Digital Information World

Recently, Facebook and Instagram introduced ‘Shops’ which is a new eCommerce platform and is exclusive for these two social media platforms. Following this release, Instagram unveiled a new feature for business accounts.

Although a very limited number of accounts have been granted access to this feature, it is expected that it will be made more accessible to all business accounts through the existing business tools.

For now, this feature has been seen on exclusive accounts of people like Victoria Beckham, on iOS devices, as spotted by MattNavarra.

This is the latest introduction to Instagram’s developing arsenal after the introduction of Instagram Shopping and Product Tags and will give many businesses an added advantage to expand their market. Many customers will find it easier trendy products they see on social media.

The way these tags work is like a link in the caption of the post that, when clicked, will take the user to a shoppable product page. Instagram is testing this feature with a small cluster of accounts only in the US that is currently able to use the Checkout function.

It certainly is an intriguing function that will provide another way for customers to check out and buy new products from fresh, upcoming businesses. As a result, it will allow these businesses to expand and flourish.

It also streamlines the way people used Instagram for eCommerce and will open up a new host of possibilities for eCommerce stores.

This feature essentially allows business owners to double down, using these in-caption links and product tags allowing ease of use for customers. These features will certainly open up more possibilities as people get used to buying products from accounts they see on their feed, which was previously only used for interacting with their friends and family and to spread humor or to raise awareness about social issues and to educate people on the events transpiring in the world. But as more and more people are using these platforms, it has attracted aspiring businesses looking to expand their market reach and increase exposure to a variety of potential customers.

This approach to eCommerce is still relatively new and has a lot of potentials to grow but it is more appealing to the new generation than physically going to stores and shops or even having to look for relevant websites. These features allow them to find, compare and shop all without leaving one app or without having to open multiple tabs and allows people to save time in the already fast-paced lifestyle of the 21st century.

Read next: Instagram will most likely become a more favored source of news in place of Twitter

Researchers of Imperial College London and FaceSoft.io, a startup working on machine learning shared details regarding AvatarMe in a research paper submitted to the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2020.

According to the team, AvatarMe will be able to recreate photorealistic 3D images from ‘in-the-wild’ photos. They further said that the AI system would be able to surpass other existing protocols with a significant margin.

To render the 3D faces, the researchers took the pore-level reflectance maps of 200 people’s mugs using an LED sphere rig with 168 lights and 9 DSLR cameras. They then used it to train GANFIT, an AI model to create realistic maps from the textures and optimize for an identity match.

The researchers further said that AvatarMe didn’t show any signs of artifacts in the final renderings and were able to handle even the most extreme poses and add-ons like sunglasses.

Unfortunately, the biggest drawback of AvatarMe is its inability to reconstruct faces of dark-skinned objects. It is also able to give more accurate results if the input photograph is a high-resolution image.

Nevertheless, AvatarMe is an advancement in the art-generating AI system. And we can expect the technology to go further with innovative approaches.

Read next: Facebook reveals the results of the Deepfake Detection Challenge and shows some promising prospects

Every summer, Google announces its latest advertising products in the Google Marketing Live conference. Currently, the company is making these announcements over the upcoming several weeks. The company is starting with new tools for SMBs (small to medium-sized businesses). Google announced that the company is adding square-shaped Promoted pins in Google Maps.

Local campaigns already allow business owners to have their logos appeared directly as people browse maps. This feature is eye-catching and it also increases the likelihood that users will tap and open the listing. Now, New Smart campaigns will be able to manifest as a square Google Maps pin. These Smart campaigns are aimed at small businesses.

The square-shaped promoted Pins will feature specific business categories (shop, restaurant, etc.), logo which will highlight curbside pickup, delivery, or any other specific service offered by the business. The box shape of these pins allows it to stand apart from various other regular pins with the offering free until Sep of this year.

Smart campaigns can now be accessed in 150 countries and the signups are made available directly via the Google Ads smartphone application on both Android and iOS devices. But, Google is currently offering promoted pins in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, France, and Italy. The company will roll out the new feature to more countries as well.

The company will also allow Smart campaign advertisers to check the performance of an ad from ‘Google.com.’ Smart campaign advertisers can check ad performance by searching ‘Google Ads’ or ‘My Ads’ on Google.com.

Google stated that the company has made its reporting tools more accessible to Smart campaign advertisers. With a quick search on Google.com, you can now view the performance and status of your ads, and how your ads look to consumers.

Moreover, Google has also added local store info to the Shopping tab of Search. The local store info includes information such as the availability of a specific product, locations, and fulfillment options like curbside pickup and delivery. Google is rolling out this new change today and comes as queries for the latter grew by 70% during the past few months.

Google is also looking for new ways to make it easier for people to book local services, such as appliance repair, via Google Search. Users can directly interact with the new Local Services Ads, and Google will be rolling out a new phone website this month for users in the United States and Canada.

