Tag: social media

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Mobile Syrup

WhatsApp now gives users two days to delete their messages

WhatsApp has extended its timeline to delete messages to a generous two days.

The company shared the news on Twitter, garnering thousands of replies.

Rethinking some of your recently sent messages? Here’s how to get rid of them:

  • make sure you have the most recent version of the app
  • select the message you want to delete by holding onto it
  • click the little garbage can to delete
  • pick from “delete for everyone” and “delete for me.”

Source: @WhatsApp Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter confirms bad actor took advantage of bug sharing personal account information

Millions of anonymous Twitter accounts may be at risk of an information leak.

Twitter says it was made aware of a vulnerability in January that saw its systems tell someone if a particular email address or phone number they submitted was associated with a specific account. The social media giant received the report through its bug bounty program, it said in a blog post on Friday.

Twitter said the bug resulted from a June 2021 code update, and it fixed the issue when it became aware of it. There wasn’t evidence to suggest anyone took advantage of the bug at the time.

However, the company learned of a report last month that a bad actor took advantage of the information. BleepingComputer, spoke with an individual who accessed the information of 5.4 million accounts.

Twitter says it is notifying as many impacted accounts as it can but says it won’t be possible to inform all of them.

“We are publishing this update because we aren’t able to confirm every account that was potentially impacted, and are particularly mindful of people with pseudonymous accounts who can be targeted by state or other actors,” Twitter writes in the blog post.

Source: Twitter, BleepingComputer Via: Engadget

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter lawyers respond to Musk’s countersuit with with facts about bots and spam

Elon Musk’s countersuit to Twitter contains several claims about the social media company, including that that the San Francisco, California-based social media giant misled him and lied about bot numbers and its advertising base., prompting the Tesla CEO to rescind his acquisition offer.

However, Twitter, on Thursday, August 5th, dropped its response to Musk’s accusations, preempting Musk’s countersuit. It’s safe to say that the social media company’s lawyers aren’t playing games.

According to Twitter, Musk is cherry-picking numbers and misrepresenting the way its online ad system operates.

In regards to the bot situation, Twitter says that Musk’s team used an online tool called “Botometer” that utilizes different criteria when assessing bots. The company adds that Musk himself labelled the online tool as “highly likely to be a bot” itself.

The platform says that the false data about Twitter’s mDAU (monetizable daily active users) is a way for Musk to undercut the service. “The allegations … are Musk’s attempt to distort data received from Twitter to sponsor wild conclusions about Twitter’s mDAU, reflecting his apparent and inappropriate effort to use this litigation to undermine Twitter’s business,” reads Twitter’s response.

Further, Twitter says that Musk making stuff up about the social media giant isn’t healthy for business. “Musk abruptly changed his mind about joining Twitter’s board (after first negotiating an offer to join the board, accepting it in writing, and Tweeting that he was “looking forward” to taking the position), notified Mr. Agrawal of the same, and also notified Mr. Agrawal of his intent to make an offer to buy Twitter,” reads Twitter’s response.

Further refuting Musk’s claim that Twitter is a microblogging platform, Twitter said that its primary product is a “Global platform for real-time self-expression and conversation, including in the form of Tweets.”

Musk’s countersuit also claims that Twitter’s process for tallying bot and spam accounts is “shockingly thin,” saying that the platform uses a 100 account sample daily to estimate the prevalence of spam on the site. Twitter fired back saying that it “deploys an array of spam-detection capabilities that typically result in the removal of more than a million spam accounts each day during or shortly after creation, including both automated and manual reviews of accounts and activity on the Twitter platform.”

Musk’s lawyers are urging for their countersuit to be unsealed immediately.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Via: The Washington Post

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter is testing a weird pre-created status feature

Twitter is testing a new status feature that allows users to assign several pre-written labels to their tweets.

If this sounds strange and somewhat useless, you’re not alone. A spokesperson for Twitter recently confirmed to TechCrunch that the social network is testing the functionality in the United States and Australia.

“For a limited time, we are testing a feature that allows you to add a status topic from a predetermined list to your Tweets to provide more context for your followers. So whether you are about to drop a hot Tweet thread, share your shower thoughts, or have a bad case of the Mondays, your Tweets can better convey what you are up to,” said the Twitter representative.

