Digital Information World

Facebook earns a majority of its income through ad revenue, and the fact of the matter is that until and unless the social media platform optimizes the ads that brands and marketing agencies can end up taking advantage of then it would be highly likely that one of its competitors could end up making a fair amount of headway in this regard.

Hence, as a result of the fact that this is the case, Facebook is introducing some new ad placement settings that brands can take advantage of. These ad placement options basically have a lot to do with whitelists. While this was initially introduced back in November, it is being rolled out on a far wider scale right now and this is making it so that Facebook can provide a wider range of brands to become part of the whitelists that can help make ads a great deal more effective than they might have been otherwise.

One of the whitelists that are included have to do with publishers. Being on this whitelist will give brands a lot of control over what third party apps their ads end up being viewed over which can make it so that they can really zero in on certain niches that they might want to target.

Another whitelist that a lot of brands are going to be added to has to do with content. Brands would now be able to work with third party service providers who would be able to streamline and optimize their video content and make it so that it ends up having the kind of reach you would want from something like this all in all. These are changes that are really going to help brands get more out of Facebook ads, thereby making this type of advertising a much more appealing and attractive option than it might have been otherwise.

Google announced that it will start blocking resource-heavy ads from its Chrome browser starting from late August 2020.

According to Marshall Vale, Product Manager, Chrome, they have recently found out that some of the heavy ads are responsible to put a lot of strain on the users’ battery or their home network data, without them ever knowing about it until it is too late and the damage has already been done!

Most of these ads mine cryptocurrency are improperly programmed, thus resulted as increased usage on the network. This is the reason why they can put so much strain on the battery life, draining it to no bounds. On the other hand, or maybe simultaneously, they strain already heavily saturated networks, which the user only gets to know about once they receive huge bills from the network provider companies!

There is a criterion by which Google’s Chrome will block ads. If an ad uses the thresholds of 4MB of network data, 15 seconds of CPU usage in any 30 seconds, or 60 seconds of total CPU usage, it will be blocked right away.

As per Google, only 0.3% of ads surpass these thresholds, and they account for up to 27% of network data used by ads and up to 28% of all ad CPU usage.

When Chrome will block such ads, it will show an error page in the place or frame where these ads were supposed to be shown.

In Chrome 80 that was rolled out by Google recently, there is an option of Heavy Ad Intervention. This feature basically unloads those ads that use heavy resources like CPU, battery, GPU, memory, and bandwidth.

This feature can be Enabled by opening a new tab and pasting “chrome://flags/#enable-heavy-ad-intervention” in the address bar.

By retaining this feature and further amplifying the notion of blocking such ads in the Chrome browser, Google has made an effort to show to its users that it cares for them. These ads have always been a hassle in one way or the other, and it is nice to know that finally there is a hope to get them blocked.

Also read: Google brings on a tab-grouping feature for its Chrome browser and it is as good as it sounds

Google has been doing a lot of other things to make its users happy too of lately. Some tweaks here, some minor changes there. Recently it has been playing around with Chrome’s Dark Mode, and favicons, while dealing with corrupt Chrome extensions or releasing Vital Tool to let the users check the vitality of their Chrome browser. And many more!

It seems that every week, there is one good news after another from Google, and it is quite relieving especially in such crucial times of the coronavirus pandemic when the entire world is already going through so much.

These efforts by Google are commendable and much appreciated.

Read next: Google Chrome Is Working On Media Feeds Feature That Will Allow Websites To Suggest Videos In The Browser

The pandemic has brought many changes in the world, including the increased use of social media platforms. People have been using various platforms not only to entertain themselves but also to express gratitude and thankfulness, may be more than ever before.

Twitter recently shared data which showed that after March 15 over 150 million tweets throughout the world have expressed gratitude and thanks. On average, the figure has shown a 26 percent jump after February.

The graph shared by the social media platform displayed a continuous increase in the tweets full of gratitude, with the highest number of tweets in March and continued throughout April. The data included tweets in different languages, including English, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Seeing the trend and interest of people, Twitter then introduced a new emoji that would appear when a hashtag #thankful or #gratitude will be used. The emoji is not limited to the English language only but would appear in various other languages as well.

To give you another way to show your gratitude, we’ve created an emoji that will appear when you use #thankful or other hashtags for #gratitude (in various languages).
— Twitter Data (@TwitterData) May 12, 2020

The increased use of other emojis has also been noticed as the praying hands' emoji is used 50 percent more, and clapping hands emoji use increased by 10 percent during the recent situation.

The question is for whom people are showing gratitude? According to Twitter, ‘everyone’ is the keyword, as gratitude is expressed for everyone who is on the frontline, everyone helping in these times, and everyone working in healthcare.

Previously, other platforms, like Facebook and Instagram have also introduced new stickers for their Stories feature, which might have a different purpose but the inspiration came from the ongoing Coronavirus situation worldwide.

Many Twitter users appreciated the new emoji addition by the platform while many have used to check the latest addition. It is expected that the introduction of new emoji would further increase the use of these words on the platform.

Twitter has shown support to frontline workers in the past as well. Like in March, on the World Health day, Twitter encouraged its users to show support to all health workers, using the clapping hand emoji in the tweets.

Instagram has rolled out a much-needed update. Instagram Live videos had an annoying “habit” of disappearing after 24 hours since they appear in the Stories, but now, these Live videos can be safely archived to IGTV. This is where the videos that are longer in duration as compared to the normal ones appearing in the feed can be saved and watched on Instagram.

Instagram Live has seen a remarkable growth amid the global lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. People have been staying inside their homes and maintaining the protocol of social distancing. To stay in touch with their loved ones, a greater number of people are resorting to video calls and video live streaming sessions on various platforms.

This is the first time that all celebrities and renowned public figures are sitting at home and have nothing much to do. Many performers are using Instagram Live to broadcast their talents and performances through live videos to their followers, looking for more engagement on a personal level with their fans and subscribers now.