Read next: Google Rolls Out New Local Context Capability for the 15th Anniversary of Maps

Ads are the lifeblood of YouTube because of the fact that they allow the service to earn a lot of money whilst also being free of charge. With all of that having been said and out of the way, it is important to note that a lot of users really don’t like the ads that they are shown on YouTube on a regular basis, and a lot of people have criticized the platform for starting to show ads that are longer than before as well as increasing the overall quantity of the ads that people have to see on a regular basis.

It seems like YouTube might be trying something new in this regard. According to Matt Navarra, the number one video hosting platform might start giving users the chance to choose if they want to see an ad in the middle of the video or if they want to see up to four ads before they start the video. This is an interesting choice, and some people are commenting on the fact that they might choose to see four ads before the video and do something else in a different tabs while the ads are playing.

This won’t really hurt YouTube since it is fulfilling its responsibility of showing users the ads that brands pay it for, and users are also benefiting from it since they now have more control over when they see ads and aren’t going to have to worry about the various ways in which a sudden ad might end up negatively impacting their experience in some way, shape or form. However, some are commenting on the fact that this will hurt the advertisers themselves since it would result in fewer actual eyes on their ads which is something that might impact the rollout of these options or might alter YouTube’s trajectory in the near future when it comes to the ads that it shows its users.

Also read: Study Discovered That The Instagram's AI Prioritizes Images Showing Skin, Instagram Says The "Research Is Flawed"

One of the most famous cross-platform messaging applications, WhatsApp, keeps on bringing the latest features for consumers. With the upcoming update on its website, the Facebook-owned platform, is planning to add new color accents in the dark mode settings.

A report by WABetaInfo reveals that WhatsApp is preparing to add new colors to the dark theme. These new colors will make the web version of the app look more appealing to the eyes of the user. Furthermore, the upcoming update will bring support for the video and voice calls through the WhatsApp Web. Before this, a notification saying that the user must check their phones to answer calls was sent via the WhatsApp web every time a call was received. With this feature, they won’t have to reach for their smartphones as much.

The report also informed that WhatsApp is also working on Dark Theme with alternative dark colors for the dark iOS bubbles for Apple devices as well as Android devices.

As seen on the screenshots shared by the WABI, the new colors will include gray, bright yellow, and green. Users will also be able to manage and change this in the WhatsApp Settings under the Theme option. It will be available for both Android and iOS versions of the application.

Another application that has previously adopted a similar approach is Twitter, where there are two themes choose from as would many other applications. One is the regular light mode and the other being the dark mode. However, Twitter’s dark mode has two distinct themes, Dim and Lights Out. The Dim theme changes the background of the application to a very dark and deep blue color whereas the Lights Out completely blackens the background. Users can try and be comfortable with any theme that appeals to them, but it’s good to have options nonetheless.

WABI recently informed that WhatsApp might also be working on multi-device support. This will allow users to run one account on up to four devices simultaneously. It will also allow WhatsApp Web to work without the host smartphone needing to stay connected to the internet, which is very convenient. WhatsApp might bring support for various Android tablets and iPads with this feature.

Optimizing and upgrading the Dark mode also affects a device’s battery life. As many latest smartphones, on which these applications are used often, have now adopted OLED panels for displays. OLED panels do not need backlighting like the traditional LED panels, so when the black color is to be displayed, the pixels are turned off, hence they consume no power and save battery. Similarly, different colors require different consumption of power, so the darker the color the less power each pixel of the display consumes. This is another reason why it is good to have options in the availability of colors.

Read next: WhatsApp Launches Facebook-powered Payments Feature For Users In Brazil

It has been reported that the China-based startup behind short-video app TikTok and other popular social apps saw $5.6 billion during the first quarter of this year. Reuters reported that the first-quarter figure of ByteDance displays a 130% year-over-year increase in terms of revenue.

According to Bloomberg, ByteDance was most recently valued at $100 billion. This increased the company’s lead as the most valuable private started across the globe. The company was able to buck slowdowns across industries in digital advertising during the pandemic. As the coronavirus pandemic has forced millions of people to stay indoors, the use of social networking apps has been increased. The usage of applications owned by ByteDance has also surged during the coronavirus lockdowns.

ByteDance-owned applications including hits outside of the United States such as Vigo Video, Douyin, and Jinri Toutiao have also benefited from the worldwide uptick in the usage of social networking platforms. Application performance tracker, App Annie has reported that 6 out of the ten most popular applications on the Chinese iOS App Store during Jan of this year were owned by the China-based startup, ByteDance.

During the first of this year, TikTok was downloaded 315 million times which indicates that the app has become more popular during the pandemic. No other application has ever had 315 million downloads in a single quarter which means that the app has set the record for the most downloads any application has ever had in one quarter.

