clear agreement among adolescents about the final impact of this platform on the age of people. Many teenagers (45%) believe that social media has no positive or negative impact on the age of the person. On the other hand, about a third of adolescents (31%) responded that social media had an almost positive effect, and 24% showed the most negative effects.

Given the opportunity to explain their words in their own words, adolescents who say social media is most effective in most cases, adolescents emphasize issues related to connections and connections with others. There is a tendency to do so. About 40% of these respondents say that social media has a positive effect when social media helps interact with and interact with others. Many of these answers highlight how social media can facilitate communication with family and friends and connect with new people.

"I think that social media can have a positive effect because we can talk to distant family" (14-year-old girl)

"Social media can make people feel my age, I will create space to interact with people" (girl 15 years)

"People can easily connect with friends and make new friends" (Boy, 15 years old)

Other members of this group mentioned the possibility of interacting with news and information (16%) promoted by social media and people sharing the same interest (15%).

"My mother always has to go to the library to get what's in my hands, she reminds me a lot of things." (Girl, 14 years old)

"It gives us an outlet that expresses my opinions and feelings to many children and people who feel the same way" (15-year-old girl)

Small-scale stocks can gain support from social media entertainment (9%), space for self-expression (7%), or other (5%), common (4%).

"Because there are many creative things, I can spread the joy" (17 years old)

"[Social media] can freely communicate and see what others are doing [it gives us a voice that can reach many people." , 15 years)

"We often seek help through social media that easily connects people in various places and saves people" (15-year-old girl)

There is a small consensus among teenagers who say social media has a bad influence on the age of people. The top answer (27% of these adolescents refer) is that social media has caused bullying and the spread of rumors as a whole.

"Tell people to a larger audience, teach dislike, avoid each other" (Boy, 13)

"I can say whatever I want without a name, I think it has a negative impact" (Bocah, 15 years old)

"A teenager kills everyone for what's seen in social media and what's happening on social media" (14-year-old girl)

On the other hand, 17% of these respondents feel that this platform is destroying their relationship and producing meaningful human interactions as a result. The same part is that social media distorts reality and gives unrealistic views about the lives of others (15%) in their teenagers, or teenagers spending undue time on social media (14%) Think.

"It affects social (human) interaction" (Bocah, 17 years old)

"Since I'm used to interacting with people and people, it makes it hard to get along in real life" (15-year-old girl)

"It gives a false picture of a person's life, sometimes I feel that my life is not perfect." (Girl, 15 years old)

"[Teenagers] do not do their homework, it's easier to scroll on the phone, it's just a big distraction." (Bocah, 17 years old)

Another 12% criticized social media by affecting teenagers, but small stocks expressed concerns that these sites could cause psychological and drama problems.

YouTubers Are Mad Again After YouTube Deletes Videos With Paid Promos for Academic Cheating

YouTube has removed "hundreds" of videos that advertise a writing service for essays, EduBirdie, after a BBC investigation that granted more than 250 channels.

According to the BBC, it was discovered that the search was more than 1400 videos with more than 700 million views, with jokes, video games, fashion and appointments. After the results of the BBC public administration, YouTube advised the quality channels of valdeservices at the academic against "academic tools" to prohibit dedicated or trial shots as paper writers. It was also said that videos with EduBirdie plugins would be removed if the creators did not do it themselves.

Countless YouTubers have complained that they had lost countless videos as a result of purification, so several dozens had disappeared. One channel claimed that 138 of their videos were removed. According to the BBC, you can get to the point where they were processing approvals when the video failed:

A channel, To Catch A Cheater, had lost 49 of his videos: a year of work.

AldosWorldTv said that he had lost more than 30 videos and asked that he could post many videos with the ads.

TwinzTV, an established channel with jokes in the United States, has posted on Twitter that "YouTube of our videos is offline".

How to pick a new password, now that Twitter wants one

NEW YORK (AP) — Yet another service is asking you to change your password.

Twitter said Thursday it discovered a bug that stored passwords in an internal log in plain text, without the usual encryption. Though Twitter says there’s no indication that anyone has stolen or misused those passwords, the company is recommending a change as a precaution.

Here are some tips on coming up with a new password and safeguarding your account — even if your password is compromised.

___

COMPLEXITY COUNTS

Don’t even think of using “password” as your password. Picking any common word as your password should be avoided because it’s easily guessed using software that tries out every word in the dictionary.

