September 17, 2023

TechCrunch: WordPress blogs can now be followed in the fediverse, including Mastodon

TechCrunch: WordPress blogs can now be followed in the fediverse, including Mastodon. “In March, WordPress.com owner Automattic made a commitment to the fediverse — the decentralized social networks that include the Twitter rival Mastodon and others — with the acquisition of an ActivityPub plug-in that allows WordPress blogs to reach readers on other federated platforms. Now, the company is announcing ActivityPub 1.0.0 for WordPress has been released allowing WordPress blogs to be followed by others on apps like Mastodon and others in the fediverse and then receive replies back as comments on their own sites.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
September 13, 2023

Modern War Institute at West Point: Ukraine’s Fight On The Front Lines Of The Information Environment

Modern War Institute at West Point: Ukraine’s Fight On The Front Lines Of The Information Environment. “Of course, success in war is often a function not only of innovation, but also of a willingness to borrow tactics, techniques, and procedures that have worked well elsewhere, in other conflicts. … But this is not the only example that appears to have influenced the development of Ukrainian operations in the information environment. Unsurprisingly, these operations have also borrowed from Soviet and Russian concepts of information warfare.”

Research & Opinion 0
August 29, 2023

Friend.tech gets unfriended: Daily transactions drop 95% as hyped decentralized social app loses steam (TechCrunch)

TechCrunch: Friend.tech gets unfriended: Daily transactions drop 95% as hyped decentralized social app loses steam. “Activity on the app, running as an invite-only public beta since August 10, declined 95% from a peak of almost 39,000 daily transactions on August 21 to about 1,400 at the time of writing, according to Dune Analytics data from user cryptokoryo. Just seven days ago, I wondered if friend.tech’s early growth would be sustainable, and we can see that the answer is clearly no.” I know my indexing of the Friend.tech article last week probably looked a little weird, but this is why I did it – I wanted to note a date and see how long a platform based on cryptohype could last in current conditions. Answer seems to be “not long”.

Tweaks & Updates 0
August 24, 2023

University of Mississippi: UM Launching Nation’s First Center for Narrative Intelligence

University of Mississippi: UM Launching Nation’s First Center for Narrative Intelligence. “The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning has approved the creation of a new National Center for Narrative Intelligence at the University of Mississippi, the first of its kind in the country. Narrative intelligence – a human and artificial intelligence-driven process that analyzes large amounts of data to derive meaning, trends and outcomes is particularly useful in identifying the patterns and flow of misinformation and disinformation. It has broad professional applications in various fields including journalism, health care, national security and public policy.”

Research & Opinion 0
August 24, 2023

TechCrunch: Friend.tech hype is skyrocketing, but will it actually reach the stars?

TechCrunch: Friend.tech hype is skyrocketing, but will it actually reach the stars?. “Since Friend.tech opened its invite-only beta test 11 days ago, the decentralized social-focused app has quickly attracted a lot of users, even catching the attention of big name crypto influencers, NBA players and OnlyFans creators. But can it convert all the early hype to meaningful, lasting traction?”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
August 23, 2023

ZDNet: New ‘BeFake’ social media app encourages users to transform their photos with AI

ZDNet: New ‘BeFake’ social media app encourages users to transform their photos with AI. “Although most social media sites claim to be platforms where people can share their most authentic selves with the world, the profiles display carefully curated windows into what users want others to see. BeFake AI, a new free app, leans into the fakeness of social media. BeFake AI claims to be the ‘First AI-Augmented Social Network’ where users can use AI to modify their images into art creations and upload them online.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
August 20, 2023

PLOS Absolutely Maybe: How Is Science Twitter’s “Mastodon Migration” Panning Out?

PLOS Absolutely Maybe: How Is Science Twitter’s “Mastodon Migration” Panning Out?. “This mid-year activity surge at Mastodon is driven, like surges before it, partly by people joining, and partly by people returning to their dormant accounts. They’re joining, or returning to, a Mastodon that’s changing, and not just because there’s more people and more activity.”

Research & Opinion 0
August 16, 2023

Sydney Morning Herald: Twitter is dead, but what about me?

Sydney Morning Herald: Twitter is dead, but what about me?. “Twitter is dead. If we didn’t know it for sure before, the last few weeks have confirmed it. It’s a shambles. It’s glitchy, full of ads, and becoming progressively more unusable. Elon tried changing the entire thing to ‘X’, like a teenager trying to rebrand because nobody at his new school knows he’s a loser yet, but with every new decision the app is hemorrhaging advertisers and users.”

Research & Opinion 0
August 10, 2023

New York Times: Amid Sextortion’s Rise, Computer Scientists Tap A.I. to Identify Risky Apps

New York Times: Amid Sextortion’s Rise, Computer Scientists Tap A.I. to Identify Risky Apps. “Over the past two years, Mr. [Brian] Levine has sought to help parents by designing a computational model that assesses customers’ reviews of social apps. Using artificial intelligence to evaluate the context of reviews with words such as ‘child porn’ or ‘pedo,’ he and a team of researchers have built a searchable website called the App Danger Project, which provides clear guidance on the safety of social networking apps.”

New Resources 0
August 4, 2023

ZDNet: Done with Twitter? Here are the best alternatives

ZDNet: Done with Twitter? Here are the best alternatives . “As Twitter — or, as it’s now been rebranded by owner Elon Musk, X — continues to be plagued by controversy, many people are looking for a new online home. The good news of course is there are many other social networks. The bad news is none of them are complete Twitter replacements.”

Useful Stuff 0
August 2, 2023

American Film Institute: AFI Launches Official Letterboxd Account

American Film Institute: AFI Launches Official Letterboxd Account. “Iconic AFI film lists and AFI content now available to millions of film fans on Letterboxd! AFI, considered one of the most authoritative and unparalleled voices in movie list-making, announced today the launch of the official AFI HQ account on Letterboxd, a global social network for film fans to curate lists, add ratings and reviews, and discover and share films with friends.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
July 31, 2023

The Verge: BBC launches an ‘experimental’ Mastodon server

The Verge: BBC launches an ‘experimental’ Mastodon server. “The BBC has launched its own ‘experimental’ Mastodon server, marking one of the first major news outlets to establish an instance on the Twitter alternative. You can access the server at social.bbc, which encompasses posts from a handful of BBC accounts, including BBC Radio 4, BBC Taster, BBC Research & Development, and a few more.” If you haven’t gotten into Mastodon yet, or if you HAVE gotten into Mastodon and you’re looking for your fam, check out MastoGizmos. 11 tools for exploring, browsing, and making the most of Mastodon. Free and ad-free.

Tweaks & Updates 0

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