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Half a million people join the fediverse in November, most joining Mastodon by Paul Hill More than 500,000 people have joined the fediverse (federation + universe) this month following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, this is according to data from Fediverse Observer. The Fediverse Observer stats page updates the latest month’s numbers in near real time as the month progresses, and so far, user numbers are up over half a million compared to October. In October, there were 5.304 million people in the fediverse and at the time of writing there are now 5.825 million people there. The fediverse consists of lots of different platforms that can talk to one another, primarily through ActivityPub, though, there are some exceptions. By far the most popular platform is Mastodon, which boasts 4.613 million users. The second biggest is Diaspora with more than 600,000 accounts, and the third biggest is PeerTube – an alternative to YouTube. New users aren’t the only things that have increased sharply this month, new servers rose from 12,597 in October to 13,963 at the time of writing. Server numbers are important because unlike centralized social media, the fediverse consists of lots of different instances of Mastodon, Diaspora, and other platforms that all communicate with each other. The fediverse is not a new concept, despite all the media coverage it’s getting right now. Mastodon has been around since 2016 and has gained a bit of fanfare in the past, which largely died down. Going back to 2010, Diaspora, stylized as Diaspora*, launched and was covered by the New York Times. While initially developed at blistering speeds by its four co-founders, the project was later handed over to community, and while it’s still being worked on, has become a bit less popular than the newer Mastodon. It’ll be very surprising, frankly, if the switch to the fediverse does any real damage to Twitter. Social networks have your friends on them, a lot of your digital history is there, and moving somewhere else is a lot of hassle. Nevertheless, given the sharp increase of new users it might be different this time, and we may see more people actively using fediverse platforms.

Instagram working on prompt advising when "you're all caught up" viewing your feed by Boyd Chan Over the course of the year, Instagram has made some tweaks to its service while also foreshadowing new capabilities that are in the pipeline. In fact, within the last week, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom confirmed the development of "usage insights" to help users understand more about how they spend their time on the social platform but stopped short of stating when it would officially roll out. In another stride towards keeping users informed, the Facebook-owned service is now testing a new feature that will provide a simple but prominent visual cue when all content posted in the last 48 hours has been viewed. The capability seemingly goes hand-in-hand with a change made a couple of months ago that saw the feed sorting algorithm altered, giving more recent posts priority over other content in the feed. It also appears to fall along the lines of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's desire to "[make] sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent". While Instagram acknowledged that the functionality was indeed being put through its paces, it refused to provide any further information about underlying mechanics. It also remains unclear if being "all caught up" means that all posts from those you follow have indeed been viewed or simply the ones that the sorting algorithm has bubbled up to the top of the feed. It remains to be seen when it will ultimately be released and what potential effect the feature will have on ad revenues generated via the service. Source: TechCrunch via 9to5Mac

Twitter delivers setbacks for third-party apps with new Account Activity API by João Carrasqueira Twitter is no stranger to controversial decisions, and it has earned a reputation for hurting third-party app developers that rely on its service. A few years ago, the company introduced a token system that limits how many users a third-party app can have, which eventually led to some of those apps shutting down. Today, the company used its own service to say it's "excited" to announce the new Account Activity API, which will replace the existing Streaming API on August 16. It's unlikely that users and developers will share the company's excitement, as the new API discontinues features, such as live streaming of content, which will make it impossible for apps to update with new tweets in real time. There’s no streaming connection capability as is used by only 1% of monthly active apps. Also there's no home timeline data. We have no plans to add that data to Account Activity API or create a new streaming service. However, home timeline data remains accessible via REST API. — Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) May 16, 2018 The new API also introduces new pricing for apps to get Twitter activity updates, which might make them very hard to sustain. The Premium package will cost nearly $2,900/month to access the Account Activity API for a maximum of 250 users. There's the possibility that enterprise packages may offer a cheaper solution for developers of third-party apps, but considering the company's history with those developers, it might be best to keep expectations low. This isn't the first controversial announcement Twitter made this week either. The new behavioral analysis tools announced on Tuesday wasn't very well received by our readers. Source: Twitter via Windows Central

