Reports of Facebook moderators’ appalling working conditions have been making headlines worldwide. Workers say they are burning out as they moderate vast flows of violent content under pressure, with vague, ever-changing guidelines. They describe unclean, dangerous contractor workplaces. Moderators battle depression, addiction, and even post-traumatic stress disorder from the endless parade of horrors they consume.
Facebook will take it “to the mat and fight”. This is what CEO Mark Zuckerberg said about any potential legal challenge from the government to break it up.
You may have read about – or already seen, depending on where you are – the latest tweak to Facebook’s interface: the disappearance of the likes counter. Like Instagram (which it owns), Facebook is experimenting with hiding the number of likes that posts receive for users in some areas (Australia for Facebook, and Canada for Instagram).
Are you the sort of gamer who only has gamer friends on Facebook? Do you regularly post images and achievements from your PlayStation? Does it confuse the few tech-impaired relatives who can’t understand why you keep posting gorgeous photos of some chap named Nathan Drake? Yeah, that’s coming to an end. Sony’s officially ending Facebook integration for the PlayStation 4.
Watching series’ made up the bulk of our time with the Oculus Quest, for example, but that wasn’t the most fun we had with it. Oh no, that was reserved for Beat Saber.
Having built its social media empire on the power of a like, Facebook is reaping the consequences of this online beauty contest.
Facebook leader Mark Zuckerberg recently took the unusual step of visiting lawmakers in Washington, including President Donald Trump in the White House. The reason? Congress’s anti-trust sub-committee has started demanding documents from Facebook and other big tech firms
This week in Light Start, Facebook plans to hide likes, SpaceX has a new spacecraft, the Galaxy Fold still has problems and WhatsApp will stop working on these devices.
Instagram recently announced posts promoting diet products and cosmetic procedures will no longer be visible to users under the age of 18. While the initiative is being led by Instagram, the policy will also be in place on Facebook.
Facebook, the largest social network in the world, stunned the world earlier this year with the announcement of its own cryptocurrency, Libra. The launch has raised questions about the difference between Libra and existing cryptocurrencies, as well as the implications of private companies competing with sovereign countries in issuing currencies.