F8 roundup: Facebook’s promising privacy, redesigns and new hardware
This week at the F8 developer conference, we saw Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg announce updates to the company's three core platforms, AI developments and VR.
Enable dark mode in Facebook Messenger now by sending an emoji
Dark mode is finally rolling out on Facebook Messenger, and whether or not you’re a dark-mode enthusiast, you’re gonna want to enable it here.
Fairy-tale social media fantasies can demolish your confidence, but it’s not all bad
If social media was a person, you’d probably avoid them. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are loaded with pictures of people going to exotic places, looking like they are about to be on the cover of Vogue, and otherwise living a fairy-tale existence. And, like all fairy tales, these narratives feel a lot like fiction. When you compare the “projected reality” to your lived experience, it would be ea...[Read More]
By combining its various messaging services, Facebook is treading on dangerous ground with privacy and anticompetitive monopoly
Facebook intends to combine is messaging apps – WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram – into a single backend so people can message across the various platforms. While Facebook clearly believes it will make it easier for its users to communicate, the rest of the rational world is alarmed at its unprecedented monopoly of communication getting worse, and potentially compromising our data privacy even mo...[Read More]
Zuckerberg plans to integrate Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp chat
Just imagine a single app where you could go for all your messaging needs. Okay, it doesn’t sound so much convenient than it does unnecessary — but it may be coming. Facebook plans to integrate WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram messages, according to a new report. Doing so will allow users to send messages between the three networks, even if they’re not on all of them. A report in t...[Read More]
Instagram removes fake accounts and fake likes
Did you know you can pay for followers on the popular social media platform, Instagram? Well, it’s too late now, because Instagram is weeding out fake accounts and the likes that come with them. Most of these fake likes and follows come from third-party apps that charge money for followers, likes and comments. Although Instagram has been fully aware of these apps, they’re busy purging the platform...[Read More]
Calling founders of Instagram “product leaders” being interpreted as the ultimate put down
When it first burst onto the app scene in 2010, Instagram was a revelation. This little picture-sharing app let iPhone users not only share their pictures but add clever filters at the touch of a button. Suddenly everyone could be Obie Oberholzer, the extraordinary South African photographer whose richly coloured images are artistic genius. Earlier this month the co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike...[Read More]
Instagram rolls out two-factor authentication without SMS
Data security is a sensitive subject when it comes to anything Facebook-related — but the company might’ve done something security-related that is worth mentioning for Instagram-users. You’ll now be able to set up two-factor authentication (2FA) for Insta, without using the ancient — and less secure — SMS-based system. Starting this week, users can implement third-party authentic...[Read More]
Instagram testing a function that shares location data with Facebook, even when the app’s closed
Here’s something to make you rest a little better this weekend (and for the rest of the year, probably). Instagram is testing a new function that would share your location with Facebook — even when you’re not using the app. Researcher Jane Manchun Wong spotted that Instagram is “prototyping” the ability to share a user’s location, via a setting called Location H...[Read More]
Facebook will hold your deleted data hostage a little longer
It’s been a rough few weeks for Facebook’s execs. Instagram lost its founders last week, and after a new CEO for the image-sharing platform was appointed, the app crashed worldwide for an hour (probably not related, but still embarrassing). Oh, and there was a massive hack of over 50 million users’ accounts on Facebook. While Facebook tries to figure out exactly what user data may have been ...[Read More]
Instagram was down this morning, widespread panic ensued
Instagram was down for this morning and half the world’s smartphone-using population didn’t know where to post pictures of their lightly fried kale anymore. This according to reports on (other) social media platforms from users who were unable to access the image-sharing service. The outage was pretty wide-spread across the globe and included South Africa. This after ex-Facebook exec, Adam M...[Read More]
Facebook appoints Adam Mosseri as the new head of Instagram
The company renowned for making headlines for all the wrong reasons these days, Facebook, has named Adam Mosseri the new head of Instagram. He succeeds founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who announced their departure earlier this month, amid rumours that ongoing clashes with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg were largely to blame for their decision to leave the company they started. Before this p...[Read More]