Social Media Roundup: Facebook Hack Update, Pinterest Shopping Features, Snapchat As A News Source
“Social Media Roundup”
“Social Media Roundup” is a weekly roundup of news pertaining to all of your favorite websites and applications used for social networking. Published on Sundays, “Social Media Roundup” will help you stay up-to-date on all the important social media news you need to know.
Russian Companies Scraping Data
Last week, Facebook revealed that 30 million accounts were compromised following a breach in security. And according to The New York Times, Facebook also removed 66 accounts, Pages and apps that were linked to companies that create facial recognition software for the Russian government. The accounts that were removed are associated with Russian companies like SocialDataHub and an affiliated company called Fubutech. Facebook informed those companies that they were suspended for violating policies by scraping data from the social network.
In a cease-and-desist letter that was viewed by The New York Times, Facebook notified those companies that it has reason to believe its work for the government included matching photos from the personal social media accounts of individuals in order to identify them. And Facebook gave those companies until Friday to provide details about the data that was taken and told the companies to delete it all.
SocialDataHub and Fubutech CEO Artur Khachuyan said that Facebook deleted his accounts unfairly. And Khachuyan explained that Fubutech uses Facebook data, but the results are scraped from Google search results for that information rather than the social network. And he said that SocialDataHub required permission from the users it rates for assigning scores to Russian citizens based on their social media profiles for insurers and bankers to make assessments. But it has been confirmed that Fubutech does contract work for the Russian government.
Khachuyan claimed that in the process of getting banned, he was teaching journalism students in Russia about how to scrape the web. And two of them used public profiles on Facebook of their classmates. So that is why Facebook may have flagged his accounts.
Facebook spokesperson Katy Dormer told The New York Times that the company does not take these actions lightly and that there was enough evidence to send the cease-and-desist.
SocialDataHub and Fubutech have been performing the same action for years. But due to scandals involving Cambridge Analytica and interference by the Russian government in US elections, Facebook has to be extra cautious.
Portal Confirmed To Have Data Tracking Abilities
Facebook has confirmed that its voice-activated smart camera device with a touch screen display known as Portal actually does have the ability to track certain data about its users. Previously, Facebook told Recode that it would not use data collected through the device for ad targeting reasons. That claim was reversed in an updated statement via Recode:
“Portal voice calling is built on the Messenger infrastructure, so when you make a video call on Portal, we collect the same types of information (i.e. usage data such as length of calls, frequency of calls) that we collect on other Messenger-enabled devices. We may use this information to inform the ads we show you across our platforms. Other general usage data, such as aggregate usage of apps, etc., may also feed into the information that we use to serve ads.”
Facebook’s VP of Portal Rafa Camargo said that he thinks a colleague meant to say that the company does not intend to use data collected by Portal, but it could be potentially used.
Former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg Hired As Global Affairs Head
Facebook has hired former the former deputy prime minister of the UK Nick Clegg as the company’s head of global affairs. According to Reuters, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg were heavily involved in Clegg’s hiring.
“Our company is on a critical journey. The challenges we face are serious and clear and now more than ever we need new perspectives to help us through this time of change. The opportunities are clear too,” said Sandberg in a Facebook post about the hiring of Clegg. “Every day people use our apps to connect with family and friends and make a difference in their communities. If we can honor the trust they put in us and live up to our responsibilities, we can help more people use technology to do good. That’s what motivates our teams and from all my conversations with Nick, it’s clear that he believes in this as well. His experience and ability to work through complex issues will be invaluable in the years to come.”
Clegg is succeeding Elliot Schrage, who stepped down after working at Facebook for ten years. Schrage is still serving as an adviser at Facebook.
Co-Founder Kevin Systrom Explains Departure
Last month, Instagram’s co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger announced that they were departing from the company. This past week, Systrom appeared on stage at the Wired 25 conference and he addressed the departure. While WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton had a more hostile departure from Facebook, Systrom had kind words for his former employer.
