Page 45 - Social Media

Snap restructures India organisation, appoints Pulkit Trivedi as new MD

Under a new operational structure, the growth, market development, partnerships, content and creator ecosystem teams of Snap in India will now report directly to Trivedi

Meta, Kenya moderators agree to out of court settlement in $1.6 bn lawsuit

Meta, Facebook's parent company, and 184 of its content moderators who were based in Kenya agreed on Wednesday on a mediation attempt to settle out of court. Last year, the moderators from several African countries filed a lawsuit against the social media giant and its outsourcing firm, Sama, seeking USD 1.6 billion in compensation, alleging poor working conditions, including insufficient mental health support and low pay. The Employment and Labour Relations court said they have 21 days to reach a settlement and that former Kenyan chief justice, Willy Mutunga, and labour commissioner, Hellen Apiyo would co-mediate the dispute. The moderators were employed via Sama, a San Francisco subcontractor that describes itself as an ethical AI company, to work in its hub in the capital, Nairobi. Their job entailed screening user content in 12 African languages and removing any uploads deemed to breach Facebook's community standards and terms of service. Some of the moderators previously to

Wildfires, extreme weather driving denialism about climate change online

Researchers tracking social-media commentary are noticing a paradox. For some people, climate catastrophes are in fact evidence that climate change isn't real

Here's why Meta's Twitter killer, Threads, needs a desktop version

It's unclear what other functionality the Threads product update will include. The company declined to comment

Unacademy's sacked teacher says firm acted under social media pressure

Unacademy sacked teacher Karan Sangwan on Saturday alleged that the firm terminated his service under pressure from trollers on social media who misinterpreted his generic remark to vote for educated candidates. In a video on his YouTube channel, Sangwan said he made the generic remark on his YouTube channel and not during his lecture at Unacademy. "Why did termination happen? There is a pressure which gets built and you burst under its load. You (Unacademy) could not deal with the pressure. Therefore, under pressure you had to take an action which you may have not desired to or you desired to...I don't know. I can't say anything about what your intentions were?" Sangwan said. Sangwan said that Unacademy acted against him without hearing him out. "You directly sent me a termination notice," Sangwan said, adding that to hide the pressure, Unacademy used the term "code of conduct" without defining a political statement. He said that Unacademy cited views expressed by a Twitter accou

X to remove the ability for users to block other accounts, says Elon Musk

Musk, who acquired Twitter last year for $44 bn and has set about overhauling the site, said blocking will still be possible for direct messages, but that it would be deleted as a "feature"

New York bans TikTok on government devices citing 'security concerns'

New York City on Wednesday banned TikTok on government-owned devices citing 'security concerns' thus joining the list of more than two dozen states that have restricted access to the short video app

Demand for content creators witnesses significant increase: Report

The demand for content creators and influencers witnessed a significant increase in July compared to the year-ago period, according to a report. Influencers and content creators now offer avenues for creative expression and far-reaching impact, according to the report by Indeed, which is based on job postings and job clicks on the platform from July 2022 to July 2023. As per the report, there has been a significant increase in job postings and clicks related to "content creators" and "influencers" on the global job site. Without providing the number of job postings and job clicks during the given period, the report said the demand for content creators and influencers increased by 117 per cent in July as compared to the year-ago period. "While it is still possible to be a successful content creator or influencer on your own, it is becoming increasingly common for businesses to hire professionals in these roles," Indeed India Career Expert Saumitra Chand said. The trend is likely to

Non-adherence to building codes in hills can have lethal consequences: Omar

National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said people in the hill states should be mindful of the building codes while undertaking constructions as non-adherence to these guidelines can have lethal consequences. "Years of Govt apathy and wilful ignorance while multi-storey concrete structures were built on unstable hillsides has lethal consequences. Who thought these buildings were a good idea? All hill states need to be mindful of the growing impact of climate change & enforce building codes accordingly," Abdullah, the NC vice president, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. He was reacting to a video of a house collapse on a hillside in Himachal Pradesh. Two persons were killed on Tuesday when eight houses, including six makeshift ones, collapsed and a slaughterhouse was buried under the debris following a landslide in Krishnanagar locality in Shimla.

