 |
|
|
|||||
As people leave or deactivate their X accounts, there's been meaningful growth for alternative platforms like Meta's Threads and underdog Bluesky. Despite the huge gap in both user numbers and funding between the two, Threads seems to be borrowing from Bluesky's feature set to prevent it from becoming competitive. The Verge reported that Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced that Threads algorithm is getting a rebalancing to prioritize content from people you follow and less recommended content from accounts you dont follow. Which is pretty much how Bluesky does things. @mosseri/Threads Threads also started offering users a custom feeds tool as a way to stay way ahead of Blueskys sudden growth. (Custom feeds are a feature Bluesky has offered its users since May of 2023.) The feature lets users pin topics to their home feeds. Its not known if the new algorithm change will affect the For Your custom feed. Bluesky passed the 20 million user milestone on Tuesday. That number may still pale in comparison toThreads 275 million users but Mosseris announcement indicates Meta wants to remain the more enticing option for the estimated 550 million users still on X, should they eventually seek greener pastures.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-will-prioritize-accounts-you-follow-instead-of-randos-191529420.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Happy days. Massive and Ubisoft have listened to the complaints and fixed one of the most glaring problems with Star Wars Outlaws. Players know what Im talking about. Its those mind-numbing stealth missions that automatically fail as soon as someone is spotted. A new patch lets the game continue, even after being caught, so players can try to shoot their way out of a situation. The developers say this change was instituted to give players a decision as to whether they prefer stealth or combat in any given scenario. Drew Rechner, Creative Director on Star Wars Outlaws, notes that the dev team has removed forced stealth from almost all quest objectives. However, stealth is still an option for any of these objectives. Its just not required. Star Wars Outlaws represents to us a true scoundrel experience and as Kay and Nix are street thieves by trade, stealth will always be an option for players that prefer that playstyle, the devs wrote in a blog post. We heard your feedback, and we're implementing changes that allow for greater player freedom and embracing more playstyles. The update also improves detection mechanics while operating in stealth mode, as the pre-existing enemy AI could be unpredictable and inconsistent. Now players will be able to choose stealth, action or, of course, a combination of both. My preferred method will be stealth until I get caught, which should happen approximately five seconds after entering a compound. Todays build expands player choice in other ways beyond removing forced stealth objectives. Players can now pick up and keep weapons for longer periods of time in the field, and the developers have added more opportunities to use them in various scenarios. Combat has also gotten another update, as players will now be able to target additional enemy body parts beyond the head for exploiting weak points. Update 1.4 even includes some slight graphical upgrades, thanks to a refined camera system that improves the focus. To accompany todays update, Ubisoft has dropped some story DLC called Wild Card. Everyones favorite villain-turned-hero Lando Calrissian is a major player in this expansion. Star Wars Outlaws still has a few glaring problems, but Massive and Ubisoft have been busy improving the game since launch. The game now features improved and refined combat, with a complete overhaul of the stats of various weapons and enemies.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/star-wars-outlaws-just-fixed-those-maddening-stealth-missions-185341382.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Here's a solid Black Friday deal for iPhone users who have yet to hop into the smartwatch ecosystem or perhaps are clinging onto a much older Apple Watch but don't need a flagship model. The Apple Watch SE has dropped to $169 at Amazon. That's a discount of 32 percent or $80. This is a new record-low price for the 40mm GPS variant. However, it's an all-time-low only by one dollar. The wearable was on sale for $170 during the October Prime Day event. The second-gen Apple Watch SE is our pick for the best budget Apple Watch and we gave it a score of 89 in our 2022 review. It has the same chipset as the Apple Watch Ultra and Series 8, and it should feel faster if you're coming over from, say, a Series 6 or earlier model. The SE shares some, but not all features with flagship Apple Watches. It supports crash detection, heart rate monitoring and emergency calling, and it is water resistant to 50 meters. We felt that the screen was easy to view, even when the sun was shining brightly. Fitness tracking is accurate (which is pretty important!). Perhaps most crucially, the Apple Watch SE is light and easy to wear. The Ion-X glass isn't quite as robust as the sapphire crystal on other recent Apple Watch models, so you'll likely want to be extra careful with it. Other features present on other Apple Watch devices that are missing here include an always-on display, blood oxygen monitoring and temperature sensor. The very handy Double Tap feature isn't available here either. While we feel that this is a good price for the second-gen Apple Watch SE, it's worth bearing in mind that a new model could arrive in the coming months. Apple is reportedly working on an Apple Watch SE with a plastic casing in a bid to reduce the price and allow for bolder color options. It's unlikely that Apple will announce this model before next year, though. There are plenty of other Black Friday deals available on Apple products. We've put together a list of the best ones from across the web. