Twitter Bans Image Sharing Without Consent
A controversial move made by Twitter days ago may likely be the stepping stone towards social media and internet censorship on a scale never undertaken before, it’s a move that won’t just change the way in which we use social platforms but could read the end for many who rely on social platforms for their business and livelihoods.
Following a number of photographs that have since been removed by the platform originally shared by fans taken outside of celebrities homes, basically revealing that celebrity’s location which is prohibited by law as it invades the individuals privacy, has forced the hand of Twitter to take action and one that has deep implications as the ruling doesn’t just stop at locations but persons too, for example you are no longer allowed to share an image of anyone unless you have that persons permission, which has understandably rattled the cage of many, just think about the logistics of what this censorship means with many of us taking photographs and videos of events, holidays, birthdays… in public places with others in the background that we would ordinarily share with our connections on social media and in many instances publicly.
As these changes and means to moderate them are in their infancy in that Twitter doesn’t currently have the means to find and remove such content from its site, the individual wanting an image of them removed will need to report that image to Twitter for removal.
While this form of censorship is in its early days it does leave the door wide open to opportunists going after accounts with images and videos they are already aware they are in but haven’t given that business or person(s) permission to use.
Meta (AKA Facebook) Forced To Sell Giphy
Following a £50m fine by the CMA (Competition & Markets Authority) for deliberately refusing to comply with the regulator back in April regarding its purchase of Giphy, Facebook’s takeover went under further scrutiny by the CMA in August 2021, an independent investigation found that the takeover “could harm social media users and UK advertisers”.
Facebook, who is being forced to sell Giphy under global competition rules, is set to appeal the decision.
Stuart McIntosh who carried out the inquiry said:
“Without action, it will also allow Facebook to increase its significant market power in social media even further, through controlling competitors’ access to Giphy GIFs. By requiring Facebook to sell Giphy, we are protecting millions of social media users and promoting competition and innovation in digital advertising,”
This was considered “particularly concerning given that Facebook controls nearly half of the £7 billion display advertising market in the UK”.
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Study By Hyperscience Finds 63% Gen Y Approve Automation In The Workplace
It may or may not come as a surprise that a growing number of millennials believe automation in the workplace is the future, with 81% of the participants saying they felt it can have a very positive impact, though automation is set to take over almost every industry for the better or the worse it does leave a rather large looming question! What will become of the hundreds of millions of us put out of work?
This is a very serious question, and one when asked is received with the following reply: ‘we need to retrain, learn new skills and techniques to repair, write software and maintain these new technologies.’ However logistically this is a disaster waiting to happen, though automation in the likes of manufacturing is by no means a new thing with the first automated car production line having been introduced over 110 years ago by Ford Motor Company in 1913, it is the first time that areas such as the services industry will be affected, from bar staff to solicitors, everyone will won’t go unscathed.
Obviously robots and AI software are produced to improve productivity and in return economic growth, but this obviously comes with its many drawbacks, for instance if a smart picking and packing robot can do the same job as 3 people but can also work 22 hours a day at an annual cost of one employee, then what are at least 2 of those 3 individuals going to retrain to do? A study carried out by Oxford Economics found that robots will take over at least 20 million manufacturing (not including services) jobs alone by 2030 and in the next 11 years roughly 14 million robots will replace people in the workplace in China.
Women Make 70% Of Household Purchases But Companies Struggle To Target Them
According to Marketing Expert Jane Cunningham the author of Brandsplaining found that companies struggled to market their products to female audiences, Jane believes this is predominantly due to the old methods still being used to target women, the methods that are out of touch usually look to tell women what’s wrong with them and how their product or services can put everything right. Very condescending when you think about it, it is a surprise when you then think that roughly 70% of US women make all household purchasing decisions.
If the findings are correct it opens the door to a lot of opportunity if companies adapt their marketing approach to a modern era.
STOP Using Google Chrome! Warns Microsoft
In the age-old fight of browser supremacy Microsoft has taken another long hard awaited swipe at Google’s Chrome browser. While Edge adopts the same technology as Chrome it hasn’t stopped the computer giant from calling its competitor outdated with one pop-up appearing when attempting to download Chrome when running Microsoft Edge saying: ‘That browser is so 2008! Do you know what’s new? Microsoft Edge.’ With other pop-ups warning users off installing the browser over poor security.
However, just like attempting to wean someone off an iPhone onto an Android device or vice versa, it’s near impossible to get people to change. Simply put we prefer what they feel more comfortable with, and when it boils down to browsers many of Chrome’s 2.65 billion users (compared to Edge’s 158 million) have been using Google products since their launch in 1998 and many of their free services such as Google Docs since Chrome’s launch 20 years later in 2008, realistically no web browser is fully secure and you really shouldn’t use one without internet security, a decent firewall and VPN.
Will Microsoft’s dig at Chrome impact Google’s market share? Well that definitely remains to be seen, it certainly hasn’t in the past and it likely won’t make the difference now, other than being a marketing exercise to remind people of Edge’s existence Google Chrome is set to remain market leader with a projected growth of +150% year on year.
