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Social

  • Twitter’s efforts to cull pro-terror content seems to be working

    By on 20 September, 2017

    Twitter's latest transparency report reveals that the platform's effort to cut down on pro-terror content is working. According to the report, the first half of the year saw just under 300 000 accounts removed for promoting internationally recognized terror movements or the violence associated with them. This is a 20% drop from the previous reporting period. The company recently joined forces with the likes of Facebook, YouTube and Microsoft to share information on how to combat pro-terror content, including AI that can swiftly detect dangerous content. The report says that 95% of the removed terror accounts were the result of internal efforts...

  • Here’s what the web thought of the 2017 Emmy Awards

    By on 18 September, 2017

    Every year, Hollywood's television bigwigs get together in one room to praise each other and themselves at the Emmy Awards. This year's ceremony, hosted by Stephen Colbert, was rife with political commentary and Hollywood's favourite brand of self-congratulations. But not everyone could stomach the show -- so here's a roundup of the response to what went down Sunday night. The Handmaid's Tale won five awards Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale pulled in the most of awards of the evening: Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Elisabeth Moss), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Ann Dowd), Outstanding Directing for a Drama...

  • #TaxiStrike: violence erupts across Cape Town as taxi operators strike

    By on 18 September, 2017

    Update: The taxi strike has reportedly been suspended. BREAKING: Taxi operations to resume by 1pm lunch time. Strike has been suspended #TaxiStrike pic.twitter.com/dGIL0IQ4Wf — Athi Mtongana (@Artii_M) September 18, 2017 Original article: #TaxiStrike has usurped #MondayMotivation as today's the top trending hashtag as taxi violence erupted across the Cape Town metropole. Taxi operators are reportedly requesting assistance from the Western Cape MEC of transport to address the recent increase in impounded taxis and the region's taxi associations' leadership structures. MUST READ: Cape Town Taxi Strike: get realtime traffic data with this nifty map News of the strike first surfaced on Sunday, but the hashtag #TaxiStrike...

  • Facebook removes ads targeting ‘Jew haters’

    By on 15 September, 2017

    Facebook profiles can be obnoxious. With no vetting procedures on the information provided for education or employment, friends can say they attended Hogwarts or that they work at NASA despite failing high school maths. But while some have been using these self-reporting fields to make harmless jokes, others have been using them to spew hatred -- and it's been revealed that advertisers could have specifically targeted these individuals. On Thursday, a report by Propublica revealed that advertisers, who have the ability to select which demographic they'd like to target, have been able to select the likes of "Jew hater", "how to burn Jews", and "history of...

  • MiniMeme Podcast #8: Should we take the likes of Jake Paul and PewDiePie more seriously?

    By on 14 September, 2017

    Traditional media (and the general population) have a tendency to dismiss YouTubers as silly and not worth taking seriously -- but they are entertainers connecting with massive audiences and what they do matters. In today's podcast, Julia Breakey and Daniel Mpala discuss why and how YouTube should be considered with the gravity it deserves. Take a listen in the latest episode of MiniMeme. Additional reading: Social media is real life Cybercrimes and cybersecurity bill YouTube's community guidelines MiniMeme Podcast #5: Should Dunkirk have been more diverse?

  • Ted Cruz inadvertently helps Twitter porn account to 19000 more followers

    By on 13 September, 2017

    Texas Senator Ted Cruz might've been the joke of Twitter yesterday when his account liked a pornographic video, but he has been a boon for business for one particular Twitter account. Call it the Barbra Streisand effect, or call it inadvertent social marketing, but after Cruz's account slapped @SexuallPosts' like button, an influx of followers followed. Analytics firm SocialBlade noted this rise on the 12 September as 11 770 users. That's around 9000 more followers per day than the porn account's general daily follow count. This wasn't a once off either. Today (13 September), SocialBlade saw an additional boom of 7400 users...

  • From Barbuda to Miami: social media captures Irma’s path of destruction

    By on 13 September, 2017

    Hurricane Irma is a storm that the world probably won't forget. The storm is among the most intense for a number of reasons, and has slashed a number of long-standing records for cyclones and hurricanes alike. But it has also carved a furrow of destruction through some of the Caribbean's poorest, most vulnerable countries, and the Florida peninsula. The like of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter users have witnessed this destruction first hand, with many broadcasting the storm's arrival live, or tweeting about the destruction after it passes. Read more: catch Memeburn's additional Hurricane Harvey, Irma, Jose and Katia coverage More than 13...

  • #AppleEvent: the highs, the lows and the memes from Apple’s iPhone X launch

    By on 12 September, 2017

    Today at its headquarters in Cupertino, Apple announced a refreshed product lineup including a number of new iPhones, a new Apple TV and a shiny new Apple Watch, and Twitter users were (sure enough) reporting live from their armchairs. For all the technical specifications and more, you might want to visit our sister site Gearburn. But over here, we took a deeper, introspective look at social media's reaction to Apple's launch event, from start to finish. Sit back, and enjoy the memes, joy and jibes from the bleachers. The buildup... The hype pre-event was palpable, with many readying getting those stacks of dollars. #AppleEvent Tim...