Instagram is also letting people arrange fundraisers through these live streaming video sessions, and this just adds more to the value of Live videos.

With the help of this recent update, all these people who are going live can properly save their video streams for viewers to watch them whenever they want, without the deadline of the videos disappearing after one day.

These videos can be downloaded and later posted on other forums like YouTube too. Facebook had announced in April 2020 that this update is going to be the extension of its live streaming feature, and it is true.

During these critical times when the world is going through an exceedingly difficult phase, it is good to see our Tech giants take small but significant measures to make things easy for people. They are constantly updating their existing features in hopes to make the overall user experience exceptionally smooth.

Also read: Instagram launches some new ways to silence trolls and cyberbullies

With these Live videos, there are so many amazing things that can happen. Not only for the public’s entertainment, but many of these live videos are actually quite informative in many ways. Since people are free these days, they keep discussing different things that may help others in diverse ways.

With the 24 hours’ time restraint of live videos in Insta Stories, there was always a limited chance of outreach to only a small number of people. Now, with this update, the outreach will improve too, and that is a wonderful thing.

According to a critic group of 20 advocacy groups, TikTok has not been keeping its promises to better protect children using the TikTok app. The company made an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it will take steps to better protect children using the TikTok app, but the critic groups say that the company has not lived up to its agreement.

A coalition of twenty children’s groups led by the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood led spotted various alleged problems with the TikTok app in a new Federal Trade Commission complaint. The problems included issues with the app verifying the user’s age. Executive Director of The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, Josh Grolin told the NY Times that TikTok is entangling probably millions of users who are underage children in the TikTok’s marketing apparatus. He said that it is putting those millions of children at a sexual predation risk. Josh Grolin also stated that the Federal Trade Commission has caught TikTok red-handed, yet the company continues to defy the law.

Last year, TikTok agreed to make significant changes to its app in order to settle charges that the company had violated the federal Online Privacy Protection Act for Children, and regulators imposed a record fine of $5.7 million on the company. TikTok stated that the company would remove videos and personal information from its platform which were uploaded by users the app knew was younger than 13 years. The video-sharing application announced to delete those videos to settle the investigation, and also stated that it would delete videos other personal information of TikTok users whose ages were not known to its platform.

According to the critic groups, TikTok has not yet removed all types of those videos from its app which shows that TikTok is still violating the laws. Additionally, TikTok also agreed that it would collect the permission of parents before taking any personal information from a child. These issues stretch back to when Musical.ly, one of the predecessor companies of TikTok, was found to be violating the federal Online Privacy Protection Act for Children.

Related: Data Shows That US Consumers Are Loving The TikTok During The COVID-19 Pandemic

TikTok is one of the most significant and widely used apps across the world. The app has approximately 800 million monthly users worldwide, and its usage has surged during the lockdowns. TikTok was the most downloaded application during the first quarter of this year. The coronavirus outbreak forced lockdowns across the globe which resulted in millions of people to practice social distancing. The masses were bored out, and millions of new users flooded onto the TikTok app during the coronavirus forced lockdowns.

Read next: TikTok Will Now Warn You About Dodgy Accounts

This week, TikTok, a popular video-sharing app, released a new ‘Youth Portal’. The Youth Portal provides teens and their parents an individual destination for privacy and safety resources, and best practices. It will also be a guide to TikTok’s tools used for creating videos.

TikTok plans to gradually release the new Youth Portal across the globe, and the portal will be available in more than 15 different languages such as Thai, Russian, Italian, Korean, German, English, Japanese, Hindi, Portuguese, and French. TikTok plans to add extra educational resources into the portal in upcoming months.

TikTok also released the ‘Family Pairing’ feature last month. The feature allows the parents to link their TikTok accounts with their children’s TikTok accounts. Parents can determine how much time their child is spending on the TikTok app per day with the help of the Family Pairing feature, and the feature also enables them to control what type of content their child can view, and who they can have a conversation within the DM.

Youth Portal’s Internet Security section provides you information on how to create a strong and secure password, how often a user should change the password, what things a user should keep private, and how a user can detect suspicious behavior.

You will also find a Personal Privacy section in the portal where you can change the privacy setting to define your public presence on the platform. The privacy settings include controls for blocking users, enabling family pairing, and controlling DMs and comments.

Lastly, there is a Community Best Practices section in the portal providing you tips on how to be kind and stay positive on the platform. John Clark CEO and president NCMEC stated that TikTok they are proud that the platform is feature is featuring NCMEC resources in the portal, and said that the launch of this portal shows that child protection is a priority for TikTok.

Leslie Boggs, president National PTA stated TikTok is helping children stay secure online. He added that the new portal will allow families to find and use different safety resources, tools, and settings easily.

Stephen Balkam, CEO Family Online Safety Institute added that it was important to introduce a Youth Portal given the increased time youth is spending on social platforms during the lockdowns.

Lastly, Larry Magid, CEO ConnectSafely is pleased to see the addition of Youth Portal as according to him, safety and privacy features are of no use if people don’t know how to use them.

Photo: SOPA Images via Getty Images

Read next: Edit your video clips to perfection with TikTok's new features: Pinning Stickers and Adjust Clips

YouTube has been hard at work trying to make it so that it can ensure that all of its creators are able to maximize their potential in every single way possible, and a big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that there is some competition in the market now associated with content creators and this has made it so that YouTube is trying to introduce new features every so often all of which are meant to ensure that creators can earn the maximum amount of money and reach as many people as possible.

There are two main things that are being rolled out in this regard, i.e. according to Creator Insider. Firstly, all creators on the platform will now be able to access some pretty in depth analytics that will, among other things, tell them what times their main audience tends to be online. This can help them post videos at times that would ensure that people watch them and that they can make their view counts a great deal higher than what they might have ended up being otherwise all in all.

