You may want to think twice about posting your mobile number to Twitter, even if it's to "WhatsApp Africa". A tweet posted on Monday by "@whatsapp_Africa" dupes users into tweeting their mobile numbers in exchange for free data. "We are giving away free what’s app data for the whole of September," reads the tweet verbatim. "Follow and retweet. Comment with your WhatsApp number." Notably, the tweet was also labeled as "promoted" by Twitter. At the time of writing, the post has more than 110 replies with many including mobile numbers. Some users however had questions, and even more doubts that the account was...
It's been more than a year since Twitter Lite launched in a select number of countries, including South Africa. Today, the social network announced that its lightweight Android app is heading to 21 more countries, five of which are in Africa. Said African nations receiving the app includes Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Uganda and Zimbabwe. This brings the total number of countries to 46. Twitter Lite is a web app for those living the data struggle Twitter has announced that its mobile site is now more convenient for the 45% of global mobile users working on 2G or slower networks. Read more... Twitter Lite "is a faster,...
Twitter has had a very bad weekend, nay, a bad quarter. The company on Friday released its Q2 2018 earnings report, and the numbers did little to inspire investor confidence. The company's share price plummeted more than 20% after the social network lost a million monthly active users -- all based in the US -- since April. 335-million is the current population of Twitter -- a figure that has ebbed and flowed but by glacial margins over the past few years. That stock droop is one of the largest in Twitter's history, but the firm's big wigs were optimistic and paid particular...
Twitter is well known as an effective tool in political campaigns. Research indicates that “politically interested individuals and groups can no longer ignore the opportunities presented by Twitter to engage in political discourse and to influence the outcome of campaigns and legislation". US politicians Donald Trump and Barack Obama both used Twitter as a marketing tool in the election campaigns that resulted in their presidencies. But using the platform thoughtlessly can also be damaging. South Africa has more than 7.7-million Twitter users. In a country where racial and political sensitivities continue to run high, posting faux pas is bound to land you in...
US President Donald Trump needed little over five hours to amass over 137 000 likes and more than 50 000 retweets on his latest Twitter outburst. Addressing Iran President Hassan Rouhani directly on Sunday, Trump urged his counterpart to "be cautious". "To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" he wrote, including the all-caps section. To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED...
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,...
You know what adult romantic thriller Fifty Shades of Grey lacked? Blockchain jargon. At least that's what this particular Twitter account is trying to prove (and is pretty successful at that too). Although it's a fairly young account, @blockshade -- better known as Fifty Shades of Blockchain -- already has some 2700 followers, enthralled by 22 tweets of blockchain-fueled smut. According to the bio, it's a Markov chain bot run by Jackson Palmer, the founder of Dogecoin. There's a sentence you may want to read again. Whoever Satoshi is/was - I hope you’re happy with what you spawned. https://t.co/VHF5fIEg5q — Jackson Palmer (@ummjackson)...
Few things are more labourious and tense in life than looking for a job. For those without, it's even more stressful. But fret not, because technology can help. While it might not guarantee you'll be hired, tech can help you craft a pretty good CV on your phone, or search through a number of listings in a convenient place. That convenient place, you ask? Twitter of course. Here are just a few Twitter accounts to help with that job search. @BizJobsCPT: Generally lists marketing gigs and jobs within the digital industry across South Africa. @jobsvinesa: With 758 000 followers, it's one of...
Can you believe it? The first week of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is already over. The ol' onion bag has ballooned numerous times, and many a goalkeeper wish they had coated their gloves in glue. But the most searched for World Cup star is not a goalkeeper, nor does he have "Cristiano" or "Lionel" on the back of his shirt. Instead, according to Twitter Data, Brazil's Neymar has "captured the most attention" on the social network during the first week. In second place, Cristiano Ronaldo (thanks to his hattrick against Spain) and Lionel Messi (thanks to his duffed penalty against Iceland)...
Brace yourselves, because the 2018 FIFA World Cup is now firmly upon us, and social media. And it's set to remain this way for the next four weeks. To celebrate, why not get to know 10 of the world's most famous ball kickers up close and personal by stalking them on Twitter? If this sounds good to you, grab a pen, find your Twitter login details, and get ready to hit that follow button. Cristiano Ronaldo Formerly of Manchester United, the Real Madrid and Portugal striker will probably be one of the tournament's top scorers come the end of the group stage. But...
A slew of Twitter's swanky primary app features are finally hitting Twitter Lite, Twitter for Windows, and the mobile website. This week, the company's set to bring night mode, real time updates on parameters, and an updated tweet composition box to the above platforms. Each will bolster the user experience across the company's less important platforms. We are rolling out the following features to https://t.co/AIUgyCj4rs, Twitter Lite, and Twitter for Windows to provide more consistency across platforms. See what’s new. 👇 ✔️ night mode ✔️ real time updates on reply, Retweet, and like counts ✔️ updated Tweet compose box — Twitter (@Twitter) May 22, 2018 "Night owl?...
As if Twitter users didn't have enough to think about this week (thanks Kanye), it sprung an even bigger surprise on its users late Thursday night. The social network prompted all of its 336-million users to change their passwords, after it discovered that its employees could potentially see them. Twitter's calling it a "bug", but it was seemingly a flaw in the way the firm logged passwords. We recently found a bug that stored passwords unmasked in an internal log. We fixed the bug and have no indication of a breach or misuse by anyone. As a precaution, consider changing your...
Twitter's has a subtle feature that now makes big news stories more prominent on the social network's timeline. Uncovered by Buzzfeed, prominent tweets that contain the same link are now grouped. It's better integrated into users' main timelines than its "explore" section that highlights trending topics or conversations. It's a subtle change, but will likely see extremely popular websites gain more prominence on the social network. The tweak comes at a remarkably stable financial moment for Twitter. The past six months have been its most profitable ever, and has seen its user numbers increase slightly too within this period. Now 336-million people log...
No this isn't a dream. Twitter gained a significant wad of monthly active users for the first time in a year. Publishing its earnings report on Wednesday, the social network announced that 6-million more users joined the platform in Q1 2018. As of the beginning of 2018, its total monthly active user pool now stands at 336-million -- 267-million internationally, and 69-million within the US's borders. Daily active users also grew by 10% year-over-year, but marked the slowest growth rate since Q3 2016. Talking money, the firm predicts that 2018 will be a profitable year. And it started off on the right foot. It...
Twitter, after updating its automated tweeting rules in February, has taken a stance on forced memes, automated mass tweeting and accounts that "inflate the prominence of certain tweets." On Friday, the company suspended a number of popular accounts implicit in the above, including the likes of @dory, @girlposts and @ginah. The former had over two-million followers. According to Buzzfeed, a number of these accounts were implicit with a practice known as "tweetdecking". Named after the Twitter dashboard app, it's a method to artificially bloat the popularity of a particular tweet by posting them over a number of accounts. This is seemingly no...
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