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-se-drops-to-a-new-record-low-of-169-for-black-friday-183924035.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Meta is making progress in its fight against pig butchering scams. In an update, the company said it has taken down more than 2 million accounts associated with such scams this year and that its effort to work with other companies to take down fraudsters has had some success. Described by Meta as one of the most egregious and sophisticated online scams, pig butchering is an increasingly common ruse in which scammers trick victims, who they often find on social media and dating apps, into making crypto investments and other financial schemes before disappearing with their funds. One study, published earlier this year and reported by Bloomberg, found that these scams have likely stolen more than $75 billion from victims around the world since 2020. Meta says its been tracking the criminal networks behind these scams for the last two years as these groups have increasingly grown their geographic footprint. This year alone, weve taken down over two million accounts associated with scam centers in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines, the company said in a blog post. We also continue to update behavioral and technical signals associated with these hubs to help us scale automated detection and block malicious infrastructure and recidivist attempts. Earlier this year, Meta joined Match Group, Coinbase and others in forming a coalition to jointly fight financial scams. In its latest update, Meta notes that it has also worked with other firms exploited by scammers. It says that OpenAI recently tipped off the social media company to a newly stood up scam compound in Cambodia after the AI company caught the would-be scammers attempting to translate scam content.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-says-its-taken-down-2-million-accounts-linked-to-pig-butchering-scams-180036668.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Australias majority party has introduced a bill in Parliament that would ban children under 16 from social media. The legislation, which would put the onus on social platforms rather than children or parents, could fine infringing companies up to AUD$49.5 million ($32.2 million). The Labor Partys bill would apply to (among others) Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and X. It would require platforms to cordon off and destroy any underage user data collected. However, the legislation would include exceptions for health and education services, like Headspace, Google Classroom and YouTube. For too many young Australians, social media can be harmful. Almost two-thirds of 14- to 17-year-old Australians have viewed extremely harmful content online, including drug abuse, suicide or self-harm, as well as violent material, Australia Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told Parliament on Thursday. A quarter have been exposed to content promoting unsafe eating habits. Reuters notes that the law would be one of the most aggressive globally in tackling the problems related to childrens social media use. It wouldnt include exemptions for parental consent or pre-existing accounts. Essentially, social platforms would have to police their platforms to ensure no child under 16 can use their services. The bill is supported by the majority (center-left) Labor Party and opposition (right) Liberal Party. This is a landmark reform, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. We know some kids will find workarounds, but were sending a message to social media companies to clean up their act. The (left) Australian Greens have criticized the legislation, saying it ignores expert evidence in ramming the law through Parliament without proper scrutiny. The recent Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Media heard time and time again that an age-ban will not make social media safer for anyone, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said in a statement. [The bill] is complicated to implement and will have unintended consequences for young people. Last year, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy sounded the alarm about the risks of underage social media use. Children and adolescents who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety, the 2023 advisory from the Surgeon Generals office read. The US requires tech companies to seek parental consent to access the data of children under 13, but it doesnt have any age restrictions. Reuters notes that France enacted a social media ban for children under 15 last year, but it allows children to still access the services with parental consent.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/australia-introduces-a-bill-that-would-ban-children-under-16-from-social-media-174547712.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Sites : [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] next »