Twitter introduces new behavioral analysis tools to fight unwanted content by João Carrasqueira Hateful comments and meaningless, repetitive posts are a big problem with a lot of websites, especially social networks, where people are most likely to express themselves and interact with each other. While it has become standard for many platforms to have anti-hate and anti-violence guidelines, sometimes users can find meaningless posts that add nothing to a conversation and even detract from it, but don't necessarily violate the community rules. Now, Twitter is taking new steps to fight this disruptive behavior by implementing new tools for behavioral analysis. In a blog post published today, Del Harvey, VP of Trust and Safety, and David Gasca, Director of Product Management for Health, talked about how Twitter will look into the behavior of accounts to determine if they're more or less likely to be detractors in a healthy conversation: Today, we use policies, human review processes, and machine learning to help us determine how Tweets are organized and presented in communal places like conversations and search. Now, we’re tackling issues of behaviors that distort and detract from the public conversation in those areas by integrating new behavioral signals into how Tweets are presented. By using new tools to address this conduct from a behavioral perspective, we’re able to improve the health of the conversation, and everyone’s experience on Twitter, without waiting for people who use Twitter to report potential issues to us. There are many new signals we’re taking in, most of which are not visible externally. Just a few examples include if an account has not confirmed their email address, if the same person signs up for multiple accounts simultaneously, accounts that repeatedly Tweet and mention accounts that don’t follow them, or behavior that might indicate a coordinated attack. We’re also looking at how accounts are connected to those that violate our rules and how they interact with each other. These signals will now be considered in how we organize and present content in communal areas like conversation and search. Because this content doesn’t violate our policies, it will remain on Twitter, and will be available if you click on “Show more replies” or choose to see everything in your search setting. The result is that people contributing to the healthy conversation will be more visible in conversations and search. As explained in the blog post, the company will not be deleting the disruptive content if it doesn't violate its policies, but those tweets and replies will be deprioritized and will only show up if the user chooses to see it. The company has been testing the feature in a few markets around the world, and it claims to have seen a 4% reduction in abuse reports from the Twitter search experience, and an 8% drop in reports from conversations, which indicates the initiative is seeing some success. Despite the progress made, the company acknowledges that there's much more to be done when it comes to promoting healthy conversations on Twitter, but it made an affirmation to keep learning and improving its tools. We'll have to wait and see how that promise plays out. Source: Twitter via TechSpot

Instagram adjusts feed sorting algorithm, recent posts to be prioritized by Timi Cantisano Instagram has implemented a wide variety of changes and features over the past couple of years. But one of the more jarring aspects for users has to be the introduction of its sorting algorithm. Now, the firm is introducing a way so that its users can have better control over their Instagram feed, ensuring that you see things how you want to. The company is testing out a "New Posts" button that will allow people to choose when they want to refresh their stream, rather than having it happen on its own. By tapping the button, users will be transported to the most recent posts at the top of the feed. The company states along with the "New Posts" button, "newer posts are more likely to appear first in [the] feed". This has been a major pain point for many users and is a huge step in the right direction. While these two aforementioned changes are quite good, it looks to be the first of many, as Instagram has stated that it will be making more adjustments to the feed in the coming months. Source: Instagram via Gizmodo

The point of this thread is for members to list all their profiles in social networks along with personal websites, blogs, tumblr, online profiles (like about.me), etc. This way we can know each other better and create a network of interests that don't necessarily revolve around tech. Rules: 1.- No sites with obscene or macabre imagery. 2.- No sites with illegal software. 3.- If posting a blog or tumblr, please, include a line telling us what is about. 4.- Have fun.

Vine could be making a comeback, co-founder tweets familiar logo by Timi Cantisano Vine was an interesting platform, but in a couple years, it started losing momentum, and eventually was shut down. Although it is a bit of shame, the firm was smart enough to keep everything archived, giving users a chance to navigate through the service's content. Now, it looks like its co-founder, Dom Hofmann, is working on a successor to the service. Hofmann took to Twitter to show off a "V2" logo in a Vine's turquoise colorway, a week after he said that he was "'going to work on a follow-up to Vine" and that he is funding it himself. Of course, as to what that ends up looking like is up for debate, given that no further comment has been provided by the Vine founder. i'm funding it myself as an outside project, so it doesn't interfere with the (quite exciting) work we're doing at the company, which is my first priority — dom hofmann (@dhof) November 30, 2017 Naturally, there will be more information shared when the time is right, but one has to question the return of the format, especially when the market has become quite crowded with competitors like Snapchat, Instagram, and others. Source: Dom Hofmann (Twitter) via Engadget

