Instagram will begin testing new video features over the coming months to make the social media platform compete more directly with TikTok and YouTube. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced the dramatic changes on Wednesday. “We’re no longer a photo-sharing app,” Mosseri said in the video announcement. Video-sharing apps are rapidly expanding, and Mosseri says …
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I’ve tried my fair share of cartoon avatars, from the very first Yahoo Messenger avatar I ever used, to Bitmoji stickers. There’s something I find deeply and irresistibly compelling about seeing myself represented in cartoon form, as if the cartoon has the power to capture my core essence while outstretching a more playful version of myself. When I first saw Voila …
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It should soon be easier to spend money via Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing four new shopping features Tuesday. Coming soon to the social media platforms: Shops on WhatsApp and Marketplace, Instagram Visual Search and Shop Ads. Shops on WhatsApp will allow users to chat with businesses before buying something from them. Shops on Marketplace …
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At E3, Razer gave us an update on its Project Hazel N95 mask, a concept design that debuted to much enthusiasm earlier this year at CES. It’s got some new features, notably an antifog coating on the transparent section, and it looks like it’s been slightly redesigned to be more streamlined. It’s scheduled to be released limited quantities, sold in …
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Facebook last month took down more than 200 fake accounts, 55 pages and 12 groups that were part of two networks trying to manipulate public debate on its platforms. The info comes from company’s latest monthly report on coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram. One network was “operated by local nationals in Sudan on behalf of individuals in Russia,” …
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Facebook executives outlined the company’s focus on improving business messaging, augmented reality and artificial intelligence on Wednesday at the social media giant’s developer conference, which was held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. F8 is typically Facebook’s biggest event of the year, but Wednesday’s presentations were a less flashy and free version of the tech conference, which normally attracts thousands …
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Facebook is trying to make it easier for users to message businesses, as more people have turned to online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic. The social media giant said Wednesday that app developers will have the tools they need to build more messaging experiences on Facebook’s photo service, Instagram, where people already go to shop and get customer support. And Facebook-owned messaging …
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Facebook’s augmented reality efforts are pushing a little further into the territory of video calls. A deeper support for shared AR effects and games in video calls are being supported across Facebook’s mobile apps, including Messenger and Instagram, the company announced at its virtual F8 developer conference Wednesday. These shared effects aren’t new: Facebook’s dedicated video-chat device, Portal, has AR …
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Starting Wednesday, all Facebook and Instagram users will have the option to hide the number of likes their posts get from the public and to choose whether they can see like counts on all posts in their feed. The company says it’s doing this to “give people control over their experience” using the social networking platforms. Brett Pearce/CNET Instagram started …
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On Thursday, Jeremy Browning, a Twitter product manager, gave the public a behind-the-scenes look at a new feature the company built for live audio chats. Not everyone, though, could understand what he was saying. Fittingly, Browning hosted the conversation on Spaces, Twitter’s live audio product. The audio chat tool has live captioning, a feature meant to help deaf or hard …
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