social networking

Facebook just scattered their Privacy Settings to a set of "other categories" throughout the service. This means that while you might've previously had the opportunity to drop in to the single Privacy Settings section of the Facebook app/webpage to address all of your concerns, now you'll need to seek and tap each item in different places. This redesign is hidden in a Facebook presentation called "making it easier to navigate settings."

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Supposing you wanted Snapchat to do a better job of telling you where you've been and tracking where you're going, you're in luck! There's a feature coming to iOS first (and probably Android second) called Places. You'll find it appearing in Snapchat with the name "My Places", ready to roll with the map system already appearing inside the app: Snap Map.

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Starting today, after just under a year in development and invite-only testing, Clubhouse is open to the public. The waitlist system is now done away with, and anyone with a device compatible with the Clubhouse app can tap in to the system. The app Clubhouse is a portal to the Clubhouse chat system, a place where individuals can join rooms to talk, in real time, with their voice.

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This week Facebook announced that it was launching a new Sensitive Content Control feature on Instagram. The new control allows users to decide how much sensitive content shows up in Explore. Facebook says it believes people should be able to shape Instagram into the experience they want.

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Twitter is axing Fleets, its attempt to copy the success of Instagram Stories, despite only launching the feature to all users at the end of 2020. Fleets - vanishing text, photos, and videos, which would automatically delete after 24 hours - had been rolled out to all Twitter users in November last year, but struggled to gain traction.

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There seems to be a Facebook Group for almost anything under the sun, creating communities around all sorts of subject matters. Many groups, however, are also created to help and inform each other about certain topics, and some members of those groups may actually be more knowledgeable than others. Facebook is now allowing group admins to identify and recognize these "Group Experts", making it easier for others to spot who to ask about their burning questions.

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The past year and a half have seen many in-person events canceled, postponed, or moved online. Some organizations have even found themselves expanding to new venues and media. TED, famed for its inspiring and mind-opening talks, has long provided videos of those conferences across the world. Earlier this year, it embarked on a new audio-only format and is now partnering with the hottest audio-only social network to bring TED to Clubhouse chats.

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TikTok plans to automatically remove videos believed to contravene its policies around violent, adult, and illegal content, aiming to make moderation faster and more effective as the social network grows. Currently, TikTok relies on a US-based Safety team, the company says, which is responsible for checking every video flagged either by users or an automated system.

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TikTok started out mostly as a network for sharing entertaining short videos, but it has exploded to become a new medium for getting ideas across. Despite the short format, TikTok users have found creative ways to make bullet points more attractive. The network is now fully embracing that use case in order to help users and prospective employers find each other with a new TikTok Resumes platform that feels almost like LinkedIn and Tinder smashed into one.

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There is a situation going on over at TikTok, and the people that make TikTok are aware of it. As of 3:28 PM Central Time, TikTok Support made clear that the TikTok app was "currently experiencing some issues, which our team is working quickly to address." If you've deleted the app and are about to try to log in once again, you're gonna have a bad time.

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Twitter was designed around the idea of something like a public bulletin board where people can post short snippets the length of a normal SMS. It has definitely grown out of that shell quite a while back and has given birth to use cases and concerns that some users might have developed that went beyond the platform's core functionality. It seems that Twitter is experimenting with a few features that give users a bit more control over their posts and replies to their posts but at the expense of a bit more mental overhead for those same users.

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Instagram is chasing TikTok and YouTube into video, with platform chief Adam Mosseri arguing that it's "no longer a photo sharing app" despite how it may have started out. Taking a backseat will be the photos and traditional feeds that helped make Instagram so popular - culminating in its acquisition by Facebook - with things like full-screen video and more recommendations coming.

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