The one who deactivated Donald Trump's Twitter account reveals himself by Timi Cantisano It was at the beginning of the month when the internet got a little worked up over the deactivation the personal account of President Donald Trump. Twitter would initially state that it was human error that caused the issue, but after a little more digging, it turned out that it was done by a Twitter employee on their final day on the job. Although the account was only down for 11 minutes, it prompted many to question the security of their own accounts on Twitter. While Twitter is performing its own investigation into the matter, it looks like TechCrunch has found the person that was responsible for the outage and conducted an interview. When Bahtiyar Duysak was asked whether he was responsible for the outage, he stated that in his opinion he was and also stated that it wasn't on purpose. In the near five minute interview, there seems to be a lot of dancing around with straight answers being few and far between. Basically, a number of coincidences occurred at just the right time with random parts involved that resulted in the deactivation of President Donald Trump's account. Duysak also mentioned that "I was tired sometimes. And everyone can do mistakes. I did a mistake." Of course, some may remain skeptical of Duysak's account of events given that his responses may be interpreted as somewhat roundabout or vague and his belief that Trump's account would not actually end up deactivated despite his actions. Source: TechCrunch via The Verge

Instagram adds a way to remix photos for more wacky fun by Timi Cantisano It looks like Instagram is adding more new features to its app in an attempt to sway users from the competition and add them it is userbase that topped 500 million active users in September. Starting today, users will be able to "remix" photos from friends. You might be asking what remixing a photo means and its simply just a way of saying that you can now add stickers, text, or drawings to a friend's photo and then share it back for a bit of added fun. In order to take advantage of this feature, you'll want to be updated to version 24 of the app on Android or iOS. When you view a photo from a friend, tap the camera icon at the bottom and start a reply. As mentioned before, you'll be able to add wacky additions and send it as a reply. You can see some examples of works in the image above. Instagram has also added a feature that will allow users to control whether their message can be played once or replayed multiple times. By allowing a replay, the photo or video will loop infinitely and can be paused by tapping and holding the media. If you want to experience the new features, be sure to update to the latest version. Source: Instagram via GSMArena

WeChat users are reporting smokers in Beijing by Paul Hill WeChat, the social network central to Chinese life with its mobile payments system being widely used in cities, is now being utilised to clean up the air quality in the capital city, Beijing. According to the Beijing Tobacco Control Association, its official account on WeChat has received 2,717 reports between August to October. The average 900 reports per month is up 50 percent compared to the second quarter of the year. According to CGTN, the reports were made when WeChat users spotted people smoking in public places such as restaurants, office buildings, and internet cafes. Currently, smoking controls are partially working; they’ve had a greater success of being enforced in medical institutions, schools and hotels. However, as you can see from the reports, there are still issues in others public places. By following the Tobacco Control Association’s official WeChat account, anyone can easily file a report accompanied by photos of the offender. The association plans to put the names and locations of the involved companies online and then send volunteers to those places to investigate and deal with violators. Anyone caught rule breaking more than five times will face action by smoking control departments. Beijing currently has the strictest controls on smoking in the country; smoking is banned in indoor public places, workplaces, and on public transportation. A total of 1,245 workplaces and 5,243 individuals have been prosecuted for violating the ban in the last 29 months. Source: CGTN

Twitter extends maximum length for profile display names by Timi Cantisano There are a lot of things users of Twitter have broadly requested over the years in hopes that it would enhance the experience. In 2017, we have not only received the ability to author longer tweets, up to 280 characters now, from the original 140 characters, but it seems like the service is going to allow users to update their display names with more characters as well. Starting today, those that want to have a little fun, or maybe that just want to perhaps add a middle name, will be able to do so, as long as it's up to or less than 50 characters in length, up from the original limit of 20. Now, this doesn't mean you'll be able to create a longer username, which is different. A username is what's used to log in to the service and what shows up in the address bar in the browser as your unique identifier. A display name is what shows up on your profile and is what can now be lengthened and even customized with emoji. Sure, this might not be the enhancement you were hoping for, but at least you'll have something fun to toy with until a universally requested feature arrives on the platform. Source: Twitter

