Stuff New Zealand: Social media vitriol has ‘profound effect’ on council staff

Stuff New Zealand: Social media vitriol has ‘profound effect’ on council staff. “‘Yous are proving to be ABSOLUTELY USELESS,’ reads one, under a Tasman District Council post about a cycle lane. ‘You f**cken clowns, no brains at all.’ ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!? WHO IS MAKING THESE INCOMPETENT DECISIONS!?’ another shouts. Stuff contacted Tasman and Nelson councils to ask how they dealt with social media vitriol after a council employee, who asked to remain anonymous, got in touch to express their distress about such comments.”

Tubefilter: Congress is putting off its plan to regulate TikTok until 2024 (but GOP hopefuls still have takes)

Tubefilter: Congress is putting off its plan to regulate TikTok until 2024 (but GOP hopefuls still have takes). “TikTok continues to face criticism from American politicians, but the Congressional plan to regulate the app is going on the back burner — at least until 2024. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who heads the Senate Commerce Committee, told Reuters that Congress will not take up TikTok-oriented legislation until the calendar turns over to a new year.”

Fortune: FabFitFun, a $1 billion subscription box startup, frantically backpedals after a profane, pro–Elon Musk ad bombs

Fortune: FabFitFun, a $1 billion subscription box startup, frantically backpedals after a profane, pro–Elon Musk ad bombs. “FabFitFun turned into a dumpster fire just in time for the holiday season. The millennial-favorite subscription box company went viral this week when it posted a controversial ad on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter)—but it blew up for all the wrong reasons. The meltdown over what appeared to be a badly misjudged attempt to piggyback off a viral Musk moment reads as a case study in how not to approach internet marketing.”

Defector: Elon Musk Is Grimly Determined To Let You Know He Is Funny

Defector: Elon Musk Is Grimly Determined To Let You Know He Is Funny. “Not to take the comedic semiotics of Elon Musk too-too seriously, but the most interesting facet of his dogged, ever-flopping quest to be thought of as a comedy genius as well as a success entrepreneur guy is the ways in which he is consistently five or more years behind the online comedy meta-game. For someone with a stupefying amount of resources and a bizarrely overcooked opinion of the importance of his dying app, he understands precious little about the modern forms of comedy.”

Business Insider: Elon Musk’s biggest fans on X love Community Notes — until it comes for them

Business Insider: Elon Musk’s biggest fans on X love Community Notes — until it comes for them. “Some may argue that the fact that no X user, including Musk himself, is immune to a correction from Community Notes is a testament to the feature’s capability, but critics have repeatedly pointed out the flaws of the system behind the feature.”

The Verge: The new Mammoth app is a much simpler take on Mastodon

The Verge: The new Mammoth app is a much simpler take on Mastodon. “Mammoth won some fans earlier this year with a really nicely designed Mastodon client, and then added a ‘For You’ feed that makes Mammoth a little more automatically personalized. Now, with the launch of Mammoth 2 for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, the app is going even deeper into curation and personalization: it’s launching a series of ‘Smart Lists’ filled with good posts, a set of suggested people and accounts to follow, and more.”

The Conversation: Disinformation is rampant on social media – a social psychologist explains the tactics used against you

The Conversation: Disinformation is rampant on social media – a social psychologist explains the tactics used against you. “Foreign governments, internet trolls, domestic and international extremists, opportunistic profiteers and even paid disinformation agencies exploit the internet to spread questionable content. Periods of civil unrest, natural disasters, health crises and wars trigger anxiety and the hunt for information, which disinformation agents take advantage of. Certainly it’s worth watching for the warning signs for misinformation and dangerous speech, but there are additional tactics disinformation agents employ.”

Irish Independent: Micheál Martin initiates High Court proceedings against Google over scam adverts

Irish Independent: Micheál Martin initiates High Court proceedings against Google over scam adverts. “Tánaiste Micheál Martin is taking a legal action against Google to secure information about the source of scam adverts for cryptocurrency using his name and image. Mr Martin initiated High Court proceedings against Google Ireland Limited and Google LLC in an attempt to establish why his name and image are being used for fake adverts.” As I understand it, the “Tánaiste” is the deputy head of government in Ireland.

TechCrunch: Bluesky says it will allow users to opt out of the public web interface after backlash

TechCrunch: Bluesky says it will allow users to opt out of the public web interface after backlash. “Bluesky is changing course by allowing users to opt out of a change that would expose their posts to the public web. Last month, the company announced its decentralized alternative to Twitter/X would soon open up a public web interface allowing anyone to view the posts on its platform, even if they didn’t have an invite to the app, which remains in a closed beta.”

What’s the Big Idea: Immorta Aims to Provide Humanity with a Collective Repository Memory (George Washington University)

George Washington University: What’s the Big Idea: Immorta Aims to Provide Humanity with a Collective Repository Memory. “Hoping to launch sometime in early 2024, Immorta will offer templates that users can customize based on the media—there will be a digitization feature to handle all kinds of files—they wish to upload. There will be a free option, and users who want to upload more memories with more customization options can upgrade to a subscription-based service. It differs from traditional social media in that it is less about updating feeds and more about creating a digital space that taps into nostalgia content.”

Newswire: Addicted to your phone? New tool identifies overuse of digital media

Newswire: Addicted to your phone? New tool identifies overuse of digital media. “The rapidly evolving nature of digital media presents a challenge for those who study digital addiction – social networks like TikTok and video games like Fortnite might be popular now, but they could be irrelevant in a matter of years. A new tool developed by researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York will make it easier for clinicians and researchers to measure digital media addiction as new technologies emerge.”