Facebook Messenger has taken another step into the instant messaging platform by announcing that users in the United States, Canada and Venezuela will no longer need to have an active Facebook account to use its instant messaging service.
Now when the user downloads the messaging app a signup option appears with a “not on Facebook?” option displayed at the top. The feature will have all the normal features of Facebook messenger including payments, stickers and voice and video calls.
Naturally, the main difference for users without Facebook accounts will be a limitation of relying solely on synchronising from their phone-book contacts, Non Facebook users will also be unable to access messages on the web as they will be archived in Facebook for now.
The company hasn’t indicated when they will allow sign-ups from other countries, instead, they are using the specified three regions as a testing ground for a new independent version of messenger.
This is the latest move by Facebook to develop messenger as a standalone platform, when the company initially began herding users towards the app a year ago it was met with rejection although now there have been a staggering one billion downloads to date.
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It seems Snapchat is prepared to do its bit to entice young people to take an interest in the 2016 American Presidential Election.
The video and picture messaging application has posted a job listing for a content analyst for politics and news who will oversee and regulate the creation of content relevant to the campaign, this was first reported by TechCrunch.
This will undoubtedly be linked to the increasingly popular “our story” feature which first debuted last year. It is believed users will be able to submit content from debates, speeches and rallies from various candidates’ campaign trails.
Snapchat has a clear market share of those under 25s and if they go ahead with this they can provide a significant impact in increasing voting figures for the election, it is estimated that 20 million people a day view Snapchat’s “our story” feature, so it will be interesting to see how much influence this could hold in encouraging young people to go out and vote.
Instagram has issued a direct challenge to Twitter with the launch of its new “Explore” feature which can be found in updated versions of the application in the United States.
The feature surfaces trends as they happen in real-time allowing users to connect with conversations and events as they happen in their area or around the world. More than 70 million photos and videos are posted daily on Instagram, making it likely there will be imagery related to attention-grabbing events, according to the service.
This new feature puts Instagram directly in Twitter’s territory with an interesting battle for superiority ahead. The feature is only exclusive to the States for the moment with an Instagram spokesman stating “We’ll work to bring it to the rest of the world after we fine-tune the experience and set it up to work well in other countries.”
This news comes in the same week as Twitter launched a search for a new CEO while hinting that interim head and co-founder Jack Dorsey will not be picked due to other commitments.
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Over the past decade, Reddit has become one of the most powerful social discussion sites on the internet. Currently, there are over 3.5 million active ‘Redditors and millions of unique visitors each month.
The site has nearly 10,000 subreddits. Subreddits serve as mini-online communities and topical discussion forums. This week however many of the main subreddits on the site have been made private and blocked from public access.
This revolt has come due to the forced departure of Reddit’s director of communications Victoria Taylor. Taylor was the coordinator of the popular ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions which have included the likes of U.S President Barack Obama and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
This discontent does however seem to be part of a much bigger picture. There have been concerns about the overall direction that the management is taking Reddit and their alleged dismissive attitude towards the needs of users and the failure to acknowledge general feedback. Furthermore, the banning of a number of subreddits led by interim CEO Ellen Pao over supposed harassment concerns served as another catalyst for these actions.
It’s hard to say where the disgruntled Reddit users will move to if Ellen Pao stays on as permanent CEO. A large number of users attempted to move over to a Swiss duplicate site named Voat. The high volume of traffic going to Voat caused its collapse due to its inability to handle so many new users.
It will certainly be interesting to see what happens if a compromise isn’t reached and a potentially large number of disgruntled users begin to boycott the site en masse. Reddit has thrived mostly in part to the work and voluntary skills of its users in the past.
Popular instant messaging services WhatsApp and Snapchat are facing prohibition in the United Kingdom if an extraordinary new legislation bill is passed.
The bill named the Investigatory Powers Bill or “The Snoopers Charter” effectively bans people from sending any form of encrypted messages to each other.
Prime Minister David Cameron is planning to introduce the bill by autumn after previously stating before this year’s general election: “In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people which we cannot read? My answer to that question is: No, we must not.”
“If I am Prime Minister, I will make sure it is a comprehensive piece of legislation that makes sure we do not allow terrorist safe spaces to communicate with each other.” Unsurprisingly many have slammed this bill as a total invasion of privacy. Executive director of The Open Rights Group Jim Killock claimed that “the Government is signalling that it wants to press ahead with increased powers of data collection and retention for the police and GCHQ (British Government Communications Headquarters) – spying on everyone, whether suspected of a crime or not”.
If this legislation is passed it will serve as a massive blow to both applications as well as iMessage, which uses similar encryption in its messages. The UK is one of the top markets for instant messaging platforms worldwide.
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Have you ever realised that out of the hundreds of friends you have on Facebook, there are only a dozen or so that you actively engage with? Are you tired of having your news feed clogged up with nonsense posts from complete strangers?
Well never fear, Facebook is about to roll out its new ‘See First’ feature which essentially lets you filter and control whose posts and updates appear at the top of your news feed at the click of a button. All you do is add the names of people you engage with most and Facebook becomes interesting again!
It’s the latest attempt by Facebook to improve the feed which is managed by an algorithm to cut out irrelevant content.
A spokesman said: “We are always exploring new ways to improve the Facebook experience, and are currently running a small test of a feature that lets you indicate that you’d like to see posts from a specific person or page at the top of your News Feed.”
Micro-blogging site Twitter has announced new additions to its platform. These new changes will now enable users to follow live events around the world while being able to instantly upload photos and videos from the event. These videos and images can then be shared across all social media platforms.
The name of this new feature is Project Lighting. It will feature a team of editors who will create the most visually pleasing pictures from various events such as red carpet shoots and fashion shows and present them all in one place.
Project Lighting has been seen as Twitter’s direct response to Snapchat’s Live Stories
This new feature is part of Twitter’s latest drive towards encouraging larger growth figures, something it has struggled with in recent times.
Snapchat has once known for its disappearing photos but nowadays it is making. serious profit from something a little more permanent.
It’s almost been a year to the day since the launch of Snapchat Live Stories. Live Stories have covered everything from the Super Bowl to St Patrick’s Day. With an estimated 20 million users viewing a story over a 24-hour period, advertising partners are falling over themselves to grab a piece of the pie.
Snapchat’s value is staggering. Recent estimates place the valuation of the company at $16 billion (€14 billion) which is mostly down to ad revenue. Investors see Snapchat as a potential goldmine for return on investment. To break it down, two cents per view equates to $400,000 worth of ad space for a story-generating 20 million views.
Imagine 20 million people viewing your business ad. Reaching out to even one-tenth of that audience and encouraging them to buy something for $1 would increase your ROI by 500%!
The Snapchat gravy train is showing no signs of slowing down and the mind boggles trying to project how much more potential revenue it can accumulate over the next few years.
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By Matrix Internet
By Jeff Sheridan