From NYT to Threads, Elon Musk's X throttled access to several websites

When contacted for comment, X confirmed the delay was removed but did not elaborate

Zuckerberg's real threat is still TikTok, rather than former Twitter

Threads, the simple, bare-bones text-based social network created by Facebook owner Meta, burst onto the scene during a particularly bad week for the rival then still known as Twitter. It quickly amassed 100 million signups a huge feat for a newcomer in the space and was dubbed as a Twitter killer. By week two, though, signups began to drop off. As of Aug 7, the number of people who used Threads daily hovered around 10 million on Android phones, down from 49 million when it launched a month earlier, according to research firm SimilarWeb. Is Mark Zuckerberg's latest venture just a flash in the pan? That depends on whether it can hold its own against its biggest rival. And no, that's not X, the former Twitter. It's TikTok. And the odds are not great. Mark Zuckerberg may have temporarily been distracted in his sparring with Elon Musk, but the real battle for Meta is with TikTok, said Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg. And Zuckerberg still really needs to watch his back. It

'Time to move on': Mark Zuckerberg calls off cage fight with Elon Musk

Musk vs Zuckerberg: Last week, Musk said that the fight would take place at an 'epic location' in Italy

PM Modi urges people to put tricolour as their social media account DP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to change the display picture of their social media accounts to the tricolour in the spirit of the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign. Modi also changed the display picture of his social media accounts to the national flag. The prime minister on Friday called on people to take part in the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' movement between August 13 to 15. "In the spirit of the #HarGharTiranga movement, let us change the DP of our social media accounts and extend support to this unique effort which will deepen the bond between our beloved country and us," Modi said on X. He has also urged people to upload their photos with the tricolour on www.harghartiranga.com.

Virat Kohli refutes reports of his enormous earnings from social media

Star batter Virat Kohli on Saturday refuted reports that floated in social media, claiming that he earned a mindboggling Rs 11.4 crore per single sponsored post through Instagram. A report by instagram scheduling tool Hopper HQ, tagged as Instagram Rich List 2023, placed Kohli's income from per post on the meta platform over Rs 11 crore, which the former Indian captain termed "not true." "While I am grateful and indebted to all that I've received in life, the news that has been making rounds about my social media earnings is not true, Kohli wrote on his Twitter handle. Along with Kohli, Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra's name too figured in the Hopper list, which was topped by football superstars Cristiano Ronaldo (around Rs 26 crore per post) and Lionel Messi (around Rs 21 crore per post). Kohli, who has around 256 million followers on Instagram, is on the 14th place in the list, while Chopra sits on the 29th place. Kohli was earlier featured in this Insta Rich list back in 2019 an

Priyanka Gandhi alleges corruption by MP govt, BJP warns of action

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Madhya Pradesh warned of action against Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over her social media post, in which she accused the saffron party-led government in the state of indulging in corruption. Terming her allegation as false, MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra sought a proof from the Congress leader to support her charge, warning that options were otherwise open before the state government and the BJP for action. State BJP chief V D Sharma warned of legal action against the Congress leader, accusing her of citing a fake letter in her social media post to level the allegation. The state Congress, however, said it would prove that the BJP-led government is corrupt and also accused the ruling party of creating "political terror". On Friday, Priyanka Gandhi claimed on X, formerly known as Twitter, that a union of contractors from Madhya Pradesh has written a letter to the Chief Justice of the High Court, complaining that they ...

Evolve to stay relevant in era of instant messaging: Prez to postal dept

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday said the postal department must evolve to stay relevant in the era of instant messaging and social media and appreciated its strategic initiatives to empower marginalised communities through financial inclusion. The president was addressing the probationers of the Indian Postal Service (2021 and 2022 batch) who called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here. She said the Department of Posts had played a pivotal role in disbursing government subsidies, welfare payments, and pensions. Lauding the postal department's role in financial inclusion, she noted that the department has undertaken strategic initiatives to bridge the financial gap and empower marginalised communities. She said the seamless distribution of funds through post offices had reduced the dependency on intermediaries and minimised leakages. Underlining its remarkable 160-year journey, she termed the postal department the beacon of service to the country, having 1.60 lakh post offices

Virat Kohli India's highest-paid Instagram celeb; here's how much he earns

Virat Kohli, who is the most followed Indian on Instagram, has now emerged as one of India's top earners on Instagram

Threads rolls out new features, including 'share post to Instagram DMs'

Alongside, Meta has rolled out Threads support for rel=me links to help verify users' identity on platforms like Mastodon

Norway fines Meta Platforms $97,700/per day to stop privacy breach

Meta Platforms is asking for a temporary injunction against the order, according to a court filing. Its petition will be presented on Aug 22 during a two-day hearing

Haryana violence: Govt forms committee to monitor social media platforms

The Haryana government has constituted a committee that will monitor social media platforms to prevent the circulation of provocative material, including videos, photographs, and hate speeches, to maintain law and order and communal harmony in the state. The committee has been formed in the wake of communal violence in Nuh. According to an order issued on Thursday by Additional Chief Secretary (Home), T V S N Prasad, the committee will coordinate with all relevant agencies to take "remedial/corrective measures in this regard". Special Secretary, Home -I will be the committee's chairman. It will have a superintendent of police, CID, Haryana, deputy secretary, Information Technology and an interception assistant from the office of the ACS, Home Department, as members. Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, have died in the clashes that erupted in Nuh over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession and spread to Gurugram over the past few days. Haryana's Home