The second update has to do with video chapters. This will allow creators to break up their videos in segments that will be visible in the progress bar. There are some conditions, though. Creators that want to use video chapters will have to divide their video into at least three chapters, each of which will have to be at least 10 seconds long.

These are changes that creators will probably welcome quite a bit and a big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that they have been struggling to get quality updates from YouTube for quite some time now and this will most likely be perceived as a very welcome change of pace.

Read next: Study Shows Quarter of Most Viewed Covid-19 YouTube Videos Contain Misinformation

Social media platforms have not yet been able to integrate blockchain-based technology in their operations in any practical way. Facebook is working on its Libra Project but it has a lot of issues, while Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is seen to be a significant advocate for cryptocurrencies, we have not seen any obvious use of the technology within Twitter network till now.

However, it seems that Reddit has found a way to use this technology. This week, the platform announced the launch of the new ‘Community Points,’ a blockchain-based system. The Community Points are rolled out as a test and will enable Reddit moderators to assign scores to Reddit community members. The points will be allocated to members based on their engagement within their respective subreddits.

Members will be able to buy things such as ‘Special Memberships’ by using those points. Buying stuff like Special Memberships will allow the members to access some exciting new features and functions.

Reddit explained that Community Points will prove to be a way for Reddit users to win a part of their most favorite communities. Users can spend these points on premium features, and these points will be used as a measure of reputation within the Reddit community. Users can win points by contributing to the Reddit community, for instance, submitting a quality post or a useful comment on posts will help users earn points. The community will decide how many points each user will receive based on the contributions made by users to the community.

You will have to sign up for a ‘Vault’ to qualify for these Community Points. Signing up for a Vault serves as an introduction for users on how a cryptocurrency operates. This vault operates and serves the same purpose as a cryptocurrency wallet. The points a user has added to his vault cannot be taken away from them, and these points are handled separately from Reddit.

Buying Special Memberships using these points will give users access to tools such as custom loyalty badges for every subreddit, and ‘Style Badges’ for their profiles. But, you might wonder who cares about your profile’s look, and users might not actually want to buy these. You can also tip other people for their contributions and valuable comments by using these points. It will encourage users to engage more on the platform. If you have more points compared to other users, your votes on polls across the platform will be valued more. Reddit says that it will help moderators to evaluate what the core contributors feel about something.

Reddit has limited the comments to text only till now, but Special Members can add GIFs, and it will appeal to a lot of Reddit’s members. Currently, there are over 430 million active Reddit users, so it is obvious that these Community Points will be popular among Redditors. Given how the platform’s users have been competing on the Karma point system for years now, the Community points system will encourage engagement as users will be keen to earn these points through their contributions.

Reddit hopes that the system will enable the community to democratize the process and will encourage better contributions and behavior. The system is only a test currently and it is an exciting experiment for crypto-watchers. The system could provide people more exposure to crypto-systems.

Read next: Survey Reveals 9 In 10 Consumers Buy From Brands They Follow On Social Media Platforms

Back in March 2020, senior Vice President of LinkedIn, Ryan Roslansky had announced that some steps were being taken in regard to the LinkedIn’s professional editorial team, to help the members amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As an extended part of the Project Otis that began two years ago and that involved the revamping of LinkedIn’s logo, user interface, colors, typography, and shapes; LinkedIn has now announced that it is going to make the changes that Ryan Roslansky had mentioned earlier this year.

LinkedIn is renaming and relaunching its Editorial as LinkedIn News now after going through some changes in the visual consistency as well.

Since the time that LinkedIn started its Editorial some eight years ago, it has seen remarkable growth, with a team of 76 editors in 15 countries. This team’s other news venture called the Daily Rundown has also seen impeccable growth with more than 46 million subscribers in 96 countries, with translations in nine languages.

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, there has been a more than 158% exponential growth in the LinkedIn Live streams. These episodes of Live streams also include Business Unusual, which works on highlighting the stories of professionals dealing with the challenges of this pandemic and its implications on all the walks of life.

So, with so much going on with news and information in the Editorial department, LinkedIn decided to give their Editorial team a better identity, in recognition to their services, as this team is dedicated to creating original content and helps the growth of members, influencers and publishers across the platform.

Therefore, a rebranding and relaunching with better and more focused goals for this Editorial team had become imminent. The purpose of bringing this change was also to reinforce and let the world realize to the full extent that this is a team of highly professional, real editors, who are working day and night to bring authentic news and updated information.

The reason for renaming was that LinkedIn felt that the name “Editorial” did not go well as far as identifying the team’s efforts and content was concerned. LinkedIn News sounds more apt because it further reinforces the team’s main goal, which is the provision of fact-based news around the world.

However, due to some issues with the rough translation, China has decided to rename LinkedIn Editorial as LinkedIn Info, as it suits them better.

This rebranded version is made more visually consistent as well, with a brand-new color palette that leans towards warm greys, complemented blue and conversational orange.

The Community custom typeface is the same but has a slightly bolder iteration. This gives a much better and distinctive appearance to LinkedIn News.

To showcase the team’s significant work, there are some customized elements too that will bring out the good content all in one place collectively.

Photo: Shutterstock / wichayada suwanachun

Read next: LinkedIn Launches ‘Virtual Events’ Feature And ‘Polls’ Feature To Enhance User Engagement Across Its Platform

Winning at social media is not as difficult as people often think it is. A lot of people including businesses try to make their social media as lively as they can, but there is something that is always missing from their content.

Facebook is the first name that comes to mind when we talk about social media. If you do not know it already, then Facebook has lost about 15 million US users since 2017, which is a huge number; however, the company still stays on top of all the social media platforms.

Recently Facebook reported that more than 1.7 billion internet users used a Facebook account on a daily basis, which shows that social media giant is the way behind being a failure.

We all post something on our social media feeds each day. Have you noticed which posts get the most engagement, likes, shares? If yes, then you are already understanding the pattern. Viral content is not just a another piece of content – it has the features that make it prominent.

