Tag: facebook

  • 74% of Facebook users say they did not know about the platform’s list of their interests

    Pew Research Center reported about Facebook algorithms and personal data. Facebook makes it relatively easy for users to find out how the site’s algorithm has categorized their interests via a “Your ad preferences” page. Overall, however, 74% of Facebook users say they did not know that this list of their traits and interests existed until…

  • Dirty PR tactics used by Qualcomm

    Jack Nicas reported for The New York Times about how Facebook’s PR firm brought political trickery to tech. While working for Qualcomm, Definers pushed the idea that Apple’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, was a viable presidential candidate in 2020, according to a former Definers employee and digital records. Presumably, it was an attempt to…

  • Facebook’s ’10 Year Challenge’ is harmless, or is it?

    Kate O’Neill reported for Wired about Facebook’s ’10 Year Challenge’. Through the Facebook meme, most people have been helpfully adding that context back in (“me in 2008 and me in 2018”) as well as further info, in many cases, about where and how the pic was taken (“2008 at University of Whatever, taken by Joe;…

  • Facebook gave Spotify and Netflix access to users’ private messages

    Casey Newton reported for The Verge that Facebook gave Spotify and Netflix access to users’ private messages. I find it helpful to read the allegations in the Times’ story chronologically, starting with the integration deals, continuing with the one-off agreements, and ending with instant personalization. Do so and you read a story of a company…

  • TikTok surpassed Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat & YouTube in downloads last month

    TechCrunch reported that TikTok surpassed Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat & YouTube in downloads last month. According to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, TikTok’s installs were higher than those of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube in the U.S. last month. It surpassed the four other apps in terms of daily downloads on September 29, with…

  • Facebook removed Onavo VPN from Apple App Store for violating data collection policies

    Mac Rumors reported that Facebook removed Onavo VPN from App Store after Apple says it violates data collection policies. Onavo, a free VPN, promised to “keep you and your data safe when you browse and share information on the web,” but the app’s real purpose was tracking user activity across multiple different apps to learn…

  • Everything bad about Facebook is bad for the same reason

    Quartz wrote about [everything bad about Facebook is bad for the same reason(https://qz.com/1342757/everything-bad-about-facebook-is-bad-for-the-same-reason/). It is true that Facebook rarely holds “ideological positions at odds with the community.” Since Facebook is banal, it typically lacks ideological positions about anything at all. The social-media platform has long tried to position itself as a bastion of neutrality, a…

  • Facebook is going to start giving video makers a cut

    Wired reported on Facebook giving video makers a cut. While Facebook’s video numbers continue to grow, some critics, such as well-known YouTube creator Hank Green, have questioned Facebook’s standard for counting video views (a view is any video seen for 3 seconds or more). YouTube, for its part, counts a “view” as someone watching a video for…

  • The background data and battery usage of Facebook’s iOS app

    Federico Viticci wrote about the background data and battery usage of Facebook’s iOS app. Every time I take a look at a friend’s iPhone, Facebook is the app with the highest amount of battery usage in the background – even with Background App Refresh turned off. This has been going on for years, and instead…

  • Millions of Facebook users have no idea they’re using the internet

    Quartz reported on millions of Facebook users having no idea they’re using the internet. This is more than a matter of semantics. The expectations and behaviors of the next billion people to come online will have profound effects on how the internet evolves. If the majority of the world’s online population spends time on Facebook,…