However, you can get a good password by combining two or more words, such as “rocketcalendar.” Sprinkle in some numerals and punctuation marks, and make some of those letters in caps, and you’ve got a strong password. So “rocketcalendar” becomes “rocket44!calendaR.” (But don’t use that one; the fact that it’s in this article means hackers probably already have it in their databases.)

Some services will even require your passwords to have certain characteristics. As you type a new password on Twitter, the service will tell you whether it’s “Too Obvious” or “Weak.” Go for “Very Strong.”

___

KEEP PASSWORDS FRESH

Each service should have its own password. If you use “rocket44!calendaR” on Twitter, don’t use it on Facebook. Once hackers get your password on one service, they’ll try it on other services, too. Outsmart them by using a fresh password each time. It can be as simple as adding the first three letters of the service’s name, so Twitter gets “rocket44!calendaRtwi” and Facebook gets “rocket44!calendaRfac.”

You can turn to a password-manager service to help you keep track of various passwords, though make sure the one you use hasn’t had its own security problems . If you’re storing passwords in a spreadsheet or other document on your computer, be sure to protect it with its own password (Microsoft Office lets you encrypt files). Avoid naming the file “passwords.” Call it “badmovies” or something innocuous.

___

RESET AND REFRESH

Some security experts recommend that you change your passwords frequently, though treat that advice with caution. When there’s a breach, it doesn’t matter whether that password is two weeks or two years old. And if you change passwords too often, you risk forgetting them and falling back on simpler, less-secure passwords.

___

A BETTER SAFEGUARD

You can ignore much of this advice if you just do one thing: Turn on two-factor authentication, which Twitter calls “login verification.” You’ll get a text with a code each time you try to log in from a new device or web browser. So even if hackers get your password, they can’t do much unless they have your phone — or some other way to intercept the code.

Of course, this makes it even more important to protect your phone with a passcode, so that no else can get these texts if your phone is lost or stolen. #(AP)

Google: Don't Change URLs When Replacing Old Content With New Content

So let's say you decided to update the content on a page on your web site, the content is super out dated and needs a major revamp. When you update the content, it doesn't mean you need to put that new content on a new URL, you can just update the content on the existing URL. In fact, Google recommends it.

John Mueller said on Twitter " I'd just replace the content on the existing URL." "Changing URLs adds unnecessary complexity in most cases," he added.

If you do happen to put the content on a new URL and redirect the old URL, that is fine - but there is no need to do that.

I don't understand why the webmaster thinks they need to use a new URL but that is for a different question.

Zuckerberg pledges to ‘keep building’ in no-apology address

Mark Zuckerberg makes the keynote speech at F8, theFacebook’s developer conference, Tuesday, May 1, 2018, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

With a smile that suggested the hard part of an “intense year” may be behind him, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed developers Tuesday and pledged the company will build its way out of its worst-ever privacy debacle.

It was a clear and deliberate turning point for a company that’s been hunkered down since mid-March. For first time in several weeks, Zuckerberg went before a public audience and didn’t apologize for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which a political data-mining firm accessed data from as many as 87 million Facebook accounts for the purpose of influencing elections. Or for a deluge of fake news and Russian election interference.

Instead, Zuckerberg sought to project a “we’re all in this together” mood that was markedly different from his demeanor during 10 hours of congressional testimony just a few weeks ago. His presentation also marked a major change for the company, which seems relieved to be largely done with the damage control that has preoccupied it for the past six weeks.

On Tuesday, speaking in San Jose, California, at the F8 gathering of software developers, Zuckerberg said to cheers that the company is re-opening app reviews, the process that gets new and updated apps on its services, which Facebook had shut down in late March as a result of the privacy scandal.

Zuckerberg then vowed to “keep building,” and reiterated that Facebook is investing a lot in security and in strengthening its systems so they can’t be exploited to meddle with elections, including the U.S. midterms later this year. The company had previously announced almost all of those measures.

“The hardest decision I made wasn’t to invest in safety and security,” Zuckerberg said. “The hard part was figuring out how to move forward on everything else we need to do too.”

He also unveiled a new feature that gives users the ability to clear their browsing history from the platform, much the same way people can do in web browsers. Then Zuckerberg returned to techno-enthusiasm mode.

Facebook executives trotted out fun features, most notably a new dating service aimed at building “meaningful, long-term relationships,” in a swipe at sites like Tinder. After Facebook announced its entry into the online dating game, shares of Tinder owner Match Group Inc. plummeted 22 percent.

Poking fun at himself, Zuckerberg unveiled a “Watch Party” feature that gives users the ability to watch video together — such as, he suggested, “your friend testifying before Congress.” Up flashed video of Zuckerberg’s own turn on Capitol Hill.