In a recent research, approx. 1200 posts by 266 Facebook users were studied to see which posts are getting more attention on the internet or in other words, which posts are more successful than the others and WHY!

Here’s the Basic Key Tip for You

The study found out the differences between the posts by setting a bar to define what’s post engagement and what’s not. In easy language, comments were taken as engagement as they require a proper understanding of the post and takes time. On the flip side, likes were only considered a form of acknowledgment.

There were posts that performed better than the other posts under observation, for instance, having more than five comments on them.

Those posts that had a narrative was more famous among other posts, along with the ones that required some action, for instance, click on this link, etc.

From the posts, it was identified that leaving a question by the end of the post also increased the post engagement. For example, asking users ‘what do you think about this?’, or ‘Do you recommend it?’. It really helped in getting more comments.

Also, simple posts that are not written in very hard English, have proper grammar and makes sense also got a lot of engagement and performed really well on the internet.

So, if you are planning to get some attention on Facebook, try to post simple posts, ask a question (if relevant) and make sure your post has a narrative. Basic tips for better post engagement.

Funny is the King

Humorous content on the internet gets the most attention, you can calculate it by the engagement on memes only.

From the research, it was identified that posting funny posts grab a lot of attention from the users. That does not mean that you will not get any likes or comments if you are not funny!

If you are posting something on the internet, make sure to reply to comments to keep the flow. Keep posting your content and hope it does well on the internet.

Nonetheless, posting content is not enough – your number of friends, your social circle, your popularity outside Facebook, etc. also play a role in this regard. If you are lacking any one of them, then you might not get the type of attention you want on social media.

You can also use these tips on Twitter and Instagram. After all, popularity matters equally on all social media platform.

And lastly, if nothing works for you, "pay to play" can be your sure-fire way to get some extra engagement on your posts. Although not everyone can afford to spend hefty amount of money on Social media ads but it's one of the best way for brands and small businesses to reach their target audiences.

Illustration: Freepik / PCH Vector

Read next: Marketers and consumers favor Facebook and Instagram over other social media platforms according to a new survey

The world is going through a major crisis, and people are encouraged to stay within the bounds of their home to stay safe from Covid-19 pandemic.

Books are considered a man’s best friend. So, in such distressing times, it is a good idea to indulge in some of the literary masterpieces to learn about some major challenges that giant tech apps face and companies like Uber go through. This compiled list contains the top-rated books that feature everything from artificial intelligence to the horrifying working situation at many organizations and some of the most drastic state-sponsored hacking attempts.

So, gear yourself with best-selling books that can unfold a world of mysteries and speculations about the tech giants of our recent times.

Rana Foroohar's "Don't Be Evil: The Case Against Big Tech"

An informing book that can make the readers slightly nervous about the insights of all the tech giants and how they turned against their founding principles with times. All the claims and the latest information about Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Uber are present in this book.

"Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers" by Andy Greenberg

This book tells the thrilling story of Russian hacking mafia behind state-sponsored cyber-attacks in great detail.

"The Twittering Machine" by Richard Seymour

A sober book, based on the extreme use, and misuse, bordering to abuse of Twitter. Richard Seymour takes a special dig at the president of the US as he uses social media as a war machine, almost daily.

This book is dedicated to the Luddites. i.e. those who destroyed machinery during the revolutionizing of industries.

Stuart J. Russell's "Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control"

The author is not new in the field of writing about Artificial intelligence and modern approaches, as well as the darker side of AI that may pose a threat to the future of humanity.

Also read: 7 Books That Will Make You Smarter

John Carreyrou's "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup"

A book about the fall of Elizabeth Holmes from the most successful to the World’s Most Disappointing leaders; this book gives the inside story about a huge setup, Theranos, which had claimed to be revolutionary in its way. Unfortunately, many factors led to its downfall, and Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos had a huge hand in setting the calamitic events in motion.

John Carreyrou is a renowned forensic analyst and he has investigated the whole matter of this now-defunct organization. His book is on its way to a Hollywood adaptation.

"Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men" by Caroline Criado Perez

This winner of the Financial Times' Best Business Book of 2019 presents an insightful dig at the dangers of treating male bodies with the bias of “one-size-fits-men” in design, technology and highlighting numerous mismatches in the real life.

"Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech" by Jamie Susskind

As the name suggests, the book addresses some important questions related to a technologically developed world and its challenges in the future. The author does not take a special dig on any particular tech company, but he has addressed the issue of the digital lifeworld in great detail with some wonderful insights.

Alexis Wichowski's "The Information Trade"

The author has included 100 interviews with the founders and operatives of the leading tech apps, to discuss and understand the ways through which the internet has and will keep on altering our lives.

"The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power" by Shoshana Zuboff

This book addresses one of the most major concerns of our time. Are our data and personal information safe with apps like Facebook, Google, etc.?

The author has used her expertise in social psychology to talk about issues of surveillance capitalism and has provided shocking revelations about how these apps are affecting us in more ways than we can even imagine.

Virginia Eubanks's "Automating Inequality"

This book provides insights into the world of androids and how we are all controlled by these robots in our daily lives. It deals with inequality due to human distancing from their affairs by giving control to technology-driven robots.

"The People vs Tech: How the Internet is Killing Democracy (and How We Save It)" by Jamie Bartlett

Another book about how politics and democracy are being affected by the increased reliance on Tech apps. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the threats that excessive usage of the Internet poses to all the facets of our lives.

James Bloodworth's "Hired: Six Months Undercover in low wage Britain"

This book was selected as The Times’ current affairs book of 2018 for the Orwell Prize and it is all about the reality of the UK’s technology-driven economic society and how it affects the workers there.

“Data: Algorithms and the Making of Our Digital Selves" by John Cheney-Lippold

Algorithms are going to become our digital identities in the fully digitalized world, and this book addresses the problems that lie ahead all of us. It tells in detail the exact implications and how to solve this problem.

Mike Isaac's"Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber"

Mike Isaac is an award-winning New York Times technology reporter. He wrote this book about the most controversial ride application, Uber.

