Meta narrows guidance to prohibit calls for death of a head of state

Facebook owner Meta Platforms said on Sunday that it is further narrowing its content moderation policy for Ukraine to prohibit calls for the death of a head of state, according to an internal company post seen by Reuters.

The move came after Reuters reported last week that Meta was temporarily allowing some posts on Facebook and Instagram calling for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. 

After the Reuters report, Meta said on Friday that a temporary change in its content policy, only applicable for Ukraine, was needed to let users voice opposition to Russia's attack. On the same day, Russia opened a criminal case against the social media firm. 

"We are now narrowing the focus to make it explicitly clear in the guidance that it is never to be interpreted as condoning violence against Russians in general," Meta global affairs President Nick Clegg wrote in a post on the company's internal platform on Sunday that was seen by Reuters.

"We also do not permit calls to assassinate a head of state...So, in order to remove any ambiguity about our stance, we are further narrowing our guidance to make explicit that we are not allowing calls for the death of a head of state on our platforms," Clegg said.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment, outside regular business hours.

"These are difficult decisions. Circumstances in Ukraine are fast moving. We try to think through all the consequences, and we keep our guidance under constant review because the context is always evolving," Clegg said.

There would be no change to policies on hate speech as far as the Russian people are concerned, he said.

"Meta stands against Russophobia. We have no tolerance for calls for genocide, ethnic cleansing, or any kind of discrimination, harassment, or violence towards Russians on our platform," he added.

Clegg wrote that Meta plans to refer the way in which it adapted the guidance it provides to content moderators to the independent oversight board, which was set up to help the platform answer some of the most difficult questions around freedom of expression.

Russia's communications regulator has imposed restrictions on Meta's Instagram, effective Monday. Meta had previously restricted access to Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik on its platforms across the European Union.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi and Maria Ponnezhath in BengaluruEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

-reuters

Instagram tests letting creators charge subscriptions

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Instagram will let some content creators in the United States charge subscriptions to fans, allowing popular users to dabble with a way to make steady money as the platform competes for online stars.

Social media users whose posts draw large audiences help platforms from Twitch and YouTube to TikTok and Instagram generate revenue, so social networks vie to be their preferred stages.

"Subscriptions are for creators," Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a video posted on Twitter.

"Creators do what they do to make a living and it's important that is predictable."

A small number of Instagram content creators in the United States will take part in a subscription test launching this week, Mosseri said.

The selected creators will be able to sell subscriptions for access to exclusive content, including live streams.

"Over time, we hope to expand these features because it's important that subscriptions are integrated throughout the entire Instagram experience," Mosseri said.

Meta-owned Instagram believes creators should "own their relationship with subscribers," so it is also working on ways for them to be able to take their lists of paying fans to apps built by other companies, Mosseri added.

Agence France-Presse

Instagram boss tells US lawmakers app ‘can help’ teens, citing own research

Instagram's boss on Wednesday pushed a rosy view of the photo-sharing app's impact on teens in testimony to US lawmakers that was at odds with damning news reports based on the firm's own research.

Adam Mosseri argued the service could help struggling young people, after documents leaked by a company insider raised worries of harms, including a 2019 study saying Instagram makes body image issues worse for one in 3 teenage girls. 

"Sometimes young people come to Instagram dealing with hard things in their lives. I believe Instagram can help many of them in those moments," Mosseri wrote.

"This is something that our research has suggested as well," he added in written testimony prepared for his appearance before a Senate commerce subcommittee.

His statement comes as the social media networks run by Facebook parent Meta battle a crisis fueled by the company's own research, and which has rekindled a years-old US push for regulation.

The documents leaked by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen also include a 2020 report stating that 32 percent of teenage girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made it worse.

Facebook has pushed back fiercely against a string of Wall Street Journal reports based on the findings, and a subsequent series for a US media consortium, arguing its research was mischaracterized.

Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn are leading the hearing, the latest in a series probing how social media could be making teens feel worse about themselves.

"These half-measures are not enough. Instagram must create tangible solutions to improve safety and data security," Blackburn tweeted ahead of the hearing.

- 'Never fully safe' -

Facebook has bounced back from other scandals such as the one involving Cambridge Analytica, a British consulting firm that used the personal data of millions of Facebook users to target political ads.

In that case, CEO Mark Zuckerberg went to Washington to apologize, and the company agreed to a $5 billion settlement with US regulators.

However, the leading social media network faces at least one investigation spurred by the latest crisis: a consortium of US states announced in November a probe of Meta's techniques for enticing young users and the potential resulting harms.