Facebook Messenger Lite arrives for users in US, UK, Ireland, and Canada by Boyd Chan A bit over six years ago, Facebook launched its Messenger mobile apps for iPhone and Android in the US and Canada, foreshadowing the eventual transfer of chat functionality out of its main social networking app. While both apps have since proven to be very popular, that didn't stop the social media juggernaut from releasing a Lite version of its chat app late last year, originally aimed at developing markets and low-end phones. Since then, Messenger Lite rolled out to over 100 countries earlier in 2017, but there were some notable exclusions, which included the US, UK, Ireland, and Canada. However, that situation has now changed, at least for Android users. Although Messenger Lite was initially designed to get people onboard Facebook's platform with entry-level handsets, it has managed to gain traction amongst users looking to get better control of data consumption. Furthermore, it's also provided a means for people to keep in touch with family and friends while providing just the core functionality and features to get the job done. Unfortunately, iOS users continue to be left out in the cold despite the expansion to the aforementioned countries. Facebook has not yet provided an indication as to if or when it may bring Messenger Lite to Apple's mobile platform. Source: TechCrunch

Friends Reunited announces closure after more than fifteen years by Boyd Chan In a blast from the past, Friends Reunited announced today that it will be shutting down after nearly sixteen years of operation. Launched in the UK back in 2000, Friends Reunited predated modern social networks including Facebook and Twitter which commenced operations later that decade. Originally founded by Steve and Julie Pankhurst along with Jason Porter, the website was sold to ITV in 2005 for £175 million. The site was later sold on to DC Thompson in 2009 for a comparatively small £25 million who later approached Steve Pankhurst and Jason Porter to resume operations of the site on their behalf later in 2011. However, by that time, it was too late to turn around the ailing social network. In a post on Medium, Mr Pankhurst noted that: "I knew it was near impossible to re boot something that was old and in decline. I had hoped that after putting it back to near its original form that it would plateau off (which it did) and be self sufficient in terms of covering its costs. But over the year it became clear that most of the actual users coming to the site were using it purely as a message board." And I also realised, that of the 10m+ users registered, a lot had done so over a decade ago and hence their contact details were out of date. Later in his post, Pankhurst lamented Facebook and how personal photos are lost in a "mass of vacuous information". However, he seized the opportunity to talk up his next project as a solution to this problem. To be launched over the next year, Liife was described by Pankhurst as a "great way to store the life of a child through pictures and memories". The idea was inspired by a small unpublished website he built for himself called LifeChart to privately document and store moments in his life. Friends Reunited will remain operational for another month before going offline permanently. Source: Daily Mail | Image: Friends Reunited logo via New Statesman

'Facebook at Work' set to launch in the coming months by Matt Brown A company executive for Facebook has stated that its upcoming enterprise version of the social network is scheduled for rollout in “the coming months.” Facebook at Work is set to offer a near-identical user interface and set of core features, however will be tailored to the business sector, with work profiles being completely independent from private accounts. While Facebook at Work has already been deployed in some businesses, the service is still invite-only, with tight control over who can access the platform. When the service publicly launches, businesses won’t require an invite to use the site. The solution will take on industry leaders such as Microsoft’s Yammer, Slack, and LinkedIn, and provide a location for companies to manage communications and file collaboration on a single platform. Facebook at Work has been built off Facebook's back-end, making the user experience familiar for a wide range of users. The company’s director of global platform partnerships, Julien Codoriou, told Reuters that “95 percent of what we developed for Facebook is also adopted for Facebook at Work” to ensure the service feels similar to its precursor. The features offered by Facebook at Work may make the service a viable product to deploy across companies, but many still question whether the platform will be able to attract enough companies to sustain itself. Pricing options at launch will play a key part in this, and are expected to be shared in the near future. Source: Reuters

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/google-nabs-top-spot-in-customer-satisfaction-survey-facebook-falls/2012/07/17/gJQAZd0zqW_story.html

