Category: SOCIAL MEDIA

You can Now Delete Unopened Sent Messages on Snapchat

Dianne Jacobs

Snapchat will now let users delete sent messages before they’re opened, as reported by 9to5Mac. The company rolled the feature out to some people yesterday, and everyone should have it within the next few weeks. To delete a sent message, simply press and hold on the media (text, audio, photo, etc.) you’d like to get rid of and a pop-up will appear asking if you’d like to delete. Just tap, and the content in question will disappear. The person you sent the message to will still get a notification that…

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Instagram might soon let you post videos up to an hour long

Dianne Jacobs
Instagram Fundraiser

Instagram is considering doing away with video length constraints, according to The Wall Street Journal, which published a report about “a new feature” that would let users post long-form clips of up to an hour. That would open new creative flexibility for users and bring Instagram closer in line with YouTube and its own parent company, Facebook. The plan is described as tentative, so Instagram could ultimately decide against radically extending the maximum running time of videos on its platform. The new feature “will focus on vertical video” according to…

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Facebook Agrees on Data Sharing With Chinese Firms

Dianne Jacobs
facebook

Facebook has confirmed it has a data-sharing partnership with Chinese firms including Huawei, a company US intelligence previously flagged as a security threat. The agreements gave the Chinese firms some access to users’ data to help them build Facebook “experiences” on their own platforms. Facebook said all the data collected remained on users’ phones not servers. The company is already under scrutiny over how it uses members’ information. Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009 but the company has been trying to find other ways to access the massive…

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Instagram is letting users share posts directly to their stories

Dianne Jacobs

The line between Instagram posts and stories is getting even thinner today. There’s a new feature that will let users share posts — both from their own account and from public accounts they follow — directly to their story as a sticker. Instagram imagines the feature will be used to help promote friends and brands you like on your own story, making it easier to share, say, a band’s tour announcement with your followers. (It’s easier than saving or screenshotting the image itself since people are going to do it…

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Google Chrome to Remove “Secure” Indicator From HTTPS Pages in September

Dianne Jacobs

Google announced plans to drop the “Secure” indicator from the Chrome URL address bar and only show a lock icon when the user is navigating to an HTTPS-secured website. The move is scheduled to take effect with the release of Chrome 69, scheduled for September, this year. Emily Schechter, Product Manager for Chrome Security, said the company is now comfortable making this move as a large chunk of Chrome’s traffic is now via HTTPS. Since most traffic is HTTPS anyway, it’s not necessary to draw the user’s attention to the…

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Facebook launches educative portal for the Generation Z

Dianne Jacobs

Facebook launches a Youth Portal for the Generation Z to demystify and educate them on all things Facebook. The portal which is in itself a first for Facebook is a step in the right direction in the consumption and relation with the social media platform for the Generation Z. The teens are known for their independence and knowledge, Gen Z’ers is capable of learning something themselves either through a more efficient or a non-traditional route. “We’re excited to launch our Youth Portal, a central place for teens to fellow teens in…

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New WhatsApp Updates for Groups

Dianne Jacobs
WhatsApp forwarding

Groups have been an important part of the WhatsApp experience, whether it’s family members connecting across the globe or childhood friends staying in touch over the years. There are also people coming together in groups on WhatsApp like new parents looking for support, students organizing study sessions, and even city leaders coordinating relief efforts after natural disasters. Today, we’re sharing improvements that we’ve made to groups. What’s New Group description: A short blurb found under group info that allows you to set the purpose, guidelines, or topics for the group.…

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Google is delaying a Chrome audio update that broke countless web games

Dianne Jacobs

Google is partially and temporarily rolling back a recent Chrome change that blocked autoplaying audio, after web developers complained that it had broken countless games and apps. The update rolled out with Chrome version 66 in early May, and it was intended to quiet annoying ads and videos that would drive users toward ad-blocking software. But it also ended up completely removing the audio from interactive web projects that relied on specific commands, which created problems for artists — and doomed any abandoned projects to silence. “The team here is…

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Twitter banishes trolls to the shadows

Dianne Jacobs

Twitter says it is taking action against “trolls” that “distort and detract from the public conversation”, by making their tweets less visible. The social network has been trying to tackle abuse and harassment on its platform for several years. The company said it would now look at “behavioural signals” to “improve the health” of discussions on the platform. “People contributing to the healthy conversation will be more visible in conversations and search,” it said. Twitter said examples of suspicious behaviour included: Advertisement accounts failing to confirm the email address they…

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Google will make its paid storage plans cheaper

Dianne Jacobs

Google is rolling out new changes to its storage plans that include a new, low-cost storage plan and half off the price of its 2TB storage option.It’s also converting all Google Drive paid storage plans to Google One, perhaps in part because you’ll now have one-tap access to Google’s live customer service. Google One will get a new $2.99 a month option that gets you 200GB of storage. The 2TB plan, which usually costs $19.99 per month, will now cost $9.99 a month. Finally, the 1TB plan that costs $9.99…

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