Facing pressure, the company announced in September a "pause" in developing a version of Instagram for kids under 13 as criticism built over the platform's impact on young people's mental health.

On the eve of Wednesday's hearing, Instagram announced new protections for young users like suggesting a break if they have been spending a lot of time on the platform.

The timing of the announcement drew a wary reception from lawmakers, who questioned whether it was an effort at distraction ahead of the hearing.

Stephen Balkam, founder and CEO of advocacy group Family Online Safety Institute, said pre-hearing announcements are a Washington tradition but noted they won't make the app's problems go away.

"Instagram is safer than it was. I think Instagram is less toxic for teens than it was. But it will never be perfect, it will never be fully safe. But then that's true of all social media," he told AFP.

 Agence France-Presse

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram suffer worldwide outage

Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms were down across wide swathes of the world Monday. Facebook’s internal systems used by employees also went down.

The company said it was aware that “some people are having trouble accessing (the) Facebook app” and it was working on restoring access. Regarding the internal failures, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, tweeted that it feels like a “snow day.”

The company did not say what might be causing the outage, which began around 11:45 ET. It is normal for websites and apps to suffer outages, though one on a global scale is rare. Users reported being unable to access Facebook in California, New York and Europe.

Doug Madory, director of internet analysis for Kentik Inc., said it appears that the routes Facebook advertises online that tell the entire internet how to reach its properties are not available.

Madory said it looks like the DNS routes that Facebook makes available to the networking world have been withdrawn. The Domain Name System is an integral element of how traffic on the internet is routed. DNS translates an address like “facebook.com” to an IP address like 123.45.67.890. If Facebook’s DNS records have disappeared, no one could find it.

Facebook is going through a separate major crisis after whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, provided The Wall Street Journal with internal documents that exposed the company’s awareness of harms caused by of its products and decisions. Haugen went public on “60 Minutes” on Sunday.

Haugen also anonymously filed complaints with federal law enforcement alleging that Facebook’s own research shows how it magnifies hate and misinformation, leads to increased polarization and that Instagram, specifically, can harm teenage girls’ mental health.

The Journal’s stories, called “The Facebook Files,” painted a picture of a company focused on growth and its own interests over the public good. Facebook has tried to play down the research. Nick Clegg, the company’s vice president of policy and public affairs, wrote to Facebook employees in a memo Friday that “social media has had a big impact on society in recent years, and Facebook is often a place where much of this debate plays out.”

Twitter, meanwhile, chimed in from the company’s main Twitter account, posting “hello literally everyone” as jokes and memes about the Facebook outage flooded the platform.

-Associated Press

TikTok ramps up privacy protection for teens

SAN FRANCISCO – TikTok became the latest tech company Thursday to announce tighter protections for teenagers as social media platforms come under increased scrutiny over their privacy safeguards.

The short video-sharing app will roll out a number of features in the coming months, including a default curb for 16 and 17-year-olds on in-app messaging unless it is switched to a different setting.

Under 16s will see a pop-up message when they publish their first video, asking them to choose who can watch.

And users aged 16 and 17 will be able to receive a pop-up asking them to confirm who can download their videos. Downloads are already disabled on content posted by under 16s.

The Chinese-owned platform will also stop sending push notifications to users aged 13 to 16 from 9pm — and an hour later for 16 to 17-year-olds — with the aim of reducing their screen time at night.

The moves announced by head of child safety public policy Alexandra Evans and global head of privacy Aruna Sharma build on previous measures to protect young users from predators, bullies and other online dangers.

“It’s important to ensure even stronger proactive protections to help keep teens safe, and we’ve continually introduced changes to support age-appropriate experiences on our platform,” Evans and Sharma said.

“We want to help our younger teens in particular develop positive digital habits early on.”

Google, YouTube and Facebook-Instagram have all recently bolstered defenses for teen users, while critics have been urging Facebook to abandon plans for a children’s version of Instagram.

TikTok was the world’s most downloaded app last year, overtaking Facebook and its messaging platforms, according to market tracker App Annie.

The video app surged in popularity, according to market tracker App Annie, despite efforts by former president Donald Trump to ban it or force a sale to US-based investors.

Agence France-Presse

Facebook services back online after worldwide outage

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Facebook said it was "back at 100 percent" Wednesday evening after an outage on all of its services affected users in various parts of the world.

Online monitoring service DownDetector reported earlier the outage began around 1200 GMT and affected Facebook as well as its Instagram and WhatsApp services.

"The issue has since been resolved and we should be back at 100% for everyone," the company tweeted at 0006 GMT Thursday, adding they were sorry for "any inconvenience."