Recently, TikTok crossed two billion all-time worldwide installs across Android and iOS devices. Reuters has reported that ByteDance has set a revenue goal of around 200 billion yuan (approximately $28.2 billion) for this year. The company earned $17 billion in terms of revenue during 2019, and now the company aims to earn a revenue of $28.2 billion which is $11.2 billion more than the revenue company earned in 2019. ByteDance earned $3 billion in net profit last year.

Also read: An Insider’s Perspective on How You Can Get a Job at TikTok

ByteDance earned at least $7 billion in revenue in only the first six months of last year. This indicates that the company could be on the trajectory for robust growth throughout this year.

Outlets previously reported that the company is planning to go public on the Hong Kong stock exchange. If ByteDance is still considering this plan, the positive outlook for revenue may be beneficial for the company. In May 2020, an analyst stated that ByteDance may IPO (Initial Public Offering) at valuation from $150 billion to $180 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Photo: Getty

Read next: TikTok Is Diversifying Its Content Slate With Focus On DIY Tutorials And Live Videos

Among many new-coming experiments coming out of Google’s Area 120, the web and Android app Keen seems very similar to Pinterest. It encourages users to make a “Keen”, which is fundamentally a Pinterest board, about any subject or theme they might like. Links can be added along with photographs and other resources by the users who can also invite friends to collaborate and follow any “Keens” they find interesting. Google will use its machine learning algorithms with Keen to suggest related content for different users.

Area 120 is an experimental program within Google where small teams can rapidly build new products in an entrepreneurial environment. The products are built, tested, and launched (within testing) with many variations so that the product is fully explored to its potential. It looks for concepts with the potential to become necessities such as Google Maps, Gmail, and Google Search engine. The managing director, Alex Gawley, says that they are looking for daily problem-solving products that the people can use as a necessity over time.

Machine learning is an application of Artificial Intelligence (an idea to produce intelligent machines that can imitate human-like thinking capability and behavior) which allows systems to automatically learn and improve without being explicitly programmed to do so. A system achieves this by recognizing patterns and changes in its recordings and performs calculations in real-time to make decisions. This is utilized in the Keen app in the form of Google’s machine learning through which it can suggest user-specified related content based on that user’s search pattern and already saved content.

Co-founder CJ Adams wrote in a blog post that Keen lets the user curate the content they love. They can share their various collections with others and find new content based on what they have previously saved.

The app is meant to help people spend more time learning about what might interest them or assist them in discovering new hobbies and topics they never looked into but find them interesting, which is a better alternative to just scrolling thoughtlessly through the device they are using. Keen’s resemblance to Pinterest is very prominent, but it is not very surprising because a new approach to Pinterest comes along often. For example, we learned yesterday that Facebook is testing new ways to make Collections easier to share and collaborate on. Meanwhile, earlier this year, Google also introduced its shareable Collections and Instagram, like many social platforms, has Collections as well. Keen has a unique name but it may be the only differentiating feature when compared to the aforementioned examples provided.

Facebook Gaming app has once again been rejected on the iOS App Store by Apple. This only fortifies the argument that the company is not very open to competition. For the past few weeks, the app was under review by Apple but now it has been decided that it will be rejected.

New York Times has published a new report which details how the Facebook team is not at all surprised by Apple’s decision. They have been trying to launch the Facebook Gaming app on the App Store with no success since February.

Facebook Gaming provides a proper gaming platform with a dedicated social network with the ability to live stream gameplay. Moreover, the Facebook app also provides its games inside it, which would be the main reason why Apple rejected the app in the App Store.

People who are familiar with the situation informed the New York Times that the App Store rules do not allow third-party apps to distribute games and act as a separate platform while also utilizing the App Store. The report also mentions that the Facebook Gaming app was rejected at least five times before Apple rejected it.

This is mainly because Apple does not want its own App Store and Apple Arcade business to be affected. Apple would most certainly lose a substantial amount of money in terms of shares if it allows other companies to offer their own games stores on the iPhone and iPad.

Two of the people said that Facebook Gaming may also have been out-competed by Apple in terms of its sales of games. Games are one of the most profitable categories of mobile apps globally by a considerable margin. Since Apple’s App Store is the only officially approved platform for iPhone and iPad users to find various programs and games, it generates a lot of profit. For example, just last year the App Store produced about $15 billion in revenue.

Also read: Google Will Soon Make Phone Prompts Notifications The Default Two-Factor Verification Method

Apple is already being accused of anti-competitive behavior for restricting the App Store business model along when Facebook’s case is brought up. The “Hey” email client was banned last week from the App Store as it provided access to a subscription service that could only be subscribed to through an external website. Apple could, of course, not charge their 30% fee for each subscription, so it banned the email client from their App Store.

Apple has not commented on its decision for not approving the Facebook Gaming app on its App Store yet. However, Facebook expects Apple to reconsider the rejection and allow their app to be on the platform.

Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters

Read next: ByteDance, TikTok Parent Company, Generated $5.6 Billion Revenue During Q1 2020

In December 2018 Facebook introduced a new cool feature that allowed its users to share their curated collection with just in a single tap. Before the launch of this feature, collections were discover-able to the user itself. After this feature came into motion, people were allowed to share their collections with a broader group of people in a single tap.

Before this feature collection came into being, people had to select the list manually by taping each name. This hand picking task was time-consuming and annoying. The addition of this new feature has made it easy for its users to enjoy sharing collections with one tap. People are enjoying sharing their collection effortlessly.

Facebook has enabled the feature to share your collection with certain people, instead of the public. You can select a list of people and your collection will only be visible to your desired people. Your collection will stay hidden by the rest of the public and only be seeable to people you choose. Isn’t it amazing?

However, the “Only Me” option is still in default privacy settings for your curated content. If you wish to create a list of certain who would be further able to add items to your list, Facebook has made it possible too. You can select “Contributors Only” for this purpose. Contributors will be granted access to comments and add items to your collection. Of course, your collection will be still private. Isn’t it cool?

Facebook explained that this feature is added to provide even better experience to its users. The social media giant further added that this collection feature will help in building a strong community and bond. Users can share food recipes, health tips, remedies, and whatever they wish too. Back then, this feature was also used to share a shopping list with their desired people.

The unfortunate part is that only US users have the access to this feature. Facebook claims that this feature is introduced as an experiment. This trademark is only accessible to people in the US using the latest version of Facebook. No dialogues have been communicated to know when this feature will be available to the rest of the users worldwide. People all over the world are desperately waiting to use this new inclusion. People believe that it is worth the wait.

This collection feature is further expected to be the next promotional tool as well. The strategy has not been decided at the moment, but entrepreneurs are all set for hunting. As they believe that this might be a door to new opportunities.

Screenshot: Twitter / Whimchic.

Read next: Facebook integrates new options for the parenting groups

On Thursday, Twitter announced that it is launching a dedicated search prompt to help users fight domestic violence in Asian region. If you are looking for keywords related to domestic violence, the dedicated search prompt will direct you towards relevant information. The data will be provided by local governmental authorities, international organizations and NGOs.

The new feature will be available on mobile.twitter.com, iOS, and Android versions of the app in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam. It will be available in both Hindi and English languages. Twitter stated in a blog post that, every time a user in above mentioned countries will search for a specific keyword related to domestic violence, a prompt will appear in a local language directing users to the relevant information as well as sources of help available on the platform.

This new move is the expansion of the platform’s #ThereIsHelp prompt. Twitter specifically designed this prompt for users to find clear and authentic information related to critical and sensitive issues. Some of the keywords related to the issue of domestic violence include dowry, gender-based violence, marital rape, dowry death, against women, domestic violence, lockdown violence, prevention of sexual harassment, and gender violence.

During #COVID19, gender-based violence has risen.

With @unwomenasia& other critical partners, we've expanded our #ThereIsHelp search prompt so that victims can find the resources they need. We're live in 8 APAC markets:
🇮🇳
🇮🇩
🇲🇾
🇵🇭
🇹🇭
🇸🇬
🇰🇷
🇻🇳
More info: https://t.co/H0bvM5f0Bl pic.twitter.com/kPkVphZAdc
— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) June 18, 2020

Continuing with our COVID-19 efforts, we've launched a dedicated #ThereIsHelp search prompt for #DomesticViolence that will direct people to authoritative information from @MinistryWCD and @NCWIndia. https://t.co/3RcZBkFkcK pic.twitter.com/4rtcjl6GSW
— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) June 18, 2020

The Twitter team will regularly review the feature to make sure that the relevant keywords generate the search prompt. It has been observed that in Asian region and globally, domestic violence cases have been increased during the lockdowns. Recently, The UN Women reported that 243 million girls and women aged between 15 and 49 have been subjected to violence (sexual or physical) penetrated by an intimate partner in the last twelve months.

According to the NCW, gender-based violence has been doubled during the lockdowns, Twitter stated. Chairperson at NCW, Rekha Sharma, stated that while the pandemic has effected everyone, there have been adverse impacts on girls and women who be victims of domestic violence. She also said that due to social distancing, a lot of women are unable to contact their regular support systems. Twitter’s new initiative will provide larger support to survivors, who may be easily isolated without having access to related information and help. Mahima Kaul, Twitter India, and South Asia Director Public Policy, stated that since the coronavirus outbreak, violence against girls and women has intensified in India and worldwide.

We are aware that a lot of women and girls suffering from domestic violence are isolated at home due to lockdowns with abusers, Mahima Kaul added. Mahima Kaul stated that we recognize collaborations with government, NGOs, and the public will help to fight against domestic violence across the globe.