“Let’s not do that again soon,” he said.

Zuckerberg did “remarkably well in a really rough environment,” said Ben Parr, co-founder of Octane AI, a startup that helps companies market their wares on Facebook’s Messenger app. “I think it helped a lot that he was joking, he was confident and he was comfortable.”

Facebook’s next actions will speak far louder than anything Zuckerberg during his 35-minute presentation Tuesday, predicted Cubeyou CEO Federico Treu, who is battling Facebook over what he believes was the unjustified suspension of his company app in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

“Developers are going to be the type who say, ‘You spoke about a lot of things, but we will wait and see,’” Treu said.

Zuckerberg won over the crowd again when he announced that the thousands of people in attendance would get Facebook’s latest virtual reality headset — the portable, $199 Oculus Go — for free. “Thank you!” someone yelled to Zuckerberg from the audience.

Zuckerberg also went out of his way to thank Jan Koum, the co-founder and CEO of messaging platform WhatsApp, who announced his departure Tuesday. Facebook paid $19.3 billion for WhatsApp in 2014.

Despite reports that Koum left over concerns about how Facebook handles private data , Zuckerberg described him warmly as “a tireless advocate for privacy and encryption.”

Some analysts said Zuckerberg’s performance bolsters his chances of navigating the company out of its privacy scandal and overcoming concerns that it can’t handle its fake-news and election problems.

By leading off with Facebook’s security and privacy responsibilities, then continuing to extend Facebook’s ambitions to connect people in new ways, Zuckerberg successfully “walked the tightrope,” said Geoff Blaber, vice president of research and market analysis firm CCS Insight.

“F8 felt like the first time Facebook has been on the front foot since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke,” Blaber said.

Emarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson said it seemed like Facebook was “able to strike the right chord” with developers; she figured some might respond to Zuckerberg with boos and heckles, although none seemed to. She was surprised that the event wasn’t more subdued with fewer gee-whiz announcements — and definitely didn’t expect a dating service.

Source: AP

Are you love it or not? Facebook launches dating service

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes the keynote address at F8, Facebook’s developer conference, Tuesday, May 1, 2018, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

 Facebook doesn’t think hookups are meaningful and doesn’t want you to date your friends — but it’s known for a long time that its vast map of human connections could help people find long-term partners. At least that’s the takeaway from a new dating feature the social networking giant is launching because, well, why not?

After all, Facebook already lets you “poke” people, whatever that means, and lets you broadcast your relationship status. If you ever download all the data Facebook has on you, you’ll see it even keeps track of all the past partners you’ve listed on Facebook, even if this isn’t visible on your profile.

A dating tool has always seemed the next logical step, as Chris Cox, Facebook’s chief product officer, said Tuesday at Facebook’s f8 conference for app developers in San Jose, California. Fourteen years after Facebook’s launch, it’s finally coming.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the new dating feature is “not just for hookups” but to build “meaningful, long-term relationships.” That seems a direct swipe at Tinder, which is still best known for hooking people up with people they find attractive by showing their photo, age and first name. Shares of Match.com, which owns Tinder, tumbled on the news.

Of course, Tinder itself uses Facebook data to act as a digital matchmaker (as do many other dating apps), and Facebook’s dating feature seems to borrow some ideas from one of the world’s most popular dating apps. Facebook’s feature will be opt-in, meaning you have to choose to use it. Like Tinder, it’ll use just your first name.

The Facebook dating profile you’ll create will be separate from your regular Facebook profile. It won’t suggest your friends as people you might want to date, even if your 500-plus “friends” include random acquaintances — or crushes. Your dating profile won’t show up on your news feed or be visible to friends; it’s only for others using the dating service.

Zuckerberg said the dating feature was built with privacy and security in mind from the start. The company has been under fire recently for possibly not doing this with its other features over the years. Yet timing seemed odd: As Facebook is still recovering from its worst privacy crisis in history, is this really the time to start tracking something as private about people as their dating habits?

There were also some online rumblings that the dating feature might be open only to people who list themselves as “single” and not those who are “married” or “in a relationship,” ignoring the subset of people who are in non-monogamous relationships. But Facebook said this is not the case. After all, people often don’t keep their relationship status up to date, don’t use it in a serious way (in a complicated relationship with pizza, anyone?), or simply leave it blank.