A Facebook spokesperson, also speaking on behalf of Instagram and WhatsApp, explained that a "routine maintenance operation" accidentally triggered a bug that made it difficult for users to upload or send photos and videos, US media reported.

#Facebookdown and #instagramdown were trending on Twitter as users around the world reported these apps were not functioning.

According to DownDetector, thousands of users around the world were reporting outages, with Europe and North America most impacted. Both individual users as well as businesses and organizations were affected.

"Yes, we are affected by #instagramdown, too," the CIA tweeted during the outage.

"No, we didn't cause it. No, we can't fix yours. Did you try turning it off and back on again?"

Earlier this year, an outage lasting as long as 24 hours that hit Facebook services was blamed on a "server configuration change."

The March 13 outage was believed to be the worst ever for the internet giant, which reaches an estimated 2.7 billion people with its core social network, Instagram and messaging applications.

The company did not immediately respond to an AFP query on Wednesday's outage.

source: philstar.com

FB moves vs indiscriminate sharing of intimate content

MANILA, Philippines — Facebook users sharing intimate images without the consent of owners may find their accounts disabled, the social media company said.

Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, said they recently launched a new detection technology to strengthen efforts to remove non-consensual intimate images on their platforms, including on Messenger and Instagram.

“Finding these images goes beyond detecting nudity on our platforms. By using machine learning and artificial intelligence, we can now proactively detect near nude images or videos that are shared without permission on Facebook and Instagram,” she said.


“This means we can find this content before anyone reports it, which is important for two reasons: often victims are afraid of retribution so they are reluctant to report the content themselves or are unaware the content has been shared,” she added.

Davis said a specially-trained member of the community operations team will review the content found by their technology, resulting in its removal and disabling of the account of those who shared it if found to be in violation of community standards.


The Facebook official said the new detection technology is in addition to an existing program that allows people to securely submit a photo to Facebook that they do not want to be shared on the platform.

“We then create a digital fingerprint of that image and stop it from ever being shared on our platform in the first place. After receiving positive feedback from victims and support organizations, we will expand this pilot over the coming months so more people can benefit from this option in an emergency,” Davis said.

The social media company also launched a support hub where victims can find organizations and resources to support them, including steps they can take to remove the content from the platform and prevent it from being shared further.

“We’re also going to make it easier and more intuitive for victims to report when their intimate images were shared on Facebook. And over the coming months, we’ll build a victim support toolkit to give people around the world more information with locally and culturally relevant support,” Davis added.

Impact on victims

A research conducted by Facebook highlighted the serious emotional and physical consequences of sharing intimate images without consent to victims.

“Sometimes called ‘revenge porn,’ it’s really a form of sexual violence that can be motivated by an intent to control, shame, humiliate, extort and terrorize victims,” said Radha Iyengar and Karuna Nain, Facebook’s head of product policy research and manager for global safety policy programs, respectively.

They said the consequences that victims face vary, depending on the cultural context, although all felt violated, angry and embarrassed.

“Victims in more traditional communities may be shunned and exiled from their communities. Organizations we’ve worked with reported cases in which victims were forced to run away from home to avoid persecution and even physical harm,” they said.

“And many countries lack established support organizations, or viable law enforcement solutions,” they added.

Iyengar and Nain underscored the need to build clear and accessible tools to support victims in reporting a violation.

They also recommended the development of prevention methods such as tools to report and proactively block someone from sharing non-consensual images.

“They are scared and worried that their family, friends and co-workers will see the images. In fact, harm for the victims continues long after the images are removed,” noted the company executives.

“The mental health consequences include anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and sometimes post-traumatic stress disorders. There can be economic and professional consequences for victims, including lost jobs, fewer professional connections and colleagues who tease or avoid them. It can also be difficult finding new employment,” they added.

source: philstar.com

Maine Mendoza a 'brave, strong role model' — Lang Leav

MANILA, Philippines — Novelist and poet Lang Leav described Kapuso actress Maine Mendoza as a “brave” and “strong role model for all women.”

In Maine’s New Year post on Instagram, the “Eat Bulaga” host said 2018 was one of her memorable years yet as she quoted the Cambodian-Australian novelist and poet, “’Don’t stay where you are needed. Go where you are loved.’ - Lang Leav ♥”

Lang commented on Maine’s post, “Such a brave, strong role model for all women. Sending you lots of love Maine. Happy 2019. Keep shining.”

From being an online sensation with her dubmash videos to being paired with Alden Richards in the hit noontime show, Maine has taken a solo career.