Read next: Instagram will most likely become a more favored source of news in place of Twitter

On Thursday, the social media network, Facebook announced that the company will commit $200 million to Black-owned organizations and businesses. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, published a blog post stating that the company has been compelled during the last few weeks to confront the reality of injustice and violence which members of the Black community have been facing daily. This move is one of the several Facebook initiatives that the company announced on Thursday to support Black communities.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, announced on May 31, 2020, that the company will commit $10 million to support those groups who are working on racial injustice. The company’s COO announced Facebook’s initiative in a post and wrote that they have shared words of support for their colleagues, their friends, and communities. Sheryl Sandberg stated that we should also take action against violence and injustice.

$25 million out of these $200 million will be used to support Black content creators. The company announced that $75 million will go to ad credits and cash grants for non-profit organizations that serve the Black community and Black-owned small businesses.

Sheryl Sandberg also stated that the company will spend $100 million annually on Black-owned suppliers such as construction companies and advertising agencies, etc. Sandberg also announced that the company will commit to increasing the representation of individuals of color in Facebook’s leadership positions. Facebook plans to increase the representation of people of color by 30%, including 30% more Black individuals, over the upcoming 5 years. According to Sandberg, Facebook is planning to spend at least $1 billion with ‘diverse suppliers’ annually beginning from 2021.

According to the company’s diversity report published in the year 2019, currently, 3.8% of people working for Facebook are Black, and 3.1% of Facebook’s senior leadership is Black. Moreover, Sandberg wrote in the post that the company is adding a new section to the Facebook app. The new section is called ‘Lift Black Voices’ and it spotlights stories from Black individuals and also includes educational resources. This section will also feature fundraisers for causes combating racial injustice.

She stated that this move is only the start of how the company plans to help in this combat against violence and injustice. Facebook will continue to listen to people and take action to support the long-term success of the Black community, Sandberg added. Recently, Donald Trump posted on Facebook regarding Black Lives Matter protesters and stated that when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Facebook declined to remove or moderate Trump’s post and the company had to face criticism for this. Facebook’s new contribution comes after the company’s employees and business partners criticized Facebook for not taking any action against Trump’s post. Those employees who protested the company’s decision argued that Trump’s post violates the company’s community standards that prohibit any language that may incite serious violence.

Other major tech companies have also announced financial commitments to support racial equality. For instance, last week, Google announced to commit $175 million to support black entrepreneurs and Black-owned businesses.

Read next: Facebook’s gaming faces rejection from Apple’s iOS app store once again

Microsoft introduces the Segment Heap memory management improvements in its latest update of Windows 10 – released in May 2020. The system, originally developed for modern apps and system apps like Edge will help reduce the memory use to Win32 apps.

According to Microsoft, the segmented heap function will reduce the overall memory usage – and has the ability to reduce the RAM usage of Edge by up to 27%.

Chrome engineer also said that they will add support for the feature to the Chrome manifest, meaning on Windows 10 2004 the browser will turn to Segment Heap instead of the legacy.

Experiments also suggest that the protocol could save hundreds of megabytes in the browser, processes, and some machines. Actual results do vary in different machines but it is anticipated that the new update would see great savings.

The feature will roll out once Google builds with the Windows 10 Build 19041.0 SDK, though it is currently blocked due to unexplained build failures. The engineers also said that enabling it now would cause build warnings.

However, it is expected that the feature would become available sooner rather than later.

WhatsApp was one of the first messaging apps that gave users the option of seeing when someone they were talking to was online last. This has ended up becoming a pretty key part of the messaging platform, but some people took issue with this and claimed that it was an invasion of their privacy. This lead to WhatsApp giving users the option to turn this feature off, which meant that it would show when they were online but once they went offline no one would be able to see the last point at which they would have been using the app.

With all of that having been said and out of the way, it is important to note that there were quite a few users who felt like this feature was useful in a lot of ways. It can help create some legitimacy if you want to tell people that you haven’t been online all day after all, and at the end of the day this is a pretty important feature that a lot of people might want to use on a regular basis due to the reason that it forms a core component of their overall WhatsApp experience.

Hence, a new glitch might frustrate some users when it comes to WhatsApp. A big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that this glitch makes it so that you will no longer be able to show people when you were last online. This isn’t a major issue, but it does mean that people will have less control over their privacy, even if it is in some small way, shape or form. Users that try to change their settings are also seeing an error message, and this indicates a wider issue that might need to be addressed all in all.

