Twitter has admitted to an embarrassing mistake which could have sent users' Direct Messages to other developers, with the bug remaining undetected for sixteen months. The short-message social network began notifying potentially affected users today, warning them that because of a fault in its platform, tweets they'd thought private or protected could've been shared with other users.
Today Twitter reversed implementation of a "feature" in which users were shown "in case you missed it" and "recommended Tweets" instead of a standard chronological order. In a non-curated world, Twitter would display all the Tweets made by all the accounts one person follows, and it'd do so in reverse chronological order, with the newest Tweets showing up first. That's what Twitter was at the beginning. That's what it (temporarily) is again.
If you didn't get a coveted invitation to the big iPhone reveal this week, Apple has you covered with a new way to watch the livestream. The event takes place in Cupertino, CA, on Wednesday, September 12, and though there could be some surprises, the biggest headlines are likely to be around Apple's 2018 iPhone line-up.
While Twitter already has problems like online harassment and accounts that spread mis-information to deal with, the company also seems to be looking for ways to make the social network more enticing and easier to follow for new users. One of the latest examples is potential improvements to how conversations are displayed, as well displaying who's online. These features are still in testing, however, and aren't finalized with a planned rollout date.
Engagement is pretty much the cornerstone of any social network, so it isn't any surprise that big sites like Facebook and Twitter try to grow your friends lists by surfacing the profiles of people you might know or asking you to import your contacts from your phone. Twitter, however, has been testing a feature that goes in the completely opposite direction, as it presents a list of people it think you should unfollow.
Twitter users who prefer to keep things simple had the option of authenticating Facebook on their account, which would result in tweets being cross-posted to the latter social network. Recent API changes removed that ability, meaning new tweets can't be cross-posted onto Facebook automatically. However, it appears the change has resulted in all past cross-posted tweets disappearing from Facebook timelines, as well.
The European Union is becoming the champion of digital privacy, safety, and fair play, whether you like it or not. And some companies definitely don’t. After the still controversial GDPR and its high-profile fine of Google for its monopoly over Android, the European Commission, the EU’s legal body, is turning its sights on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The body may start fining these platforms if they are unable to delete online terrorist propaganda within an hour after they have been flagged.
They might be getting a lot of flak for fake news and inconsistent rules, but social media is just as big if not bigger than ever. It could be even bigger if they actually reached markets where even traditional sources of news and communication have a hard time catering to. That’s why there is a sudden rash of “lite” versions of social apps designed to cater to emerging markets with slow Internet and cramped phones. And now Twitter Lite, one of the first to do so, is making it’s going places before everyone else does.
Space Force looks more like a joke each time the Trump Administration mentions its name. Today is no different. Earlier in the day Vice President Mike Pence made a public speech about how the "Department of the Space Force" should be made official by the year 2020. This afternoon an email was sent to Trump supporters asking them to vote online for their favorite Space Force logo.
Moving your data between internet services is something that isn't always easy or fast. This is especially true when you're doing something like moving photos between social networks or music libraries and playlists between music streaming services. Today, some of the biggest companies in the world announced that they're going to do something about it, announcing the Data Transfer Project.
If you're worried that existing Twitter security measures aren't adequate enough, good news: the company has added support for security keys. The new option is available as of today, enabling security key owners to setup their account so that they can only log in if they have the right USB key. This method joins third-party app verifications.
If you no longer want to be part of the connected world that's also the ad-supported world, there are alternatives. They aren't the same as the apps and social networks you use now, and it's not often that they get as big a celebrity following - but maybe that's not why you're on the internet in the first place. Today we're having a peek at a few alternatives to the major social networks as they roll right this minute.