Maine said she “took all the lessons learned from my mistakes and difficult times last year to make 2018 one of the best, most memorable years yet.”

The “Phenomenal Star” said she’s glad to have finally moved on from toxic energy and people who used to drain her.

“I am happier now than I have ever been and am incredibly blessed with so many wonderful things - from the very start of the year until today. Couldn’t be more grateful for everything! I am just so so glad to have finally moved on from the toxic energy and people that used to drain me - the best realisation and resolution still,” she wrote.

“Cheers to a great year! And may we always find the courage to let go of what’s weighing us down. Hoping 2019 is even more exciting and fruitful for all of us. Happy New Year, everyone!” she added.

source: philstar.com

After winning Miss Universe, Catriona surpasses 2 million followers on Instagram

MANILA, Philippines — Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray achieved an impressive social media milestone after she won the crown and sash of the prestigious beauty pageant.

Catriona gained more than one million followers on Instagram in less than a day. As of posting, the 24-year-old beauty queen has 2.4 million followers.


She just reached one million followers on Instagram on the eve of the Miss Universe coronation.


Her first Instagram post after being crowned the newest Miss Universe has more than one million likes.

“Philippines, what an amazing honor it has been to carry your name across my chest and to embody you in all aspects. I may now carry the sash of Miss Universe, but I’ll forever be your Miss Universe,” she wrote.

Catriona’s Facebook page is nearing the one million mark at 964,134 likes. Her Twitter account, meanwhile, has more than 299,000 followers.

Catriona was crowned as the newest Miss Universe Monday at Thailand capital’s Impact Arena. She became the fourth Filipina to win the international pageant, following the footsteps of Gloria Diaz (1969), Margie Moran (1973) and Pia Wurtzbach (2015).  — Gaea Katreena Cabico

source: philstar.com

Facebook blocks 115 accounts on eve of US election

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Facebook said Monday it blocked some 30 accounts on its platform and 85 more on Instagram after police warned they may be linked to "foreign entities" trying to interfere in the US midterm election.

The announcement came shortly after US law enforcement and intelligence agencies said that Americans should be wary of Russian attempts to spread fake news. The election is Tuesday.

A study published last week found that misinformation on social media was spreading at a greater rate than during the run-up to the 2016 presidential vote, which Russia is accused of manipulating through a vast propaganda campaign in favor of Donald Trump, the eventual winner.


"On Sunday evening, US law enforcement contacted us about online activity that they recently discovered and which they believe may be linked to foreign entities," Facebook head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher said in a blog post.

"We immediately blocked these accounts and are now investigating them in more detail."

The investigation so far identified around 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram accounts that appeared to be engaged in "coordinated inauthentic behavior," Gleicher said.

He added that all the Facebook pages associated with the accounts appeared to be in French or Russian.

The Instagram accounts were mostly in English, with some "focused on celebrities, others political debate."

"Typically, we would be further along with our analysis before announcing anything publicly," Gleicher said.

"But given that we are only one day away from important elections in the US, we wanted to let people know about the action we’ve taken and the facts as we know them today."

'Junk News' 
Despite an aggressive crackdown by social media firms, so-called "junk news" is spreading at a greater rate than in 2016 on social media ahead of Tuesday's US congressional election, Oxford Internet Institute researchers said in a study published Thursday.

Twitter said Saturday it deleted a "series of accounts" that attempted to share disinformation. It gave no number.

Facebook last month said it took down accounts linked to an Iranian effort to influence US and British politics with messages about charged topics such as immigration and race relations.

The social network identified 82 pages, groups and accounts that originated in Iran and violated policy on coordinated "inauthentic" behavior.

Gleicher said at the time there was overlap with accounts taken down earlier this year and linked to Iranian state media, but the identity of the culprits has yet to be determined.

Posts on the accounts or pages, which included some hosted by Facebook-owned Instagram, focused mostly on "sowing discord" via strongly divisive issues rather than on particular candidates or campaigns.

Sample posts shared included inflammatory commentary about US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May and the controversy around freshly appointed US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

War room 
Major online social platforms have been under intense pressure to avoid being used by "bad actors" out to sway outcomes by publishing misinformation and enraging voters.

Facebook weeks ago opened a "war room" at its Menlo Park headquarters in California to be a nerve center for the fight against misinformation and manipulation of the largest social network by foreign actors trying to influence elections in the United States and elsewhere.

The shutdown of thousands of Russian-controlled accounts by Twitter and Facebook -- plus the indictments of 14 people from Russia's notorious troll farm the Internet Research Agency -- have blunted but by no means halted their efforts to influence US politics.

