Last week WhatsApp announced that it will label forwarded messages. This week, the social media platform is launching a test to limit forwarded messages altogether. Limited forwarding means that there will be a certain number of chats you can forward to a group of specific user at a time. Though the blog post did not say what this limit will specifically be, it did state that users in India will be given a "lower" limit of five chats at once, along with the removal of the quick forwarding option. According to WhatsApp, India has the highest forwarding traffic of any nation. "We believe...
If you thought Instagram was a place where you could silently stalk people, think again. The latest tweaks introduced by the social network will ensure your friends know when you're online and "available to chat". "When your friends are active on Instagram, you’ll see a green dot next to their profile picture in various spaces within the app, including the Direct inbox and your friend list when you share a post from feed," the company writes in a blog post. The status dot will only be active on those people you follow, or others you've DMed in the past, so be sure...
If you’ve ever wondered what fuels social media these days, the answer is the hashtag. No longer the currency of gum-chewing, pre-teen girls, a powerful hashtag can circle the world faster than Superman can change into tights. And as it flies, a hashtag has the power to influence, convert, motivate and engage. It’s a tiny nugget of super-charged marketing kryptonite that will get people talking about your brand for the right reason, encourage engagement and conversion. Or not. Some -- actually most -- hashtags never leave the ground, falling flat for any number of reasons. Why? Because the majority of great...
Today is World Emoji Day, and if you're sick of hearing about it from every single brand on the internet, we're sorry. For the most part, social media is a breeding ground for these little icons and Twitter is no exception. According to the most tweeted emoji on the social network, one would suggest the social network's a pretty happy place to be. The laughing/crying emoji is the most used, followed by the hearts as eyes icon. Following that though is the crying waterfalls emoji -- which could symbolise both tears of joy, or a complete emotional breakdown. As for food, Pizza, cake,...
Facebook is pushing an alert to all users tomorrow, but before you freak out, don't worry, it's has nothing to do with your personal data this time around. Facebook users on Wednesday will receive a push alert from the social network to "take action" and follow in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela. The former South African president would've celebrated his 100th birthday on 18 July 2018, and the social network in particular wishes to inspire "its global community to reflect on Mandela's legacy of compassion, justice and care for the community", the company writes in a release. "Nelson Mandela dedicated his life...
Elon Musk labelled a British caver who helped orchestrate the extraction of the Thai football team from a cave system a "pedo". The Tesla and SpaceX founder began his tirade on Sunday after British caver Vernon Unsworth suggested that Musk's mini-submarine -- which a team of his engineers were developing from spare SpaceX parts -- wouldn't have helped in the rescue mission. "He had no conception of what the cave passage was like," Unsworth stated in the interview. "He can stick his submarine where it hurts." "Just a PR stunt," he added. Unsworth also suggested that the rigid sub would not have been...
It's Friday, and we hope that England fans have calmed down by now, especially considering the below data. On Wednesday night, when Croatia put two goals past Pickford to book their place in their first ever World Cup final, there were a lot of F-bombs thrown around on the internet. Notably on Reddit in particular. Through a trending post on r/dataisbeautiful, Reddit user u/PieGeters documented the timeline of comments posted to the r/soccer subreddit that included the word "fuck". According to u/PieGeters, was created "in an hour at work". Uses of the word "Fuck" in the r/soccer match thread during yesterdays game between...
It’s Friday the 13th. It's an infamously creepy day and all I’ve been thinking about are the odd things I notice whenever I’m signed in to Facebook or Google. Can you relate? If you can, let us know which one of these occurrences you've experienced online today. Logging into Facebook and seeing an ad for something you Googled the previous day. Example: Curiously researching smoothie recipes and then seeing ads for juice blenders. Waiting for a flight and being notified of a delay via Google before the airline even has time to make an announcement (flight number included!) Facebook asks you to...
So... my World Cup predictions are out the window. France will play Croatia in the final after the teams beat Belgium and England respectively. The latter was quite the cracker, with Croatia scoring just a few minutes into the second half of extra time. England simply had no reply. But what the win also gave Croatia is the largest search spike on Google than any of the other semi-final teams this past week. We look at this, and more search anomalies, in the below piece. Croatia sees biggest search spike after England triumph Within the week of the semi-finals, Croatia saw the largest global...
Drake's 25-track album Scorpion may not be as revolutionary as some of his earlier work, but there's no doubt its as popular as sliced bread. It's his eighth chart-topping album and racked up over a billion streams in its first week on the internet. But there's another reason why this album is so popular, and it's got to do with one song in particular. "In My Feelings" is typically Drake, meshing R&B and hip-hop seamlessly to create one head-bobbing summer banger. But it's also spurned an entirely new dance phenomenon. Initially dubbed the #DoTheShiggy challenge, the fad was created by Instagram comedian...
A new feature on WhatsApp will now indicate if a message you receive has been forwarded from another conversation. This means that you will be able to see if you are the original receiver of a message or not. Forwarding messages is a simple affair: hold said message until WhatsApp's top command bar is visible, then hit the right-facing arrow icon at the right hand side of the bar. A list of contacts will then appear. Additionally, if you receive a forwarded message, you will be notified by a small label above said message. "This extra context will help make one-on-one and group chats...
Instagram has released a new “questions” sticker option for Instagram Stories. This is an interactive feature that will allow users to post “prompts” on their stories to increase audience interaction. Viewers of your story can tap on this sticker to ask you questions about your post. You can see these responses in your list of viewers. To reply, all you have to do is tap on the question of your choice. A new story, with your response, can then be created. "The questions sticker gives you another easy way to get closer with all of your friends," Instagram writes on its...
"It's like Africa going to the final" is a disposition many Twitter users across the continent harbour after last night's semi-final. France beat Belgium 1-0 in a drab affair in St. Petersburg, but the win is seemingly not just a highlight for France itself. More than half of the French squad can reportedly play for a team based in Africa if they so wished, based on parental nationality. In fact, the man who scored the winner last night, Samuel Umtiti, was born in Cameroon. As a result, many users across Twitter are now supporting France as an African team. FRANCE IS GOING TO...
The United States isn't the world's foremost footballing nation -- unless you're talking about their variant using a rugby ball and "end zones". But you'd expect a country of some 325-million people to have a grasp on the World Cup thus far. After all, it's one of the planet's most watched events. But nope. According to Google Trends data, the United States actually isn't too sure who's in the World Cup. "Is Mexico still in the World Cup?" is reportedly the nation's most searched for question in the past week. Stranger still is this question: "Who won the World Cup?" We'll be able to answer...
The honeymoon period is officially over, South Africa. Earlier this year, the country rejoiced when President Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in, replacing Jacob Zuma. For a few weeks afterward, we enjoyed the memes, his run along Sea Point promenade, and even the jokes shared with EFF leader Julius Malema. Now, 141 days into the Ramaphosa Presidency and South Africans are struggling to stave off the rising cost of living. Food, fuel and even the recently cold snap are being blamed on the president. The hashtag #SinceWeSentRamaphosa began trending across the country Friday afternoon, and South Africans were all too ready to embrace it. Some...
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