Is WhatsApp changing users’ default privacy settings? Today all ’Last Seen’ statuses are removed from my chats and the app won’t allow me to change my Privacy setting back. pic.twitter.com/KLaWa5nQHQ
— Crystal Rose Pierce (@crystalrose) June 19, 2020

Those who used to change privacy setting form nobody to my contacts just to see someone else last seen and online status.
right now👇#WhatsApp pic.twitter.com/KSJUf5Rpjl
— Supernova🌟 (@incognito__05) June 19, 2020

Google is one of the best tech companies with millions of daily active users and one of its most revolutionary products is Google Chrome. We all pretty much rely on Chrome browser for everything, whether we want to scroll through the feed of Facebook or look for some trending products. The user interface of Google Chrome is so friendly and easy to use that we can’t even think about using any other browser at all.

Google is always known for its unique products and services all aimed to help its users in all the ways possible.

Sometimes, while scrolling through a website or while looking to buy some new products we see some specific content on a website that we feel like sharing with friends. The issue we always face is that we can’t share specific content instead we end up sharing the whole website and later on explaining it to friends about the content we wanted them to see.

Now thankfully, Google Chrome launches a new extension (Link to Text Fragment) all aimed to help its users share highlighted text from a website or blog easily.

With this extension, users can link the specific text fragments of a web page and later on can easily share the link with friends or colleagues whomever they want to show it.

With the help of the newly introduced Google Chrome extension, users can share an exact quote or a statement or a specific word with friends easily.

If you take a look at the past, Google doesn’t have much of a positive response from users regarding the sharing of such links as it lacks a good User Interface so previously, users preferred bookmarklets to share some quotes or content to others but not anymore.

This new process of linking a text fragment from a web page and sharing it with others is now easier than ever due to the new extension provided by Google Chrome.

To use this feature, open the web page and select the content you want to highlight then right-click on the text and then press ‘copy link to selected text’ after this all you need to do is paste the link to the friend you want to share with and it will highlight only specific content you shared. Take a look at this video for more insights:

Read next: Security Researchers Discovered A Huge Spying Effort Via Google Chrome

Twitter updates its list feature with a new option. The feature was detected in test mode this month and is now being made available to the users.

According to the Twitter, the ‘Discover New Tweets’ option will now also have a ‘Show More Recommendation’ tab. The feature would redirect users to new lists from the recommendations by Twitter. Alternatively, the users can search for a topic of their interest and see recommendations accordingly.

Twitter further explains that the list suggestions will be based on the people you follow, the things you tweet about, and the Lists you are currently following.

This means you won’t see every user’s list but a more refined selection – in accordance with your specific interest.

However, initially, Twitter will be offering a list that is reviewed or created by Twitter’s own curation team. But with time, it will turn towards algorithmic suggestion and of course – reduce the human intervention.

The new feature is rolling out in staged phases on iOS devices.

If you have seen the new update, do share your experiences in the comments below!

Add new voices and conversations to your Timeline using Lists.

You can now:
👉 make a List
👉 discover new Lists
👉 follow a List
👉 Tweet a List pic.twitter.com/7xhwMXRUWG
— Twitter (@Twitter) June 18, 2020

Since the increase of users on online social platforms, many businesses have tweaked their marketing campaigns to match the new internet-obsessed generation. Nowadays it seems almost impossible to find a website that has not sold up a lot of web space to advertisements of various kinds. A lot of these ads are displayed on Internet behemoths like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc., so it is almost common sense that these companies are always looking for new ways to increase the effectiveness of their advertisements.

YouTube is notorious for its pre-video ads and now a new feature has been added to their ads which shows the product storefront below the video window. Although this feature was announced without a lot of fanfare and, consequently, has gone unnoticed by many users but it is more of a practical feature and it will be easier for many of the users to explore and shop without having to leave the website you’re already on. An added benefit of having a checkout option underneath the advertisement is that people will be more willing to browse or purchase the displayed products if they don’t have to leave the content they are watching.

This feature might have been unveiled in competition with Facebook and Instagram’s ‘Shops’ feature that allowed users to tag products in post captions; though this seems unlikely as Facebook and YouTube have never been in serious competition.

This new feature opens a wide range of new possibilities for online stores and businesses. It allows for more brand exposure and more potential buyers as these video-streaming sites attract more traffic than an exclusively eCommerce website would. Advertising using media and content sharing platforms allows for brands to pay for creator sponsored content.

The way this feature works is when the user plays a video an advertisement is automatically loaded and starts playing, the space below the ad displays a window where the advertised product along with a ‘Buy Now’ option is shown. The real genius of this is that the user can come back to the storefront even after the ad has ended. This allows the user to be able to finish watching their content and if they are interested in the displayed product they still have the opportunity to come back and purchase the product.

The process to access this feature is intuitive and easy. All the business owner has to do is link their Google Merchant Center to their video ads and select their new or bestseller products and whenever their video ad about the selected product is displayed the storefront option will be displayed. The added advantage of this feature is that if the user is not interested in the product but intrigued by the idea or wants to explore the shop further they can do so with just one click as the link to the store website is provided right next to the product description.