Facebook, which has been blamed for doing too little to prevent misinformation efforts by Russia and others in the 2016 US election, now wants the world to know it is taking aggressive steps with initiatives like the war room.

The war room is part of stepped up security announced by Facebook, which will be adding some 20,000 employees.

source: philstar.com

Taylor Swift goes blank on social media, sending fans into frenzy

Taylor Swift, one of the most popular celebrities on social media, wiped all her accounts on Friday, sending fans into a frenzy over whether the pop singer had been hacked, was preparing to launch a new album, or was about to reinvent herself.

Swift, who has 85 million Twitter followers and 102 million Instagram followers, deleted all of her Instagram photos, her posts on Tumblr, and removed her avatar from her Facebook page where all postings prior to December 2015 were missing.

The “Blank Space” singer also deleted years of Twitter posts, and her official website showed just a black screen.

“I’m scared to go to sleep thanks to Taylor Swift like what if she drops a new song,” tweeted an anxious fan called Anu using the handle @shadesoftaylor.

Taylor’s publicist did not return calls for comment, but the development follows a busy two weeks for Swift, who earlier this month ended a six month absence from the public spotlight to testify at a high-profile groping trial in Denver, Colorado.

Swift, 27, was on Monday awarded the symbolic $1 in damages that she had sought after a federal jury in Denver found that a radio DJ had grabbed her bottom while posing for a photo with her in 2013.

Her unflinching testimony describing the incident was applauded by fans and women’s rights groups for highlighting the issue of sexual assault. Swift later made a donation to the sexual violence campaign and support group Joyful Heart Foundation.

Some fans speculated on Friday that Swift, whose last album was the best-selling “1989” in 2014, may be clearing out her accounts before releasing new music.

Others wondered if she had been hacked, while some thought the country-turned-pop star might be planning an image makeover.

“I woke up literally 7 minutes ago what in the world is going on with Taylor Swift,” wrote one fan, Jordyn, on Twitter.

“Is the new era coming or she has been hacked ??,.” tweeted another confused fan, using the handle TaylorSwiftNow.

Usually ubiquitous on social media and red carpets, Swift largely dropped out of public view earlier this year after a highly publicized but short-lived 2016 summer fling with British actor Tom Hiddleston, and feuds with Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Katy Perry.

source: interaksyon.com

Radiohead releases single under cloud of intrigue

British rockers Radiohead returned to the Internet on Tuesday with a new music video, after the band stumped fans by deleting all posts on their Twitter account over the weekend.

The critically acclaimed band previewed the release of the new single “Burn the Witch” early Tuesday, posting short bursts of footage from the video on Instagram.

Both “Burn the Witch” and “Radiohead” quickly became two of the top 10 trending terms on Twitter in the United States Tuesday after the video was unveiled.

UK film director Edgar Wright (@edgarwright) tweeted on Tuesday, “Love the Trumpton / Camberwick Green style video for Radiohead’s ‘Burn The Witch’.”

It was unclear when Radiohead might release a new full-length album, though the group is scheduled to begin its next world concert tour later this month, according to a schedule that was linked to the band’s website.

Adding to the intrigue, the group appeared to have scrubbed its Twitter account of any posts that appeared previously to those published Monday that related to the new single.

“‘Sorry I can’t come to work tomorrow. Radiohead just deleted all their tweets, so something Earth changing is about to happen,’” tweeted D.D. Walker (@desmondalan) on Sunday.

“Radiohead just deleted all of their tweets + their website and profile pictures are completely blank,” tweeted Peter Sharkey (@iPeterSharkey) on Sunday. “They sure do know how to build hype.”

Over the weekend, music review website Pitchfork reported that several Radiohead fans in the UK had received cryptic leaflets in the mail that read, in part, “BURN THE WITCH/WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE.”

Radiohead, an alternative rock group, is best known for hits like “Creep” and “Paranoid Android.”

source: interaksyon.com

Kim Kardashian takes Instagram crown with record 45 million followers

LOS ANGELES | Reality television star Kim Kardashian is now more than ever the queen of social media, announcing Wednesday that her Instagram account has a record 45 million followers.

“45 million Instagram followers!!!!! I love you guys!!!!!” Kardashian informed those same followers, captioning a selfie of a sidelong smile and copious cleavage.

With that tally, the star of “Keeping up with the Kardashians” and wife of rapper Kanye West now has more followers than any other Instagram user.

Pop stars Taylor Swift and Beyonce are close behind at 44.7 million and 44.6 million, respectively, and two other pop stars, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande, round out the top five.