Without disrupting the face of the company, Isaac has done a remarkable job while he delved deeper and managed to unveil loads of information that can make users understand the “whats and whys” of the controversies that surround this most famous application, all over the world.

Corey Pein's "Live Work Work Work Die: A Journey into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley"

This book is a comprehensive picture of the most powerful cyber-industry that is obsessed to sustain at any cost.

Read next: 3 Must-Read Books for Young Entrepreneurs

Several apps including Google and WhatsApp have been working around to introduce Dark Theme for some time, because of the obvious benefits.

Apart from Dark Theme being introduced to the mobile application on Android and iOS, WhatsApp is now working to enable Dark Theme for WhatsApp Web as well.

Although it’s still in the developing process, there is a hack to temporarily enable the orignal Dark Theme for WhatsApp Web by following some easy steps.

First, you have to go to the official page of WhatsApp and open the WhatsApp Web from your PC, through your favorite browser.

Once you open the page, you have to scan the QR Code from your Mobile App, and through that, you have to Log in to the app.

When you are ready to use the WhatsApp Web, simply right click anywhere outside the chat. A menu will appear, from which you have to click on “Inspect”. If right clicking is hard for you, then simply open Whatsapp web and press the F12 key from your keyboard.

Here's How to enable the native Dark Mode on WhatsApp Web (no third-party tool is required)

Depending on your preferences, your browser will now show the console and the code of the page (either on right side or bottom of your page). In our case it's on right side. Now in Elements Tab when you scroll up at the top of the code, you will see a string: <body class= "web">

This simple trick will let you enable Dark Mode on Whatsapp Web

"web" is the interface that is set by default. Tweaking with the string is how you can enable the Dark Theme. All you have to do is to replace "web" with "web dark".

Once your string starts looking like this: <body class= “web dark”>, you have to press ENTER.

And your WhatsApp Web interface will turn all dark! Now you can simply press F12 from your keyboard again to remove extra web developer tools for cleaner Whatsapp Web browsing and Voila!

Good News! This simple hack can enable Dark Mode on Whatsapp Web

However, you must remember that these changes in the browser are not permanent. If you log out and re-login or even refresh your web page, the original classic theme will come back, and to enable the Dark Theme, you will have to follow these above-mentioned steps again.

There is no denying that dark themes are better as compared to blue light/white interfaces. There is less strain on the eyes, and less strain on the device battery also. So, it is understandable why WhatsApp also has been working to enable Dark theme for its users, since it is one of the most-used apps. People use WhatsApp for communication as well as conducting business and educational communication also. With such heavy usage, the Facebook developers needed to introduce a native dark theme for WhatsApp Web for the benefit of the users.

Read next: WhatsApp Could Become An Alternative To Zoom As It Will Soon Allow 50-Participants Video Conversations On Desktop

YouTube is adding a new monetization icon within the YouTube Studio for content creators to avoid receiving flip-flopping notifications. Creators receive these flip-flopping notifications indicating them that their content was first qualified for generating money, but then it became ineligible to make money.

Previously, creators used to see a green dollar sign icon and a dreaded yellow dollar sign icon within the YouTube Studio. The green dollar indicated that the video is monetized by YouTube, while the yellow dollar signified that a specific video is serving limited ads or no ad at all. Matt Koval, YouTube content creator liaison stated in a video update that YouTube has made some changes keeping in view the irritations that a lot of YouTube content creators experienced due to flip-flopping notifications about monetization status of videos.

YouTube content creators will now see a new grey clock symbol on the Videos page within their YouTube Studio. The grey clock icon represents that your video is being checked by YouTube for its ad suitability. Matt Koval states that YouTubers will be much more confident about what will be YouTube’s final decision regarding their videos when the grey clock icon turns to green color, or red, or yellow.

The platform’s systems are so quick in their operations that most of the users will not ever see the ‘checking’ clock icon. However, if you see the icon, it will disappear in approximately 20 minutes or even less. The ‘checking’ icon will not appear for more than one hour, and YouTube will not run any ads on a video while YouTube’s systems are checking the video for its ad suitability.

You may also see various monetization icons on the Videos page within your YouTube Studio including a green icon which indicates that the video is monetized. A yellow icon indicates that the video is serving limited or no ads, while the red icon means that YouTube has demonetized the video because of a copyright claim. If a gray icon appears, it means that the user has decided not to turn on monetization for that specific video.

YouTube also expanded its Self-Certification feature to all content creators within the YPP (YouTube Partner Program). The Self-Certification feature allows the creators to describe YouTube, the content of their videos, and how their videos comply with YouTube’s Ad-friendly guidelines. With this feature, creators can see the expected monetization status of a video and its revenue potential. If you rate your content accurately, you will be able to build a rating history with higher accuracy. YouTube will use your inputs to make the initial decision about monetization, and YouTube states that creators who provide accurate ratings experience a reduction of up to 50% in YouTube’s system mistakes.

Matt Koval recommends that if content creators want to maximize their revenues, they should initially upload content as ‘unlisted’ or ‘private,’ and then the creators should wait until YouTube’s systems make a final decision regarding monetization of videos, before publishing the videos. The new icon feature will not have any relevance to the review process of a video. The review process allows content creators to appeal to YouTube’s decisions if YouTube has demonetized their videos.

Read next: YouTube Introduces Creator Friendly New Updates

If we were to talk about few of the positives that emerged as a result of the coronavirus pandemic then majorty of them turned out to be a part of the social media world - which honestly makes sense considering how platforms became the lifeline for people.

Hence, continuing with the list, Twitter yet again continues to make the mark all by working on to introduce link previews in tweet composer in Twitter web app. For all of the Twitterati (including me or maybe you) this is a feature that has been long-awaited and will definitely bring more engagement on the platform.

