Social Media is for the Birds #nobodycares

[Free]

So Twitter image crop algorithms are racist, and Twitter DMs are filled with sexual harassment. Good thing we have Twitter, eh?

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

There's a new theory in town: /u/maxwellhill, the Reddit account with 8th most karma of them all and so far undisclosed identity behind it, powermod on frontpage subs and first ever to reach a million karma should be operated by Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell and close associate of Jeffrey Epstein.

The reason why this came into existence? Maxwell is since 6th of July under arrest in a prison, and with that day new posts of the account have stopped.

 

[bubblesort]

Twitter shut down 130 Iranian accounts that were trying to disrupt the American presidential debate!

Maybe they missed a few, and the Iranian plan worked? Maybe not? How would we know if their insidious plot worked? Was their plot to sit back and watch us self-immolate?

Maybe Twitter misunderstood, and the Iranians were trying to help us by making us cancel the debates? LOL

Twitter removes 130 Iranian accounts for trying to disrupt the US Presidential Debate

Twitter says it removed the accounts following a tip from the FBI.

www.zdnet.com

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

I no longer even need to watch a video to get served ads by YouTube; apparently as of this morning, the first "video" in my feed list is now always an ad, reducing the number of actual videos from subscribed channels in the feed from 8 to only 7 now. Yay.

 

[Free]

I no longer even need to watch a video to get served ads by YouTube; apparently as of this morning, the first "video" in my feed list is now always an ad, reducing the number of actual videos from subscribed channels in the feed from 8 to only 7 now. Yay.

And since the ad is not tied/embedded in to a video, the revenue from it is all gravy for Google.

 

[bubblesort]

I no longer even need to watch a video to get served ads by YouTube; apparently as of this morning, the first "video" in my feed list is now always an ad, reducing the number of actual videos from subscribed channels in the feed from 8 to only 7 now. Yay.

Oh, that explains why I only have 7 recommendations at the top of my YouTube home page. My YouTube ad blocker is blocking the 8th video.

I miss the old days, when I could surf YouTube by most viewed, most commented, most upvoted, most controversial, and things like that.

 

[Free]

On TikTok, men aren’t the only skating superstars

TikTok has created a world stage for a new generation of skateboarding superstars.

www.theverge.com

Skate culture has found a new life on TikTok, where short videos of impressive tricks, painful wipeouts, and hangs at the local skatepark have collectively brought in billions of views. The explosion in skateboarding videos has encouraged one-time skaters to pick up the hobby again and convinced complete newbies to try it for the first time — and unlike the male-dominated world that was the face of skate culture for decades, many of TikTok’s stars are women and queer folks.

 

[Free]

Fifteen important things to say about Facebook, Twitter, and the New York Post’s Hunter Biden story

How the crackdown on a story become the story.

www.theverge.com

Facebook reduced the reach of the Post’s story the morning it was published, saying that it was eligible for fact-checking by the platform’s partners. Twitter went further and banned linking to the story at all, citing a policy against posting hacked information. While both sites have introduced stricter moderation rules in recent months — each banned Holocaust denial posts earlier this week, for instance — it was an unusual crackdown on an investigative story from a well-known print publication. And quickly, the sites’ decisions became the story.

This is a complicated saga, and almost nobody involved comes out looking good. But it illustrates some very obvious problems with political discourse, social media, and how information works on the internet.

 

[Free]

 

[Free]

Quibi is no more. It has ceased to be...

Quibi streaming service shutting down after less than 1 year

Report: Investors were informed after company couldn't find an acquisition bidder.

arstechnica.com

After launching only in April this year, with a $1.75 billion infusion of cash and the leadership of former NBC bigwig Jeffrey Katzenberg, the service is ending as part of the closure of its holding company, Quibi Holdings LLC, according to "people familiar with the matter," the WSJ says. The news was delivered directly by Katzenberg to the LLC's investors on Wednesday, according to the report.

They blame the epidemic, because people weren't watching stuff on their phones as much as they used to. Meanwhile, Tiktok skyrockets...

 

[Free]

Artists are irked by Twitter’s change to retweets

“We’re not telling you how to use the platform. All I’m saying is how to best support us.”

www.theverge.com

 

[Free]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Wasn't really sure where to post this, but here's a rather sobering example of how easy it is to geolocate someone from a photo posted online

That "random" picture that will get you tracked

Watch out for reflections in sunglasses. Buildings are recognizable. An obvious location will betray a not-so-obvious one!

nataliaantonova.substack.com

 

[Essence Lumin]

Wasn't really sure where to post this, but here's a rather sobering example of how easy it is to geolocate someone from a photo posted online

I tried to geolocate you. It didn't work.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Poorly written spam title.

 

[Free]

Poorly written spam title.

I don't know about that. I can name at least one way.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Jesus, a freaking 35 minute long midroll ad? On a video that's only 15 minutes long? What are you even thinking, YouTube?

And of course the ad is for some kind of douchebro "how to make chicks hot for you" stupidity. 35 minutes, my god. Somehow worse than PragerU.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

The hell you been watching to get those?

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

The hell you been watching to get those?

Srsly, nothing. The video was one of those like "5 weird places" things, and like the only other thing I've been watching for the last few days is true-crime videos.

Funnily enough the douchebro ad predicts at the very beginning that it will be "banned" soon and congratulates the viewer for being lucky enough to catch it before that happens.