Instagram, acquired by Facebook in 2012, is a platform for users to share photos, with little emphasis on text, a format that may be particularly well-suited to Kardashian’s particular self-promotion genius.

A photo of newlyweds Kardashian and West kissing at their wedding, posted to her account last year, became the most “liked” photo on Instagram before being surpassed by a photo on the account of her younger half-sister, Kendall Jenner, earlier this summer.

Kardashian still has plenty of room for improvement on less photo-centric social media; Katy Perry leads all Twitter users with 74.8 million followers, while Kardashian has a mere 34.9 million.

source: interaksyon.com

Facebook adds video sharing to Instagram

MENLO PARK — Facebook on Thursday added smartphone video-sharing to its Instagram photo-based social network, in a move challenging Twitter’s popular Vine service.

“We need to do to video what we did to photos,” Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said while unveiling Video On Instagram at a press event at Facebook’s headquarters in the Silicon Valley city of Menlo Park.

Instagram video apps tailored for iPhones and smartphones powered by Google-backed Android software feature 13 filters for special effects and post to people’s Facebook pages the same way pictures do.

Video snippets can be 15 seconds or less, since the team saw that length as a “Goldilocks moment” not too long and not too short, according to the Instagram co-founder.

Systrom said that Instagram has topped 130 million users and all of them have “access to recording the world’s moments in real time” with today’s launch.

Instagram engineers worked with leading video scientists to develop a “cinema” feature that stabilizes shaking that is typical in smartphone video.

Within hours of the new feature being added to Instagram, video clips began streaming in from locales around the world including a fish market in Japan, a space memorial in Russia and a surfing haunt on the California coast.

Investors, however, seemed put off by the lack of a plan to make money from Instagram and Facebook shares were down slightly to $23.90 at the end of the official trading day on the Nasdaq.

Facebook acquired Instagram last year. The original price was pegged at $1 billion but the final value was less because of a decline in the social network’s share price.

Twitter earlier this year launched Vine, a service that lets people share video snippets up to six seconds long.

“Given the importance of mobile and video for Facebook, the prospect of video features in Instagram should come as no surprise,” said Ovum analyst Eden Zeller.

Facebook still needs to figure out ways to make money from Instagram, according to analysts.

“We didn’t design it with any advertising in mind,” Systrom said of the video-sharing service. “I think, over time, we will figure out advertising.”

He stressed that Instagram users would own their videos and that Facebook did not intend to use them for marketing or advertising.

The overall digital video advertising market in the United States is expected to surge more than 40 percent to $4.1 billion this year, according to industry tracker eMarketer.

Video advertising on mobile gadgets is expected to more than double to $518 million this year and account for more than a quarter of all US digital video ad spending by the year 2016, eMarketer said.

Systrom confided that he is eager to tinker with Instagram’s potential on Google Glass Internet-linked eyewear but has not been able to get his hands on a pair, which has been made available to developers at a price of $1,500 each.

Forrester analyst Nate Elliott noted that Facebook has done well by “borrowing heavily” from other Internet companies.

Examples given by the analyst included Facebook adding Twitter-style hashtags and news feeds, and the social network letting mobile gadget users check-in at locations after Foursquare found success with the model.

“This model of ‘borrowed innovation’ has worked well for Facebook — bringing interesting new features to audiences that the social start-ups can only dream of,” Elliott said.

“It also keeps Facebook’s services fresh, and is one of the reasons more than a billion people still use the site every month.”

Elliott added that “the greatest marketing value from social media isn’t trying to market to people on social sites, it is learning from social sites how to market to them everywhere else.

“Google figured it out and I am hoping Facebook figures it out.”

Google made billions of dollars last year powering advertising at other websites and Facebook could do likewise, using insights gleaned from users to better target ads at other Internet venues, the analyst reasoned.

“The more social behaviors you get people to engage in, the more you learn about them and eventually Facebook will learn how to use this database of affinity to make money on it,” Elliott said.

source: interaksyon.com

Heart Evangelista and Senator Escudero in tender, ‘chizzy’ moment

Now we know why Senator Chiz Escudero’s Twitter account is called @saychiz.

An Instagram photo posted by Heart Evangelista with the accompanying post, “I miss you busybee @saychiz” is giving their fans goose bumps with its rather cheesy pose showing the couple alone in a private resort with the actress reaching up to kiss the re-electionist senator on the cheek.

Both are barefoot in the photo, with the senator wearing only a white T-shirt and shorts and Heart wearing her sleepwear. The photo also looks like it was taken early in the morning while the sun was about to rise.