After setting up a dating profile, you can browse events and groups based on location and interests. After you “unlock” an event you’re attending or considering going to, you can view the profiles of others who have also unlocked that event. Users can chat with each other through a private messaging feature that won’t be connected to Facebook’s other messaging services, Messenger or WhatsApp.

Facebook joins online dating craze amid privacy concerns

Even as he continues to face backlash from a massive data scandal, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans for a new dating service on the world's largest social media network.

How to hancdle with flood updating your personal information

Inboxes for many application users are inflated by requests for new terms and privacy requirements. It's no coincidence that many developers have reviewed small impressions at the same time.


Within a month, the European Union is threatening major fines by organizations that introduce new privacy laws and give European citizens new data protection rights.

But understanding new terms is a challenge.

Some companies, including Facebook, are asking members to explicitly consent to new features, such as facial recognition.

Other members, such as Twitter, Fitbit and Yahoo, said members would simply interpret continued use of the product as an agreement for the adjusted terms.

Despite the emergence of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the simplest is to check the boxes that are necessary and, in general, people who waste time thinking that they are cultivated in other cases are not allowed.

After all, is everyone generally reading these things?

Are you preparing a way to shake up the privacy of EU data?
Who manages the data?
Facebook seeks consent for facial recognition
But it is a waste of opportunity to understand and limit how your personal data is being exploited to make a profit.

It's also worth knowing that you are subscribed to the following data privacy scandals.


Digital Rights Campaign Group One way to handle most Privacy International documents is to look for instances of the following terms:

"Data Provider"
This phrase is described in the section that describes what data was collected and how it was achieved.

In particular, users should be aware of the details of personal information obtained from third parties that can create service profiles in unexpected ways.

"Position data"
The new law explicitly defines places that people have visited in the past and presents them as a type of personal data for the first time.

Organizations are therefore required to elaborate how this information is used to identify individuals.

"Positive action"
If you need consent, you should make it clear.

It ended when they automatically joined the people in their marketing campaigns because they did not fit in a funny way.

But it is worth checking once again how to consent without having to perceive the result to avoid clicking the button.

'Controller'
Users outside the EU need to determine the default location of the entities. Facebook has recently withdrawn millions of users from the domination of Ireland. That means you will not be protected by European surveillance that enforces the new law.

"Purpose" and "recipient"
This term is often used to inform users how the company treats the data and who shares it.

British Consumers Association - better known? - We have released guidelines for GDPR.

It highlights some of the ways you can take advantage of GDPR's new rights.

This includes the right to oppose any decision made by the organization based solely on algorithms that analyze personal data. For example, you may appeal the decision to reject an interview based solely on computer-based curriculum analysis.

You can also make software-based decisions by requesting a copy of your personal data in progress.

People should know that computer editors can ask to remove some or all of their personal information if they are not satisfied with how they are targeting the ad, according to the BBC.

She also added that people should be careful about illegal temptations.

Some time ago I saw someone share a letter on Twitter ... If you agree, try to get a free pizza and Kate Bebek is commenting.

"This is not a big obligation - consent can not be tied to anything else"


Anyone who has all the paperwork to wander can still have doubts.

For example, an application should disclose data sharing with a third party, but does not need to be named unless the user requests personal information.

"They always provide contact information," said Nicola Fulford, data protection and privacy manager at Kemp Little, a law firm.

"When they send emails and ask questions, they have to respond, but apparently they can be very busy right now.

Worried to be Blocked, Facebook Global Officer Will Face to Minister Rudiantara

The global Facebook officials will hold a meeting with Indonesia's Minister of Communication and Informatics, Rudiantara in the near future, to discuss the issue of data leak of 1 million Facebook users in Indonesia.

Director General of Applications and Informatics (Aptika) at the Ministry of Communications and Informatics (Kemkominfo), Samuel Abrijani Pangerapan said the relationship will be conducted by Facebook officials at the Office of Communication and Information Minister next week.

According to the man who is familiarly called Sammy, the agenda of the arrival of top officials of global Facebook to Indonesia is to provide updates directly related to a number of steps taken up Facebook to cope with data leakage users in the country.

"I get information that there will be high officials of Facebook who will come to Indonesia to explain further developments related to this case to the Minister," he said, Thursday (26/4) night.

According to him, the arrival of high-ranking global Facebook is not to provide internal audit results as promised side of Facebook Indonesia some time ago to the government, because the audit results have not been completed until now.

But Semmy ensures all developments of Facebook internal audit results will be given to regulators. "But clearly, the development of the audit process will be informed to the Government of Indonesia so we just wait," he said.