Social

Facebook is considering building products and features related to nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, the digital assets that have taken off with the rise of blockchain technology. “We’re definitely looking at the number of ways to get involved in the space because we think we’re in a really good position to do so,” Facebook executive David

Snapchat has brought its next-generation Scan to the homescreen to let people easily access augmented reality (AR) based utility to identify dogs, food, and plants and can use their camera to solve math equations. The Scan feature last received an update in 2019 to let users experience its AR advancements. Snapchat parent Snap also partnered

Zoom has added some new features with its latest update this week for desktop, iPad, and Zoom Phone. These include a new Focus Mode, the ability to transfer meetings from mobile to desktop, limiting screen-sharing for meetings with external participants, and automatic reactions from gesture recognition for iPad users, who can now use ‘Raise Hand’

Facebook has approached academics and policy experts about forming a commission to advise it on issues relating to global elections, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing five people with knowledge of the matter. The proposed body could decide on matters such as political ads and their viability and concerns around election-related misinformation, according

WhatsApp has been spotted working on message reactions to let users express their emotions in response to the messages they receive on the app. This could be similar to how reactions are available on platforms including iMessage, Instagram, and Twitter. Message reactions on WhatsApp may be a new step by the Facebook-owned company to enhance

Twitter Spaces is testing a feature that will make it easier for users to discover the audio-only chat rooms better. Earlier, users were only able to view Spaces of the people they follow if they were hosting. Now, users will be able to view Spaces that the people they follow are listening to. Users also

Canada’s e-commerce giant Shopifysaid on Tuesday it was partnering with TikTok to work on a feature that would let shoppers buy directly from the social media app. Shopify merchants who have a TikTok business account would soon be able to add a shopping tab to their profiles for the first time ever, the company said

Instagram is reportedly getting rid of the swipe up gesture to access links in Stories and replacing it with stickers. Some users have reported that they have received a notification in the app stating this change and that it will be implemented from August 30. Users who post Instagram Stories can add links to them

WhatsApp for Android is getting updated with a new colour scheme that is brighter over the existing one. The change is initially provided to beta testers for testing purposes. However, it would be available publicly if the testing goes fine (as per the required results). The new colour scheme is applicable to both light and

WhatsApp for Android appears to be getting a payment shortcut on the chat bar. The new feature is initially available for beta testers in India. Separately, WhatsApp has launched a beta programme for users on WhatsApp for Desktop to test unannounced features designed for Windows and macOS. WhatsApp for iPhone is also seen to be

Ethiopia has begun developing its own social media platform to rival Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, though it does not plan to block the global services, the state communications security agency said on Monday. Ethiopia has been engulfed since last year in an armed conflict pitting the federal government against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF),

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn said this week they had moved to secure the accounts of Afghan citizens to protect them against being targeted amid the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country. Facebook has temporarily removed the ability for people to view or search the friends lists of accounts in Afghanistan, its security policy head Nathaniel

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) refreshed its antitrust case against Facebook Inc on Thursday, adding more detail on the accusation the social media company crushed or bought rivals and once again asking a judge to force the social media giant to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. At 80 pages, the new complaint is significantly longer

Facebook has chosen 25 “local” independent journalists to be paid out of a $5 million (roughly Rs. 40 crores) pot to write for its newsletter site Bulletin through multiyear deals, the company told Reuters on Thursday. Facebook launched Bulletin in June as a standalone newsletter subscription service with free and paid articles and podcasts. It

Twitter has announced several changes to direct message (DM) coming in the next few weeks. The microblogging platform shared the development through its official account, announcing that users can now DM a tweet or message to 20 separate conversations. Some of the other changes and improvements include a quick-scroll button, a new action to ‘Add

Facebook is partnering with an Indian online lending firm to help provide loans to small domestic businesses, its country head said on Friday, as part of a push to bring more businesses to advertise on its platform. The social media giant is joining hands with Indifi to help provide loans ranging from Rs. 5,00,000 to

Facebook may not lift its ban on the Taliban even if the United States stops imposing sanctions on the group, which has rapidly taken control of Afghanistan, the social media company’s policy chief said on Wednesday. The US State Department does not list the Afghan Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization like it does the

WhatsApp is found to be testing a new option for its Disappearing Messages feature under which it would allow users to make messages in a particular chat auto-delete after 90 days. It could come alongside an option to automatically disappear messages after 24 hours that is also reportedly in the testing phase at this moment.

Facebook on Thursday launched a test of a new virtual-reality remote work app where users of the company’s Oculus Quest 2 headsets can hold meetings as avatar versions of themselves. The beta test of Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms app comes as many companies continue to work from home after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down physical workspaces

Amid the rapidly evolving security situation in Afghanistan, social media giant Twitter on Tuesday said that they will continue to enforce their rules on content concerning the war-torn country and review posts that glorifies violence and violate their regulations. Violence surged in Afghanistan after US and NATO troops began to withdraw in May. On Sunday,

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Wednesday that 43 apps, including Tencent’s WeChat, were found to have illegally transferred user data, and ordered their parent companies to make rectifications. The move comes as Chinese authorities tighten regulatory oversight on a range of industry, with a particular emphasis on privacy and data.

Twitter on Tuesday announced a new feature to allow users to flag content that could contain misinformation, a scourge that has only grown during the pandemic. “We’re testing a feature for you to report Tweets that seem misleading – as you see them,” the social network said from its safety and security account. We’re testing

The Chinese government has taken stakes in Chinese entities owned by tech companies ByteDance and Sina Weibo, corporate records showed, amid a widening regulatory crackdown on the industry. News of the stakes and the board seat was first reported by The Information on Monday. WangTouZhongWen (Beijing) Technology, which is owned by three Chinese state entities

Online dating app Tinder will soon be making its ID Verification option available to all users around the world. Tinder said on Monday that it will make its ID Verification feature available to all members around the world “in the coming quarters.” The feature which has already been live in Japan since 2019, will allow

Bluesky, an organisation funded by Twitter to build technology aimed at fundamentally changing how social media platforms operate, on Monday announced a leader for the project nearly two years after Twitter chief Jack Dorsey first announced it. Jay Graber, founder of a social events startup who has also worked as a cryptocurrency developer, will lead

A week after temporarily suspending his account, Twitter restored Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s handle Saturday, but not before the principal opposition party accused it of bias. Gandhi’s account was temporarily suspended last week after he tweeted pictures of the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Northwest Delhi. Twitter deemed it

Facebook and a team of African and global telecoms companies will add four more countries to its world’s largest subsea cable project, widening the build project in Africa earlier than planned, they said in a joint statement on Monday. Internet connectivity will be expanded to the Seychelles, the Comoros Islands, Angola, and bring a new

Snapchat this Independence Day has something special for its Indian users. The social media platform has brought its augmented reality (AR) feature ‘Landmarker’ to New Delhi’s India Gate. The feature will allow Snapchat users, aka Snapchatters, to superimpose augmented reality experiences on top of the historic monument. Alongside bringing Landmarker to India Gate, Snapchat has

While people across the world now use Twitter, they also long for the days when updates from those they followed appeared in chronological order. When they knew exactly where to look and did not have to sift through hundreds of tweets. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, too, seems to be among those who preferred the old

It is Zhang Yuchen’s last summer break before high school, but events have taken an unwelcome turn – the 14-year-old’s game time has been decimated as China’s tech firms try to dispel accusations that they are selling “spiritual opium” to the country’s youth. An edict by gaming giant Tencent means players under 12 can no