These canned statuses also have an accompanying emoji and include thought-provoking updates like “Hot Take,” “Vacation Mode,” “Unpopular Opinion,” (which would be very useful for me), and of course, “Case of the Mondays.” This feature likely aims to allow Twitter users to save characters in their tweets, but unfortunately, you can’t create custom statuses. This means you won’t be able to add My Chemical Romance lyrics to your darkest tweets like you’re using MSN in 2003.

Back in April, developer Jane Manchun Wong first uncovered Twitter’s status feature, stating that its internal codename at the social media giant is “Vibe.”

It’s unclear if this new status feature will receive a wider rollout or if the social media platform aims to also test it in Canada. Other recent in-development Twitter features include ‘Unmentioning” contacts from conversations, mixed-media tweets and downvotes.

Twitter and frequent Twitter shitposter Elon Musk are currently embroiled in a legal battle surrounding the latter’s failed attempt at acquiring the social media giant.

Source: TechCrunch, @coolranchzaku Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Snapchat first AR game is a horror mystery called Ghost Phone

Snapchat is now moving into augmented reality (AR) gaming, and its first in-app title is called Ghost Phone.

The theme of the game revolves around you finding a lost phone, and trying to figure out what happened to its original owner. What starts off as a regular adventure soon turns spooky.

The game tasks you to use your phone’s camera (not the phone you found, but your actual phone) to scan for AR ghosts in your surrounding. As you find more ghosts, and capture them, you’ll unlock secrets that help you uncover the plot, including text messages, apps and more.

To access the game, head to the lens section on the Snapchat app and scroll up to explore all lenses. Search for “Ghost Phone,” and the first lens with a ‘question mark on a phone’ logo should be it.

The new augmented reality game comes soon after the Santa Monica, California-based company announced that it is adding a feature that will let users turn their NFTs into filters.

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter points fingers at Elon Musk as the cause of lower-than-expected revenue

Twitter recently reported its Q2 2022 earnings. Throughout the recent months, the company’s total revenue dipped from $1.19 billion USD (roughly $2.4 billion CAD) year-over-year down to $1.18 billion USD (roughly $2.3 billion CAD). Twitter blames Elon Musk as a factor as well as ad industry issues.

In Twitter’s latest earnings report, the company reveals that it brought in a total of $1.18 billion USD  (roughly $1.5 billion CAD), coming up short of its target. In the report, Twitter cites uncertainty related to the pending acquisition of Twitter by an affiliate of Elon Musk” as a factor of this lowered
revenue.

On April 25th, Twitter announced that it entered an agreement with Tesla CEO Elon Musk to be acquired for $44 billion USD (roughly $60 billion CAD). Once and if the deal is complete, Musk is to take sole ownership of the social media platform for $54.20 USD (roughly $69.60 CAD) per share in cash. Following the acquisition, Twitter is to become a privately held company.

However, since the announcement of the deal, Musk has been finding ways to try and back out. Tesla’s CEO is said to have been attempting to prove how much of Twitter’s user base is comprised of fake and spam accounts. Earlier this month, Musk filed a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), claiming Twitter is “in material breach” of its contract.

Twitter’s revenue woes aren’t exclusive to Musk, as Industry-wide ad problems persist and are causing hiccups. Twitter’s ad sales are indeed up 2 percent year over year. That said, this wasn’t enough to counterbalance the loss in revenue. Twitter reported a net loss of $270 million USD (roughly $35 million CAD). Additionally, the company saw a profit decrease of $66 million USD (roughly $84 million CAD) during the same quarter in 2021. Twitter hopes to see ad sales growth in order to reach revenue milestones.

While revenue is down, usage and user base are up this quarter. Twitter reports that the social media platform has reached over 237 million daily users. This figure is up from 229 million during its last quarter.

Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter sues Elon Musk for trying to back out of $44 billion acquisition

The battle between the world’s richest man and a social media giant continues.

Twitter has sued Elon Musk after the Tesla CEO officially attempted to exit the $44 billion USD (about $57.3 billion CAD) acquisition deal he announced in April.

“Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests,” the company writes in a suit filed to the Chancery Court in Delaware. “Musk apparently believes that he — unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law — is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.”

Musk, on the other hand, has claimed that Twitter has been “in material breach” of its own commitments. “For nearly two months, Mr. Musk has sought the data and information necessary to ‘make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitter’s platform,’” reads a letter to the U.S.’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from Musk’s legal team. “Twitter has failed or refused to provide this information.”

