Twitter will begin its public verifying program again, having hit pause on the controversial process three years ago amid confusion around what the blue check actually means. Currently, some Twitter users are tagged with a blue check-mark badge, which the social network uses to flag those accounts that are authentic.
Twitter appears to be pulling out all the stops when it comes to fighting misinformation on its social media platform. This week the social network added warnings for users liking posts labeled for misinformation. This adds another mental block between incorrect and otherwise misleading information and the people that'd otherwise be mislead.
A Facebook Messenger bug discovered earlier this year was revealed this week by a security researcher. This bug worked with the Facebook Messenger call system, taking advantage of a loophole that let an attacker make a phone call and auto-answer said call on the receiver's end. With this bug, an attacker could effectively listen to you through your phone without your knowledge.
Today we're taking a peek at the new trailer for the Tom and Jerry movie 2021. In it, we see a sort of Space Jam mix of cartoons and live action characters, a premise that's not entirely important, and all sorts of Tom and Jerry antics. This movie was announced with a suggested release date range that includes the entirety of 2021, so it could come at any time. The trailer also suggests that this movie will be released to theaters.
Twitter is rolling out Fleets, its auto-destructing messages, to all users, having tested the Stories-like temporary posts in a beta earlier this year. Announced in March, Twitter Fleets launched in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea as a way to share more passing comments and media than you might want remaining on your regular timeline.
Amazon isn't exactly a company you'd associate with gaming, except perhaps as a backend platform with AWS, but it's not for a lack of trying. It bought game streaming platform Twitch, launched its own Lumberyard game engine based on CryTek's CryEngine, and, most recently, launched its own game streaming platform Luna. But while that last bit catered more towards PC gamers on mobile, Amazon is now introducing a new social network that targets hardcore Android gamers, creating a space for them to edit and share key moments in their games since there aren't enough social networks like that.
In the heat of the recent US elections, it almost seemed that the current Trump administration was too busy to remember the deadline it set for TikTok to divest or shut down its operations in the US. After months of uncertainty, TikTok has finally gotten a reprieve as the US Commerce Department announced it won't enforce the earlier order in light of a recent federal court ruling. The fight, however, isn't over yet and TikTok's fate in the US still hinges on what will happen in the country in the coming weeks.
Today a massive update for Instagram is in effect. Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram revealed that they'd be making some "big changes" to the platform, focusing on two tabs for all users. One is Reels, the other is Shop. The refocus in Instagram may well change the social network forever.
The latest update to WhatsApp allows the user to bulk delete their content. This system has a "new and improved way to manage storage on the app," as it were, allowing users to "easily identify, select, and bulk delete content that may be filling their phone." This update should be available for all users on iOS and Android this week, so long as they've downloaded the latest version of the app.
The next week is going to be stressful, to say the very least, and so while as a tech writer I am deeply invested in you being addicted to your gadgets, I also think it's time we turned off our notifications. At least, for a little while. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are ramping up for levels of disinformation the likes of which the US has never seen before, and even if you avoid the hoaxes, even the actual news is stressful enough.
Today Apple released a major update for their video creation app Clips. This app allows the creation and modification of short video clips for iPhone and iPad for use on all sorts of social networks and messaging apps. The latest update to Clips enhances the user interface and makes the exceedingly important expansion to both vertical AND horizontal video.
WhatsApp added an option to chats today that allows the user to mute said chat forever. The Facebook-owned app and ecosystem previously only allowed a chat to be muted for 8 hours, 1 week, or 1 year. This was fine, sure, but what if you wanted to stay in a chat and never, ever hear a notification from the chat ever, ever again? Now that's possible, if you dare.