Prior to the recent developments, whenever a user tried to post a link of some article or any company’s website, Twitter always showed an old traditional URL as a part of the tweet. Other sites like Facebook and even Instagram moved towards the addition of “link preview” but Twitter for years remained the same and kept many journalists, bloggers or even general users in difficulty whenever they either wanted to share their work or some exciting information from a third source.

However, that finally is about to change according to the recent workings which were first spotted by a well-known reverse engineer of apps, Jane Manchun Wong. She revealed the changes by posting a screenshot of the new link previews and a single glimpse of the new development does look promising.

Twitter has focused on keeping the link preview and tweet part prominent in proportion so now other users will enjoy the “extra information” from third party links more freely. This in return can also result into an increase in the divergence of traffic from Twitter to the sites which would have their links posted in the form of Tweets.

Besides that, Jane also shared another update which relates to Twitter working on “Search for Lists” - another feature that is expected to become a hot favorite of users soon, considering how finding lists can lead users to more amazing content on the platform.

Twitter, more recently has been focusing on introducing features that the public kept on demanding for years. So one can expect there might be a “Search for Bookmarks” in the line soon.

Read next: Marketers and consumers favor Facebook and Instagram over other social media platforms according to a new survey

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, it has changed everything. The world we knew in the pre-COVID era was different from what it is now. It has affected businesses, large organizations, and entire states in more ways than we can imagine. There is not a single individual in the entire planet who has not been affected by the repercussions of this pandemic.

To avoid the spread of this deadly virus, governments had to implement social distancing measures and lockdowns. People are carrying out their duties and job responsibilities from the sanctuary of their homes, as offices are closed and businesses are mostly running online only.

Students are studying online from home too because all educational institutes have been shut down.

There are so many changes that have happened in our daily lives whether we like them or not. One such change is the Working from Home option, that we all have to comply with for the time being.

LinkedIn Workforce recently surveyed various industries to analyze how people are taking this new arrangement of remote working in the US.

Surprisingly, this is one thing that many people, especially in the IT sectors are happy with!

Remote working definitely has its advantages as time and gas both are saved due to lack of commuting. There is much flexible, and more efficient working capacity because of the lack of office distractions. Many employers have reported a higher level of productivity and motivation.

Despite the cons of the entire situation, which include lack of social interaction, and lack of face-to-face meetings, people are still finding remote working more effective and beneficial than the regular working from office regimes.

Employers are also finding this situation in a positive light. Meetings can be conducted online, and systems can be produced to ensure that everyone is doing their work. Many employers have realized that they are cutting on many office expenses because of this situation, and that is always an encouraging thing for the bosses!

Recently Twitter has announced that they can let all their employees work from home in the future also if that is what they want.

According to the survey analysis by LinkedIn, 85% of the US Software and IT employees feel that they can be individually effective, while 82% of them believe in the entire industry setup being more effective.

In the Finance and Media sectors, almost 83% of employees believe in individual efficacy through remote working.

82% of people in the Finance sector and 76% in the Media industry still believe in the better effectiveness of the industry setup though.

Also read: Financially Surviving A Layoff Or Furlough (infographic)

In Entertainment, Public Admin and Design industries, 55-70% of employees are in the favor of remote working, while 43-64% of employees want their office setup back.

In industries that involve human contact more, like Retail, Recreation, and Travel, almost 40-50% of people only believe in remote working. It is understandable too, while 29-37% of people think that these industries cannot survive on remote working for long.

Only time will tell how this pandemic will change the future discourse of our world. We can only hope and pray for better times soon.

As remote work sweeps the U.S., 55% say it can succeed in their industry

Read next: These 50+ Job Posting Platforms Will Help You Hire Faster And Smarter (infographic)

According to a forecast shared by eMarketer, a market research company, Instagram and Snapchat will experience higher growth rate during this year than Facebook. The coronavirus lockdowns have led users to increase social media engagement for the first time since the year 2017. This year, adult users in the US will spend an average of around one hour and twenty-two minutes per day on social media apps which is seven minutes more as compared to the time spent by them during 2019.

eMarketer forecasted back in November that Instagram’s usage will increase by only 24 seconds per day this year. However, the recent forecast depicts that Facebook’s Instagram will experience the fastest growth to an average of about 30 minutes per day. This is 14% more as compared to the time spent by users during the last year.

eMarketer forecasts that Snapchat’s usage will increase 12% to an average of around 29.5 minutes a day. The market research company previously predicted a gain of thirty seconds per day among adult Snapchat users. Facebook’s usage will increase to approximately 34 minutes daily, a 4.3% growth compared to last year. eMarketer previously depicted that Facebook’s usage would reduce by forty-two seconds.

eMarketer’s recent forecast displays how the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant change in user habits. This shift has some significant indications for mobile marketers who explore to reach the United States audiences. During these circumstances, advertisers need to target those areas where they can find their audiences. According to eMarketer, these marketers can more likely connect with US customers via social media platforms.

Also read: Survey Reveals 9 In 10 Consumers Buy From Brands They Follow On Social Media Platforms

The market research company suggests that Instagram and Snapchat will surpass Facebook in terms of user engagement growth. Although Facebook is a more mature social network, Snapchat and Instagram have introduced a lot of new features during the past few months to keep their users engaged.

Debra Aho Williamson, Principal Analyst eMarketer, stated that Instagram enhanced engagement via tools like Live and Stories, and users have used the platform to exhibit how they are dealing with coronavirus lockdowns. She also stated that Snapchat’s increased usage is due to increasing viewership of the platform’s original shows. People are also using Snapchat for video calling, and over 60% of its original shows reached approximately 10 million views every month during Q1 2020. eMarketer also suggests that Facebook’s usage may decrease after the pandemic is under control.

Read next: Where Consumers Are Discovering New Content and Buying in 2020 [Infographic]

Are passwords eventually going to go the way of the dinosaurs? Passwords are a relic from a time before hacking was a problem anyone thought of, and as a result they aren't as secure as you think they are. There may be a new way to authenticate users that doesn't involve passwords, which is good because people have password fatigue at this point anyway. What is the future of passwords and what will take their place?