Systrom said that “there are no hard feelings at all” and he will continue rooting for Facebook and Instagram as he works on different projects, according to The Verge. “When you leave anything, there are obviously reasons for leaving,” Systrom acknowledged on stage. “No one ever leaves a job because everything’s awesome, right? Work’s hard.”
Systrom also pointed out that he and Krieger stayed at Instagram for six years after Facebook acquired the company for $1 billion. This is longer than the average that an executive stays at a company after getting acquired.
And Systrom said that he would likely work with Krieger on another company, but a timeframe for his next project was not mentioned. As of right now, Systrom is focused on raising his nine-month-old daughter and exploring hobbies such as flying.
New Shopping Features
Social discovery company Pinterest has added a new feature to its platform that makes it easier for e-commerce purchases on its platform called Product Pins. Pinterest’s head of shopping product Tim Weingarten said that Pinterest has always been used for shopping inspiration since everything is visual.
“Today we’re making hundreds of millions of Pins shoppable with up-to-date pricing and stock information, with links that go directly to the checkout page on the retailer’s site where you can buy in a few clicks,” wrote Weingarten in a company blog post this past week. “Just look for the new shopping tag icon, and you’ll know it’s in stock. And, a new shopping recommendations section can now be found beneath Style and Home Pins so you can browse similar items across multiple brands.”
The Product Pins feature provides up-to-date pricing and stock information. And the Product Pins link to the retailer’s website. Plus Pinterest is adding a “Products like this” category next to fashion and home decor pins.
Snap
Study: Snapchat As A Popular News Source For College Students
This past week, a new survey revealed that Snapchat is commonly used as a news source by college students. According to the study from the Knight Foundation via Engadget, Snapchat is the second most popular news source among college students behind Facebook.
The survey was filled out by 5,844 college students across 11 US institutions. And 89% of those students said that they read the news through social media over the previous week. Of the respondents, 71% said that they read the news through Facebook during that time. Snapchat was in second place at 55%. And then Snapchat was followed by YouTube (54%), Instagram (51%) and Twitter (42%).
Interestingly, The Knight Foundation also conducted the survey on a younger audience as well. The results are that 27% of college students reported that they use Snapchat for news on a daily basis compared to 46% for high school students. What this also seems to prove is that high school students seem to prefer Snapchat compared to college students.
Additional Social Media News
Hinge’s “We Met” Feature
Dating app Hinge has launched a new feature called “We Met.” The “We Met” feature allows two matched members to confirm if they went on a first date and share how the date went. Based on that feedback, Hinge will suggest more compatible matches in order to continue improving.
Hinge found in initial beta tests that “We Met” saw 90% of members saying that their first date went great. And 72% expressed interest in going on a second date. The “We Met” feature is already available on iOS for users who may be interested.
LiveMe’s Social Good Initiative
LiveMe, a live broadcasting app for discovering new content, has launched a new social good initiative to raise awareness for charitable causes. This month, LiveMe is going to host in-app charity campaigns on a regular basis and introduce a new charitable giving experience through the app’s virtual gifting feature in order to drive donations for various social causes.
And LiveMe is also going to highlight different social causes throughout the year and introduce custom gifts that can be sent during live broadcasts. These campaigns will be promoted across all channels including in-app and social media.
“There’s a saying that ‘everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about,’ but that doesn’t necessarily mean we need to face our challenges alone. There are millions of people around the world who are going through similar struggles,” said LiveMe’s CEO and founder Yuki He. “With this new initiative, we’re aiming to bring our community together to create a support system built on respect, understanding, and awareness. Many of our users have shared their stories about overcoming life’s obstacles and finding their purpose on LiveMe, and we want to continue providing a safe place people can turn to in times of need.”
LiveMe’s social good initiative is starting with a campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness. And LiveMe users will be able to gift a pink ribbon to participating broadcasters with parts of the proceeds being donated to the Susan G. Komen organization.
John
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