In any case, it shows how very much in love the two are and if the reactions of the fans are any indication, it does not look like anyone’s disapproving.

Heart and Senator Chiz recently spent a vacation together in San Francisco, California where the picture was probably taken. As earlier reported, they have already talked about tying the knot. If the Senator has his way, the wedding will probably take place “within five years”.

For now, it seems like the couple is just happy spending quality private moments, especially now the “busybee” senator is once again back on the campaign trail.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Prankster’ Justin Bieber Drops Trou, Posts Moon Shot to Instagram (NSFW)

Justin Bieber managed to rack up nearly 100,000 likes on Instagram after uploading a photo of his butt crack this past Saturday.

The moon shot wasn't up for long, but still long enough to necessitate a comment from Bieber's manager Scooter Braun.

"[A]s a prankster u have to respect another good prank. only makes sense. #crackdealer," Braun tweeted following his client's ass-play.

USA Today, however, suggests the cheeky candid was less of a "good prank," and more of a "regular PR move" to attract new followers ahead of Bieber's upcoming remix album, Believe Acoustic.

Then again, he may have been helping his mom promote her upcoming anti-abortion film by showing horny youngsters God's loophole.

source:  gawker.com

Instagram backtracks after move to sell users' pics triggers online uproar

Instagram backed down Tuesday from a planned policy change that appeared to clear the way for the mobile photo sharing service to sell pictures without compensation, after users cried foul.

"The language we proposed also raised questions about whether your photos can be part of an advertisement," Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said in a blog post.

"We do not have plans for anything like this and because of that we're going to remove the language that raised the question," he continued. "To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos."

Changes to the Instagram privacy policy and terms of service set to take effect January 16 had included wording that appeared to allow people's pictures to be used by advertisers at Instagram or Facebook worldwide, royalty-free.

Twitter and Instagram forums were abuzz over the phrasing, as users debated whether to delete their accounts before the new rules kicked in.

"Bye-bye Instagram," tweeted Scott Ninness. "Who in their right mind will use a service that allows your images (to) be sold with no financial remuneration to you?"

"Everybody should continue using Instagram but just take blurry photos of sandwiches," suggested a Twitter user with the screen name Michele Catalano.

Systrom did not specify how the terms of service wording would be changed.

Originally proposed portions of the new policy that rankled users included "You hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the content that you post on or through the service."

The terms also stated that "a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos, and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."

Instagram contended that it was not claiming ownership of people's pictures.

"Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we'd like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram," Systrom said.

"Instead it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing."

Some people tweeted in defense of Instagram, arguing that it was a "mega-business" that needs to make money.

"I quit Instagram on principle," Twitter user Liz Heron said on the popular message service. "I'm tired of contributing to the commodification (sic) of my own existence."

Instagram said that the changes were part of a move to better share information with Facebook, which bought the company this year.

Internet rights activists at the Electronic Frontier Foundation had called on Instagram to reconsider the new policy, saying it violated "key principles" for social networking services.

Instagram, which has some 100 million users, is seeking to route photo viewers to its own website, where it has the potential to make money from ads or other mechanisms.

This month, the service made it impossible for Internet users to view its images in messages at Twitter.

Previously, Instagram pictures shared in messages tweeted from smartphones could be viewed unaltered at Twitter.

Twitter responded by adding Instagram-style photo sharing features of its own.

Yahoo! joined the fray last week by making it more enticing for iPhone users to use its Flickr photo service.

Instagram rose to stardom with the help of Twitter, but has distanced itself from the messaging service since Facebook completed its acquisition of Instagram in September.

The original price was pegged at $1 billion but the final value was less because of a decline in the social network's share price.

source: interaksyon.com

Facebook to share data with Instagram, loosen email rules

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook Inc is proposing to combine user data with that of recently acquired photo-sharing service Instagram, and will loosen restrictions on emails between members of the social network.

Facebook also said on Wednesday it is proposing to scrap a 4-year old process that can allow the social network’s roughly 1 billion users to vote on changes to its policies and terms of services.

Facebook said it may share information between its own service and other businesses or affiliates that Facebook owns to “help provide, understand, and improve our services and their own services.”

One of Facebook’s most significant affiliate businesses is Instagram, a photo-sharing service for smartphone users that Facebook acquired in October for roughly $715 million.

The change could open the door for Facebook to build unified profiles of its users that include people’s personal data from its social network and from Instagram, similar to recent moves by Google Inc. In January, Google said it would combine users’ personal information from its various Web services – such as search, email and the Google+ social network – to provide a more customized experience.