The History Of Passwords

When passwords were invented, hacking didn't exist. No one had any idea that one day businesses and personal lives would be run entirely in cyberspace, giving thieves and bad actors a target. Rather, passwords were invented to meter time on shared mainframe computers. The first password theft was done by someone who just wanted more time, and he accomplished his goal by printing out the file that contained all the usernames and passwords of the people on the shared mainframe. He was then able to log on to use other colleagues' credentials to get the time he needed to do his work.

This gave rise to the idea of encrypting passwords. The first method was called "hashing" and it was used to translate passwords into numbers using one-way encryption. The passwords themselves were never stored on the device, and this method, invented in 1974, is still in use today. In 1979 additional characters were added to the encryption and those characters were called "salt", and while it made the encryption stronger it didn't stop passwords from being guessed.

In 1988 the first virus called the Morris Worm began infecting computers and stealing passwords. It was not intended to be harmful but rather was an experiment to see what could happen if something like that were to be released on the internet. It infected one in ten computers within the first 24 hours.

Still today the most common passwords are variants of 123456, easily guessable even without trying to decrypt anything. What's more, people are still reusing old passwords or using the same password on multiple sites, further complicating the ability to protect information accessible online. 91% of people say they know they aren't supposed to reuse passwords and that they know why they aren't supposed to reuse passwords, but 66% say they do it anyway. And why wouldn't they? The average person has 191 passwords, and it's nearly impossible to remember more than about 20.

Also read: How Free VPNs can be Dangerous? [Infographic]

Secure password managers have given people some relief, but that's just another password to remember. Multifactor authentication is yet another tool in the fight against hacking, but even that is not foolproof.

The Future Beyond Passwords

At some point passwords will become obsolete. There are other ways to authenticate users, and those methods are likely to be significantly stronger than passwords and usernames. Authenticating IP addresses, geolocation, and device security can be one method of authenticating users. Also, using different levels of authentication based on access to information can eliminate the need for passwords.

Passwords just aren't that secure. There are plenty of methods for cracking them, plus hackers know that exploiting human nature and emotions is far easier than trying to brute force an attack. Even if passwords are secure, they are stored on someone else's server and all it takes is a data breach of that company to expose your password, which you might also be using on lots of other sites.

Are passwords really going to be around much longer if they aren't secure at all? Learn more about the history and future of passwords as well as what might come next from the infographic below.

Read next: The Evolution Of Cybersecurity And Data Storage (infographic)

Despite Instagram’s effort to minimize the spread of misinformation on their platform, conspiracy theories and fake news about the vaccine continue to thrive on the user’s newsfeed.

Unfortunately, the problem escalated during the coronavirus pandemic has paved way for a new surge of viral disinformation – most of which has been promoted by the advocates of anti-vaccination. At the same time, Facebook’s moderators have been unable to combat the situation and review the ‘rule-breaking’ content in an effective manner. Much of the disinformation has also been fueled by Instagram’s recommendation algorithms.

However, Instagram claims that it doesn’t ban anti-vaccine content. But, yes, it does try to make it less visible on the platform – similar to its flagship social media channel, Facebook. According to Instagram, they block a few specific hashtags and tries to make anti-vaccine content harder to find in public areas of the app, like Explore.

Yet, such inaccurate information – specifically those related to the COVID-19 vaccine continues to dominate the app’s search results.

For example, when one searches the word ‘vaccine’ on Instagram, several recommendations of anti-vaccine account in top results. These include accounts with names like ‘vaccines_revealed,’ ‘vaccinesaregenocide,’ ‘vaccines_kill,’ ‘and ‘say_no_to_bill_gates_vaccine.’

Most of these accounts have nearly 100,000 followers, while there are a few with a couple hundred. Nevertheless, Instagram’s algorithm continues to recommend them, even though not one of them is related to a verified health organization.

Most of these accounts are enhancing fear and anxiety – specifically, parents who are targeted through bogus claims like ‘vaccines are causing autism rates to increase. ‘

Bill Gates and his efforts to contain the pandemic are also targeted by the bad actors who are posting conspiracy theories about his philanthropy.

Vice also published a similar report last year where they claimed that Instagram’s follow suggestions can easily lure the users down an anti-vax rabbit hole.

Following their allegation, Instagram had said that they will look into the matter – but seems like not much has changed in the company’s operations. Not only do the suggestions continue to appear, but the recommendations are also now pushing the users toward another set of conspiracies.

Coda also issued a report last year where they noted that anti-vaccine advocates often use cedilla character instead of a ‘c’ to evade detection. They also said that searching for #vaccine may give CDC’s website in the first result. However, unfiltered results such as #vaccineinjuryadvocate and #vaççineskillandinjure appear next in the social media’s hashtag search recommendations – leading to an increase in conspiracy theories.

According to tech experts, posts on Instagram are filled with memes and imagery. This potentially makes it challenging for Instagram’s system to detect false news and even more difficult for human reviewers to analyze. And although Instagram continues to build new and innovative systems to counterfeit such issues, images prove to be an effective medium for the bad actors to utilize.

It has also been long established that humans digest visual material more easily, rather than text. And this phenomenon is making the spread of misinformation on Instagram more scattering.

Instagram has also been much slower to deal with the misinformation problem. The photo-sharing app didn’t implement any fact-checking efforts until last May and only recently started debunking posts less visible in the user’s feed.

In the company’s response, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that they are prioritizing the review of these types of content – especially those that aim to spread misinformation about COVID-19. However, it is noted that the company doesn’t bar anti-vaccination content but makes the posts less visible for its users.

They often resort to adding a ‘false information’ label on such posts, especially those that have been debunked by fact-checkers.

Of course, none of this is sufficient in these testing times, and experts of health departments strongly urge social media channels like Instagram to boost their efforts to curb misinformation.