  • Ted Cruz likes porn video on Twitter, trends worldwide

    By on 12 September, 2017

    Republican senator Ted Cruz was the laughing stock of Twitter on Tuesday, after the politician's Twitter account liked a pornographic video from another account. The account in question, the aptly-named @SexuallPosts, posted a video to the social network featuring two women and a man engaging in sexual activities. While over 520 people liked the post, Cruz was among the most influential with over three-million followers. "Thanks for watching ted," @SexuallPosts tweeted, taking full advantage of the blunder. It also changed its bio to this gem: "Follow for the Same Porn @TedCruz Watches." Twitter users soon noticed the unashamed like, which remained on Cruz's...

  • Make your video campaigns pop with these Twitter-endorsed tricks

    By on 12 September, 2017

    As Twitter evolves from a social network reliant on short sentences to one that privileges video, content has never been more important for individuals and companies. Because the company's as curious as we are, senior director of Twitter's EMEA division Barry Collins took a closer look into the shift, and in particular, what type of video content works on the network. "New research has revealed what works best in newsfeeds and how effective brand video can be on Twitter, both for organic content and promoted," he writes, in a piece sent to Memeburn. While he naturally punted Twitter's video ads' effectiveness for...

  • Twitter wants you to rant and rave with this hidden ‘tweetstorm’ feature

    By on 11 September, 2017

    If you've ever used "THREAD" to headline a tweet and number the subsequent posts in your rant, congratulations, you've created a tweetstorm. Regrettably, constructing one is a pain in the ass, and it seems that Twitter agrees. That's why this particular discovery by an eagle-eyed Twitter user has caught many an eye. WOAH! Twitter has a hidden tweet storm feature! h/t Devesh Logendran pic.twitter.com/QpDLhKnAZZ — Matt Navarra ⭐️ (@MattNavarra) September 10, 2017 Two screenshots sent to The Next Web's Matt Navarra depict a graphical feature within the Twitter Android app that allows users to compose tweetstorms in their entirety and then smash the send...

  • PewDiePie flamed on Twitter for using n-word in livestream

    By on 11 September, 2017

    Don't look now, but the Swedish YouTube star known as PewDiePie has done something stupid on camera yet again. 27-year-old Felix Kjellberg was this weekend livestreaming a playthrough of sandbox-shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, when he blurted a racial slur at another player in his line of fire. "What a f**king n****r," he scoffed. "Sorry but what the f**k? What a f**king a*****e," he continued. @pewdiepie RACIST?? @KEEMSTAR @JohnScarce pic.twitter.com/ulAz45ZN28 — Felipe Diaz (@ThatFelipeDiaz) September 10, 2017 A snippet of the stream was republished on Saturday to Twitter, where users flamed the Swedish YouTuber for his choice words. He didn't mean to tho so it's ok 👌🏾💀 pic.twitter.com/dShFZ9QBbO —...

  • Is Tinder a completely different app for men and women?

    By on 11 September, 2017

    I've never had Tinder, but it was always something that fascinated me, and whenever I met someone who used it I found myself asking a barrage of questions. From the beginning, I picked up on the discrepancy between my straight dude friends who hated the experience and the straight girls who loved it. I was around when two women created their accounts -- within weeks, both had got exactly what they wanted out of the app. From casual dates to long-term boyfriends, it seemed the app was teeming with men for any kind of woman. For straight men? Not so much. My...

  • #Uber: South Africans take to Twitter to support attacked Sandton drivers

    By on 8 September, 2017

    Three cars were torched in Sandton Thursday evening in a suspected protest between metered taxi drivers and Uber. According to provincial spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo, preliminary investigations showed two of the cars belonged to Uber, and the third was a metered taxi. No one was harmed. Images and videos of the incident poured onto Twitter as #Uber hit top trending spot nationally. .@TimesLIVE richest square km in Africa (Sandton) is burning as metered and uber drivers set each others vehicles alight pic.twitter.com/GtpJw9FKSV — Graeme Hosken (@GraemeHosken) September 7, 2017 Sitting in Sandton watching the chaos.Getting ugly. #uber drivers fighting back.chased away all metre taxi drivers from...

  • Don’t serve Fikile Mbalula a cauliflower burger, he’ll arrest you

    By on 7 September, 2017

    South Africa's police minister Fikile Mbalula is never shy of a chuckle or two on Twitter. What he is afraid of though are cauliflower burgers. Taking to Twitter, Mbalula retweeted a Men's Health citing KFC's purported cauliflower-and-kale burger. Unveiled in February 2017 by the company's UK and Ireland division, the campaign didn't receive a positive reception, and the minister was also having none of it. "Will arrest whoever made this !!" he writes. Will arrest whoever made this !! https://t.co/0YOQye8urn — RSA Police Minister (@MbalulaFikile) September 7, 2017 "Crime against foodminity," he added. The initial tweet coughed up over 800 retweets and 700 likes, as people...