Social Media is for the Birds #nobodycares

[Isabeau]

Meta begins blocking news content in Canada

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will block news content for users of the platforms in Canada, the company announced Tuesday. The block is in response to a new Canadian law, the…

thehill.com

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

I know that Meta is doing this to pressure Canadian users into pressuring the government to repeal their IP-protection law...but IMO, from a bigger-picture POV this is a solid win for Canadians because getting news from Facebook is a proven MAJOR radicalization pipeline and anything that disrupts that even a little is good for the world.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Canadians try to pressure our government for lots of things but things keep working out for our various oligopolies instead.

 

[Govi]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Evernote link

 

[Free]

Instagram lesson learned: Don't be a Taylor.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Last Tuesday, more than a dozen Instagram accounts named Taylor, or using account names that displayed support for Taylor Swift, suddenly found themselves blocked from accessing them. The Taylors, failing to find any help through Instagram customer service, immediately began posting about the situation on X, hoping that an Instagram employee would see and respond.

Many Taylors assumed the restrictions were sparked out of the need for some protection of Swift — maybe culling her impersonators while she’s on her epic Eras Tour. They hypothesized she was the only Taylor who would get this level of service from Instagram. A representative for the star didn’t comment. But Instagram has long gone above and beyond for its celebrity users.

“This afternoon, hundreds of people named Taylor (myself included) had their Instagram accounts disabled for a violation of community guidelines- simply because our profiles had our names listed,” one affected Taylor, Taylor Camp, told Bloomberg via email. Even some accounts that added the phrase “Taylor’s version” to their Instagram handle — a reference to her re-recorded tracks — had their accounts restricted.

“if you're a swiftie with your instagram display name set as "[name] (taylor's version)" CHANGE IT,” warned one Taylor on X. “The ig account that i've had for over 10 yrs was disabled today without warning for seemingly no reason, and I believe this is why.”

 

[WolfEyes]

People wonder why I don't join social media platforms. This is one of the reasons.

The older I get the more I dislike the majority of humans.

 

[Noodles]

I have noticed a lot of those fan accounts on Instagram for a lot of celebrities and I am surprised this sort of bad didn't happen sooner. Taylor definitely feels like probably the biggest.

They just repost photos from other accounts and sources, and basically no original content.

I was rrally curious how it would go when they launched Threads because its basically a pile of instant impersonator accounts right out the gate.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Wait until elon tries to trademark the letter X in all its forms only to have Google say they's already done the whole Alphabet.

 

[Essence Lumin]

This is a lengthy faq about bots and spam on reddit; why people do it, how to spot it. There is nothing new here. There is a lot I didn't know.


Evernote link: (4) Karma farming and you: a guide to the weird world of spam, scams, and manipulation on reddit : ActionScripter9109

 

[Free]

I wonder what happened to him after that.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

I got reported to "abuse@myjob" once, which ended up in my mailbox.

 

[Free]

We got to pay for this shit!

Reddit will no longer let you opt out of personalized ads

“Select countries” will still have the choice to opt out, however.

www.theverge.com

Reddit is removing the ability for some users to opt out of ad personalization based on their activity on the platform. Announced on Wednesday alongside several incoming updates to its privacy, advertising, and location settings, Reddit’s head of privacy, Jutta Williams, justified the change by saying that Reddit “requires very little personal information” from its users and that it would allow the company to “better predict which ad may be most relevant to you.”

Williams contends that the vast majority of Reddit users “will see no change to their ads,” and users who had previously opted out of ad personalization “will not result in seeing more ads or sharing on-platform activity with advertisers.” The updates to the platform’s advertising settings will roll out over the next few weeks.

 

[Essence Lumin]

From the "head of privacy" no less. I wonder why certain countries are excluded? Could it be they have stronger privacy laws?

 

[Free]

Fucking scammers are everywhere, and using every tool available against us.

Deepfake celebrities begin shilling products on social media

Hanks and other celebrities have recently become targets of AI-powered ad scams.

arstechnica.com

News of AI deepfakes spread quickly when you're Tom Hanks. On Sunday, the actor posted a warning on Instagram about an unauthorized AI-generated version of himself being used to sell a dental plan. Hanks' warning spread in the media, including The New York Times. The next day, CBS anchor Gayle King warned of a similar scheme using her likeness to sell a weight-loss product. The now widely reported incidents have raised new concerns about the use of AI in digital media.

"BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it," wrote Hanks on his Instagram feed. Similarly, King shared an AI-augmented video with the words "Fake Video" stamped across it, stating, "I've never heard of this product or used it! Please don't be fooled by these AI videos."

 

[Free]

Harsh!

 

[Innula Zenovka]

This is appalling.

He'll be sentenced tomorrow

PC Lewis Edwards used Snapchat to groom girls for sexual images

Lewis Edwards, who is refusing to attend court, was a serving police officer at the time.

www.bbc.co.uk

Police officer Lewis Edwards demanded sex images on Snapchat

Lewis Edwards, who refused to go to his sentencing, groomed 200 girls and got photos while on duty.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Free]