Google’s unified data policy raised concerns among some privacy advocates and regulators, who said it was an invasion of people’s privacy. A group of 36 U.S. state attorney generals also warned in a letter to Google that consolidating so much personal information in one place could put people at greater risk from hackers and identity thieves.

Facebook also wants to loosen the restrictions on how members of the social network can contact other members using the Facebook email system.

Facebook said it wanted to eliminate a setting for users to control who can contact them. The company said it planned to replace the “Who can send you Facebook messages” setting with new filters for managing incoming messages.

Asked whether such a change could leave Facebook users exposed to a flood of unwanted, spam-like messages, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said that the company carefully monitors user interaction and feedback to find ways to enhance the user experience.

“We are working on updates to Facebook Messages and have made this change in our Data Use Policy in order to allow for improvements to the product,” Noyes said.

Facebook’s changes come as the world’s largest social networking company with roughly 1 billion users has experienced a sharp slowdown in revenue growth. The company generates the bulk of its revenue from advertising on its website.

The changes are open to public comment for the next seven days. If the proposed changes generate more than 7,000 public comments, Facebook’s current terms of service automatically trigger a vote by users to approve the changes. But the vote is only binding if at least 30 percent of users take part, and two prior votes never reached that threshold.

Facebook has said in that past that it was rethinking the voting system and on Wednesday Facebook moved to eliminate the vote entirely, noting that it hasn’t functioned as intended and is no longer suited to its current situation as a large publicly traded company subject to oversight by various regulatory agencies.

“We found that the voting mechanism, which is triggered by a specific number of comments, actually resulted in a system that incentivized the quantity of comments over their quality,” Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s vice president of communications, public policy and marketing, said in a blog post on Wednesday.

Instead of the vote, Facebook will look for other forms of user feedback on changes, such as an “Ask the Chief Privacy Officer” question-and-answer forum on its website as well as live webcasts about privacy, safety and security.

Facebook, Google and other online companies have faced increasing scrutiny and enforcement from privacy regulators as consumers entrust ever-increasing amounts of information about their personal lives to Web services.

In April, Facebook settled privacy charges with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it had deceived consumers and forced them to share more personal information than they intended. Under the settlement, Facebook is required to get user consent for certain changes to its privacy settings and is subject to 20 years of independent audits.

source: interaksyon.com

Google Buys Instagram Rival Nik Software

(Reuters) - Google Inc said it bought Instagram rival Nik Software, which makes award-winning photo editing application Snapseed, for an undisclosed amount.

Google and Facebook Inc are locked in a battle for social network followers that has increasingly shifted to mobile applications, such as photo editing.

While not as famous as Instagram, available for free on Apple's mobile devices, Snapseed has won a following for its editing prowess among photographers, despite a $4.99 price tag.

Nik Software says Snapseed has more than 9 million users while Instagram says it has more than 100 million.

"We want to help our users create photos they absolutely love, and in our experience Nik does this better than anyone," Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president, engineering, said on a Google+ post.

Facebook this year bought Instagram, which made an app for users to add filters and effects to pictures taken on their smartphones, for a cool $1 billion.

"Google's playing chase up in social," BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis said. "It's yet another tuck in they have done, trying to boost their Google+ offering."

Snapseed won Apple Inc's "iPad App Of The Year" award in 2011 for its multitouch photo editing interface.

"We've always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google's support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures," Nik Software said on its Website.

Google's Gundotra also said that Google+ had hit over 400 million users this week and had just crossed 100 million monthly active users.

source: nytimes.com

US clears Facebook deal for Instagram

WASHINGTON - US regulators said Wednesday they closed an investigation into Facebook's billion-dollar deal to buy the startup behind photo-sharing smartphone application Instagram, taking no action.

The Federal Trade Commission said in a statement that Facebook's bid to buy Instagram "may now proceed as proposed."

In letters to both firms published on the FTC's website, the agency said for the first time that it had opened a probe into potential violations of federal laws on competition or deceptive practices.

But the letters said "no further action is warranted at this time."

"This action is not to be construed as a determination that a violation may not have occurred, just as the pendency of an investigation should not be construed as a determination that a violation has occurred," each of the letters said.

"The commission reserves the right to take such further action as the public interest may require."

The big ticket purchase was seen by some as a move by Facebook to strengthen defenses against Google and blazing hot newcomer Pinterest just ahead of the Facebook public offering.

"For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family," Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said in announcing the deal in April.

"Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests."

Zuckerberg called the purchase "an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users," but promised it was a rare acquisition.

source: interaksyon.com