Read next: Instagram’s Algorithm Is Being Gamed Organically, Here’s How

Various countries across the globe are spraying disinfectants on roads to eliminate the coronavirus. However, the WHO (World Health Organization) informed on Saturday that spraying disinfectants on streets is useless, and it does not eliminate the novel coronavirus. The WHO also warned that it even poses a health risk.

The World Health Organization published a document on cleaning and disinfecting surfaces in which the WHO states that spraying disinfectants is not an effective measure. The WHO published the document as part of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Health Organization explained in the document that spraying disinfectant on outdoor surfaces or fumigation of outdoor spaces like roads, streets, or marketplaces, etcetera is ineffective, and the WHO does not recommend spraying or fumigation of spaces to kill the coronavirus or other viruses. The World Health Organization further explained that dirt and debris inactivate the disinfectants.

The document reads that chemical spraying is not likely to sufficiently cover all the spaces for the duration of the contact time that is required to kill the viruses, even when there is no organic matter present. This means that the disinfectants do not cover the outdoor spaces such as streets or marketplaces for the required contact time to eliminate the coronavirus.

The World Health Organization further added that the roadways and sidewalks are not treated as the source of infection of COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the coronavirus. The WHO also added that spraying disinfectants even on outside spaces can harmful to human health.

The document published by the WHO also stresses that it is not suggested to spray individuals with disinfectants under any situation. Spraying individuals with disinfectants can be harmful to their physical and psychological health, and it cannot reduce the ability of an infected person to spread the coronavirus via droplets or contact.

The document reads that spraying chlorine and various other harmful chemicals on individuals can result in skin and eye irritation as well as cause gastrointestinal and bronchospasm effects. The World Health Organization is also informing us against the organized spraying and fumigation of disinfectants on the areas in indoor locations. The organization cited a study that has revealed it to be inefficient outside straightforward spraying surfaces.

Also read: Remote working amid the coronavirus pandemic: A blessing in disguise or a condemnation

The document states that if we want to apply disinfectants, we should apply them with a piece of cloth or wipe soaked in disinfectant. The SARS-CoV-2 virus can attach itself to areas and objects, the document says. This virus was the cause of the pandemic that appeared in China during late December, and it has killed over 300,000 individuals across the globe since its appearance.

Still, we do not currently have accurate data for the duration during which the harmful viruses continue to remain infectious in various areas and objects. Studies have revealed that this virus can stay alive on various sorts of surfaces for many days. Yet, these maximum durations are recorded by the researchers under controlled laboratory conditions, and we should interpret them with caution in the real-world surroundings as they are only theoretical measurements.

Photo: Henrique Casinhas/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Read next: Instagram and the new wave of viral disinformation

Unless you are a medical or food service worker, chances are you are sitting at home scrolling through social media waiting for the pandemic to end. We all know that scrolling through social media all day isn’t the best way to cope with life, even during the best of times, but it can be downright destructive given the current pandemic state of the world. There’s a lot of bad news out there, both negative news and false news, and the information overload we are experiencing right now can make it difficult to tell the difference between the two. If you are having difficulty feeling rational or feeling sad for the state of the world, you’re not alone. You probably have isolation fatigue.

The Psychology Behind Our Reactions To The Pandemic

In the wake of the pandemic and the social isolation it has necessitated, two in three Americans has reported feeling anxious, depressed, lonely, or hopeless at least once a week. One of the problems is the unknown factor of this pandemic. Typically when we want to accomplish something we make a goal, envision what steps it would take to achieve it, and then set about working toward that goal. Right now, however, we aren’t able to envision goals because there are so many unknowns, so we stop envisioning our goals and put them on the back burner, which leaves us in this weird place where there is no future and no room for goals.

And that’s just one of the psychological factors behind why we are feeling the way we are feeling right now. All the uncertainty is also feeding into our need to protect ourselves, and in a lot of instances our rational thinking is being compromised by our strong biological drive to survive.

For example, when you go to the store and you see toilet paper on the shelf, you might say to yourself that you don’t actually need toilet paper right now, but then your survival drive kicks in and tells you that you don’t know when you will see it again and you’d better get it so you aren’t sorry later.

Of course, toilet paper isn’t really necessary for survival, and contrary to popular belief it’s not even the highest selling item in stores right now.

Panic Buying Has Come In Full Force

The single biggest increase in purchasing for any one item right now is baking yeast. Compared with this time last year, baking yeast has experienced a 647% increase in purchasing, despite the fact bread is still mostly available. People are baking at home more than ever before, and flour is also flying off the shelves. This is three times the increase of toilet paper, which has risen 213% over last year in terms of consumer purchases.

Also read: Mitigating The Effects Of Social Distancing (infographic)

Cleaning and sanitation products, like disinfectants and hand sanitizers, have also exploded in popularity despite the fact that hand washing is still the most commonly recommended way to fight the spread of COVID-19.

But other purchases seem to make more sense. As the supply chain for food begins to crumble, animals are being slaughtered and not processed and milk is being dumped because it can’t get to market. As a result, sales of fruit and vegetable seeds, chickens, freezers, and flour skyrocketed as people tried to look for ways to fend for themselves in the wake of unprecedented uncertainty.

Our Brains Are Overloading And Shorting Out

Chronic stress can only register for so long before it becomes the new normal and we adjust to it. As a result, over time your brain compensates and you may start to have difficulty feeling the right emotions for a given situation. Whereas you felt sad at the loss of life early on in the pandemic, over time the emotional fatigue makes it difficult to feel sad anymore.

This may have the effect of making it harder for us to make rational decisions as this pandemic rages on. We literally can’t comprehend the exponential growth of the spread of this disease and the subsequent danger we are in because our brains have already had enough, so we stop being able to make the best decisions about wearing masks, social distancing, reopening the economy, and more.

Learn more about the psychology of isolation fatigue from the infographic below.

Read next: Practicing Social Distancing Without Feeling Isolated (infographic)