Read next: YouTube Tests Out New Ad Options That Allow Users to Control When They See Ads

The latest research from the U.K. claims that people using social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook for information related to the coronavirus are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories about it.

Published on Thursday, the study was conducted by Ipsos Mori for the King’s College. It provides an understanding of how some misapprehensions around Covid-19 have gained popularity and where they originate from.

In late May, for example, 30% of Britons surveyed believed that the coronavirus was most probably created in laboratories while 25% did so at the start of April. 8% of them thought that the symptoms of COVID-19 seemed to be linked with 5G radiation. A small percentage of people believe that there is no concrete proof that the coronavirus exists. These claims have been disregarded by scientists, however.

The study also suggests that 60% of people who believe that the coronavirus is linked to 5G, primarily use YouTube for information, compared with 14% of those who think this belief is wrong. Meanwhile, 56% of people who use Facebook for information think that there is no proof of the existence of COVID-19. This is almost three times greater than the 20% of people who believe otherwise.

False credence surrounding 5G has led to some real-world outcomes. In Europe, dozens of telephone masts were burned down and telecom engineers have been harassed on the streets by people who claim that 5G is somehow linked with the disease. Authorities have called upon the social media platforms to do more to stop the spread of misinformation about the pandemic.

One of the most common misconceptions that people have around 5G is that it weakens people’s immune systems, making them more vulnerable to the virus. Such fears regarding wireless networks aren’t new however, and scientists have shut down the suggestion that 5G poses any risks to human health.

Another research, published in the medical journal of Psychological Medicine finds a strong correlation between false beliefs about COVID-19 and social media usage. The results were based on three surveys, conducted online from May 20th to May 22nd, involved 2,254 interviews with U.K. residents aged from 16-75.

It found that people who use social media to find information about the virus have more likely broken lockdown rules enforced in order to contain the disease. 58% of people who used YouTube for information, went outside with COVID-19 symptoms, which is higher than 16% who have not. It also found that 37% of people who used Facebook as the primary source, had people visit them, compared to 23% of those who have not.

Daniel Allington, a lecturer in social and cultural artificial intelligence at King’s College London, said that it’s not surprising due to so much information on social media being misleading and false.

He added that good-quality information about COVID-19 is more important than ever now that some of the lockdown regulations are being relaxed and people have to make more decisions regarding what is safe or unsafe, saying that it is time for us to think about how we can address this very real problem.

Both YouTube and Facebook claim to remove certain types of misinformation about the coronavirus, for example, false treatments and suggestions like it is linked to 5G technology. Both platforms are also working with major health authorities like the World Health Organization (WHO) and Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) to display information about the virus as accurately as possible. The spokespersons from both platforms came up and confirmed that they were removing content that spreads misinformation amongst people.

Snapchat has added a new feature that is note-worthy of your attention. It lets the user test out different facial hairstyles via the new Beard and Beard Removal Augmented Reality lenses.

Augmented Reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where, to simply explain, objects are digitally added to the live view of the camera being used. Snapchat utilizes this technology via its AR lenses which add various effects on your face, background, sound, and sometimes all.

Snapchat lenses are a very popular option for users of the mobile application. The company has now launched two new additional lenses that make it possible for the users to add or remove their beards. This is just one of the many examples of how the users can tailor the experience of the app to their liking. This also includes the company’s seemingly endless supply of other lenses being released all the time and other areas like Snap games.

The ability to customize images and videos has proven to be massively popular with social media-based services like songs on TikTok and filters on Instagram, and their users. Snapchat lenses were added to the app in 2015 as a means for users to find new ways to express themselves. Since then, Snapchat lens collection has grown a lot from many being created by the company’s in-house team and just as many being submitted by the community via its use of the company’s Lens Studio which is a free desktop app.

The Beard Lens and the Beard Removal Lens have pretty self-explanatory names. The Beard Lens allows the users to instantly add a beard to their image and see how they would look with that particular beard style. Meanwhile, the Beard Removal Lens lets the users to immediately remove their facial hair and allow them to see how they would look without a beard. The timing of these beard-themed lenses being released around the same time as Father’s Day is not a coincidence. The feature was demonstrated by Snapchat’s Director of Product, Jack Brody on Twitter.

https://t.co/Wgl3Mh0vG8

Let’s see all your bald faces, friends
— Jack Brody (@jackdbrody) June 18, 2020

The Snapchat lenses are fairly easy to use and many users are most probably already very accustomed to them. To use the new beard lenses or any other Snapchat lens, the users simply have to open the app and tap on the smiley face icon which resides right beside the main Snap button. Doing so will launch a tray containing all the popular Snapchat lenses, including both Beard and Beard Removal lenses. When the users have selected the desired lens, they have to tap the icon of the lens to add or remove the beard, before hitting the main circle button to capture their Snaps

the lens works well... I haven’t been cleanly shaven in a decade #Snapchat pic.twitter.com/BaPzfI4YxX
— Matt McGowan (@matt_mcgowan) June 18, 2020

The feature’s relevance is also amplified by the COVID-19 outbreak, aside from Father’s Day, which has people working from home and many toying around with their facial hair look. The new Snapchat lenses provide another way for the app users to achieve similar results without actually having to make changes to their physical facial hair. Not to forget that users can also use Snapchat to send Snaps to their friends to know what they think of their changed look, which is with or without a beard.