Specifically, Musk has repeatedly said that he doesn’t believe Twitter’s public statements that roughly five percent of its active users are bots. He claims that he’s asked Twitter to provide accurate information, but the company hasn’t done so. Twitter has said it will work with Musk to deliver this data, but it’s unclear what’s actually transpired behind the scenes.

According to a Twitter memo obtained by The New York Times, the social media giant is seeking a four-day trial this September. This would, in theory, allow for a resolution prior to the acquisition deal’s October 24th deadline for completion. However, Musk and Twitter would have an additional six months to close the deal should it still be awaiting regulatory approval by that cutoff date.

It should be noted that in addition to the courts ruling in favour of either Twitter or Musk, both parties could reach some sort of settlement or even see the deal fall through. In the case of the latter scenario, Musk would pay a $1 billion USD (about $1.3 billion CAD) fee and walk away. There are several possible outcomes, ultimately.

Musk has not yet responded to Twitter’s lawsuit.

Source: Delaware Court of Chancery 

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter rolls out ‘Unmentioning’ feature to let you easily leave conversations

Twitter has announced a new feature that is sure to make many users happy: ‘Unmentioning.’

With it, you can “take control of your mentions” by removing yourself from a conversation. To do this, click the three dots beside a tweet and select ‘Leave this conversation.’ This will untag you from the thread while preventing you from being re-added or receiving any notifications about it. You can, however, still see the conversation if you so choose.

This is a welcome feature for Twitter, as people often find themselves undesirably in the middle of discussions between others. Previously, the person replying would be the only one who could untag another user, effectively leaving you at the mercy of strangers. The only thing you yourself could do was mute a conversation, which hasn’t always been consistent.

Twitter says Unmentioning is rolling out now to all users on all devices.

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Mobile Syrup

Elon Musk now officially attempting to terminate Twitter buyout deal

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is officially pulling out of his plans to acquire Twitter for $44 billion USD (about $60 billion CAD).

In a letter to the U.S.’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk’s legal team claimed that Twitter has “in material breach” of its contractual obligations in the deal.

“For nearly two months, Mr. Musk has sought the data and information necessary to ‘make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitter’s platform,’” reads the letter. “Twitter has failed or refused to provide this information.”

Musk previously said he didn’t believe Twitter’s “lax testing methodologies” and alleged that the company was refusing to provide him with accurate data. As a result, he threatened to pull out of the deal in June, although Twitter quickly said it would give him the information he seeks. It’s unclear what happened behind-the-scenes in the month since, but Musk clearly isn’t satisfied.

It should be noted, however, that it’s unclear whether Musk has legitimate legal ground to withdraw from the deal. To start, he did agree to pay $1 billion USD (about $1.3 billion CAD) — a small sum for the world’s richest man. More importantly, though, it remains to be seen whether Musk will be legally bound to honour the agreement. To that point, Twitter chairman Bret Taylor has said that the company is “committed” to seeing the deal through.

“The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery,” said Taylor in a July 8th tweet.

Musk and Twitter first announced the acquisition on April 25th, following criticisms of the platform for not maintaining “free speech.” Specifically, Musk has questioned whether Twitter adheres to the “principle” that “free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.” During this time, Musk has also been contesting a 2018 court ruling that requires him to vet any tweets that could affect Tesla stock price by his lawyers.

At the time of writing, Musk — a prominent figure on Twitter with over 100 million followers — has not yet tweeted about his desire to pull out of the deal.

Source: SEC

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Mobile Syrup

Meta shuts down social media post tracking tool on Facebook

CrowdTangle, a social media tool used to track popular story posts for things like misinformation, has been shut down by Meta.

Meta, which owns CrowdTangle, has opted to remove support for CrowdTangle from Facebook, according to a report from Bloomberg. The removal of CrowdTangle will prevent stories containing misinformation from spreading as popular posts on the platform.

CrowdTangle also tracks the performance of stories on Instagram and Twitter stories. Facebook bought CrowdTangle back in 2016 in an effort to measure its “social performance and identify influencers.”

Facebook has a history of helping to spread fake news stories, including through a News Feed test in 2018.

Meta’s official starting time to shut down CrowdTangle was in February 2022, as it told Bloomberg it would stay active through the 2022 midterm elections and plans to provide researchers with “even more valuable tools.”

Source: Bloomberg Via: The Verge