Young, in Love and Sharing Everything, Including a Password Young couples have long signaled their devotion to each other by various means ? the gift of a letterman jacket, or an exchange of class rings or ID bracelets. Best friends share locker combinations. The digital era has given rise to a more intimate custom. It has become fashionable for young people to express their affection for each other by sharing their passwords to e-mail, Facebook and other accounts. Boyfriends and girlfriends sometimes even create identical passwords, and let each other read their private e-mails and texts. They say they know such digital entanglements are risky, because a souring relationship can lead to people using online secrets against each other. But that, they say, is part of what makes the symbolism of the shared password so powerful. ?It?s a sign of trust,? Tiffany Carandang, a high school senior in San Francisco, said of the decision she and her boyfriend made several months ago to share passwords for e-mail and Facebook. ?I have nothing to hide from him, and he has nothing to hide from me.? ?That is so cute,? said Cherry Ng, 16, listening in to her friend?s comments to a reporter outside school. ?They really trust each other.? We do, said Ms. Carandang, 17. ?I know he?d never do anything to hurt my reputation,? she added. It doesn?t always end so well, of course. Changing a password is simple, but students, counselors and parents say that damage is often done before a password is changed, or that the sharing of online lives can be the reason a relationship falters. The stories of fallout include a spurned boyfriend in junior high who tries to humiliate his ex-girlfriend by spreading her e-mail secrets; tensions between significant others over scouring each other?s private messages for clues of disloyalty or infidelity; or grabbing a cellphone from a former best friend, unlocking it with a password and sending threatening texts to someone else. Rosalind Wiseman, who studies how teenagers use technology and is author of ?Queen Bees and Wannabes,? a book for parents about helping girls survive adolescence, said the sharing of passwords, and the pressure to do so, was somewhat similar to sex. Sharing passwords, she noted, feels forbidden because it is generally discouraged by adults and involves vulnerability. And there is pressure in many teenage relationships to share passwords, just as there is to have sex. ?The response is the same: if we?re in a relationship, you have to give me anything,? Ms. Wiseman said. In a 2011 telephone survey, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 30 percent of teenagers who were regularly online had shared a password with a friend, boyfriend or girlfriend. The survey, of 770 teenagers aged 12 to 17, found that girls were almost twice as likely as boys to share. And in more than two dozen interviews, parents, students and counselors said that the practice had become widespread. In a recent column on the tech-news Web site Gizmodo, Sam Biddle called password sharing a linchpin of intimacy in the 21st century, and offered advice to couples and friends on how to avoid missteps. ?I?ve known plenty of couples who have shared passwords, and not a single one has not regretted it,? said Mr. Biddle in an interview, adding that the practice includes the unspoken notion of mutually assured destruction if somebody misbehaves. ?It?s the kind of symbolism that always goes awry.? Students say there are reasons, beyond a show of trust, to swap online keys. For instance, several college students said they regularly shared Facebook passwords ? not to snoop on or monitor each other, but to force themselves to study for finals. A student would give her password to a friend to change it ? and not disclose the new password ? thereby temporarily locking out the Facebook account holder and taking away a big distraction to studying. Alexandra Radford, 20, a junior at San Francisco State University, said she had done this for friends several times during exams. One friend wanted to know the new password before finals ended, but Ms. Radford held firm. ?Once finals were over, I gave it to her,? she said. ?She was, like, ?Oh, my gosh, thank you.? She knew I was good about not giving her the password back.? But Ms. Radford is more sheepish about the passwords she shared a few years ago in high school with her boyfriend. They even changed their passwords to reflect their relationship. Hers: ILoveKevin. His: ILoveAly. ?We did it so I could check his messages because I didn?t trust him, which is not healthy,? she conceded. Counselors typically advise against the practice, and parents often preach the wisdom of password privacy. Winifred Lender, a child psychologist in Santa Barbara, had her three sons sign ?digital contracts? that outline terms for how much media they will consume, how they will behave online and that they will not share passwords. Still, Ms. Lender said, her 14-year-old was recently asked by a friend for his password. ?He said: ?You give me yours and I?ll give you mine.? ? Her son was taken aback but then relied on a tried-and-true excuse for saying no. ?He blamed it on his parents,? Ms. Lender said of her son. ?He said, ?If I give you my password, my mom will have a cow.? ? Emily Cole, 16, a high school junior in Glastonbury, Conn., felt the sting of password betrayal in seventh grade, when she gave her e-mail password to her first boyfriend. Then she started to develop feelings for another student, she said, and sent an e-mail to her. Her boyfriend read the e-mail and started spreading it around the school, calling Ms. Cole a ?pervert.? Ms. Cole said it was deeply hurtful. And yet, despite what happened, she said she would not have reservations about sharing her password with her new boyfriend. ?I know this sounds kind of weird, but we have a different relationship,? she said. ?We?re not in seventh grade. I trust him in a different way, I suppose.? Ms. Cole?s mother, Patti, 48, a child psychologist, said she believed her daughter would be more judicious now about sharing a password. But, more broadly, she thinks young people are sometimes drawn to such behavior as they might be toward sex, in part because parents and others warn them against doing so. ?What worries me is we haven?t done a very good job at stopping kids from having sex,? she said. ?So I?m not real confident about how much we can change this behavior.? Source: The New York Times