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Whenever you launch the TikTok app, you might see some popular videos. On the other hand, if another user login into the TikTok account, he will be exposed to some other videos. Why is that so? In this article, you are going to know how TikTok chooses videos for your feed. How the suggestion system works behind recommendation videos that appear in the “For You” section. What are the reasons behind every individual TikTok user will get to see a different feed?

Like all other social media platforms, TikTok uses the information that is input by the TikTok user. The China-based application gathers personal information of every user to see which language, country setting, and decide set up. However, this doesn’t a major role in the recommendation system. This information is used to some extent only.

Apart from this, TikTok keeps an eagle eye on every user’s liked or shared the videos, favorite marked videos, and what kind of content is the user preferring. If a user is not interested in watching particular content, he or she can give a signal to TikTok by long-pressing the video and marking it as “Not Interested”.

TikTok explained in a blog post, that account which has a huge number of followers is tended to have more views and likes on his videos. This is a salient factor, for sure. A video posted by a user having numerous followers will be automatically visible to its many users, resulting in a higher number of views and likes.

TikTok is working to give a better experience to its users. Whenever a user makes its account for the first time, he or she is asked about favorite categories. Categories can be related to food, pet, travel, or any other. This is done because TikTok is not aware of the user’s interest. As soon as the user starts using TikTok frequently, the algorithms might get updated.

The entertainment app also ensures that the user will not get to see the same content twice. Your news feed will always be fresh and assorted by different content creators. This will help the user in exploring further content. The user will have access to a broader compass of content. For jeopardy reasons, the app will not recommend videos which contain sensitive content like medical procedure or consumption of illegal goods.

TikTok also takes care of factors like on what occasions you followed new accounts, hashtags, trending content, sounds, or music. All these activities will eventually affect your News Feed. Other factors that will affect For You section, includes for long a user watches the video. For instance, if one watches the video from beginning to end, this will indicate a stronger interest in the content.

Read next: ByteDance, TikTok Parent Company, Generated $5.6 Billion Revenue During Q1 2020

After several years, Facebook and Twitter have decided to take measures against President Donald Trump’s worst instincts on their platform. It has been often reported by users that Trump is taking bad advantage of free speech facility. Finally, after 4 years of courage both social media platforms have decided to keep a check on the president’s posts on daily basis.

Trump has been noticed violating social media norms and communicating harsh words through his posts. Since 2016, Trump has made around 17000 tweets along with communicating through other platforms too. According to Washington Post examination President Donald Trump has made false commitments during his first 100 days. 99 were tweeted and the other 7 were communicated via Facebook.

In March 2018 it was published by Karsten Müller and Carlo Schwarz in the paper that President Trump has been found tweeting against Muslims and spreading hatred against Muslims.

To keep President Donald Trump's communication limited, Twitter added a fact check tag to Trump’s false tweet on 26th May. This false tweet was regarding mail-in ballots are substantially fraud which will end up in Rigid and unfair elections. Instead of deleting the tweet, it embedded each post with the link “Get the facts about mail-in ballots”.

Two days later, Trump threatened the George Floyd protesters in Minneapolis. This tweet was hidden as it was breaching the platform’s rule.

Latter this day, Facebook introduced a red triangle. Previously red triangles were used by Nazis to highlight expected communists. On Thursday Facebook checked Trump’s post with the red triangle. Trump campaign was laid down by Facebook on basis of violating policies. Facebook marked it as “Organized hate”. Facebook explained that this action was done as the message that was communicated in the post was against Facebook policies and contained hate speech.

Along with Tweeter and Facebook, Snapchat is also a part of this anti campaign against President Donald Trump. Snapchat announced that it won’t feature President’s story in discovered feed. Snapchat added 'We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice'. This US based company explained that President’s views on Black Live Matters are actually promoting brutality and violence. President Trump’s account is still public. People can still search for it and subscribe to it, but won’t be featured on discover feed.

President Trump’s violating activities were being noticed since a very long time. People often reported his posts. This was the reasons that social media platforms like Tweeter, Facebook and Snap chat took a bold and courageous step to stop hate. These unacceptable communications by Trump has already given a hint of consequences of election 2020.

Hat tip: BI.

Read next: Research suggests people using social media as the primary source of information are more prone to believe in misinformation about COVID-19

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