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Twitter

  • Twitter cracks down on bots, but not ‘fake news’

    By on 15 June, 2017

    Twitter has announced that it is deepening its efforts to eradicate bots on its platform, but is letting its users figure out what is or isn't "fake news." The company is expanding its team and resources when it comes to spam so that bots can no longer clutter the search feature or manipulate trending topics. It is also building new tools and processes to help counter their efforts. VP of Public Policy Colin Crowell writes that it is necessary to detect "spammy behaviours" at the source. This includes looking for accounts who post numerous tweets at once. Accounts that are put under investigation have their visibility reduced, and are...

  • JK Rowling’s Twitter persona is weirdly fake

    By on 14 June, 2017

    In 2015, Noma Dumezweni was cast as Hermione in the then-upcoming Cursed Child. Harry Potter fans, who had long been asserting that black Hermione made more narrative sense, were ecstatic. So, too, it seemed was JK Rowling. Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione 😘 https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015 The Twitterverse went crazy, retweeting Rowling 77 000 times, lauding the author for her progressive stance. But for many, the tweet didn't make sense. She was taking credit for being progressive without acknowledging where she went wrong in the first...

  • Cape Town Railway Station trends on Twitter after riot, train fire

    By on 12 June, 2017

    Update #2, 10.40pm: Cape Town's Metrorail service again took to Twitter suggesting that it cannot at present confirm how the train fire will affect Tuesday's commute. "Too early to predict service changes. MorningPeak service advisory at 04:30 tomorrow morning," it wrote. Too early to predict service changes. MorningPeak service advisory at 04:30 tomorrow morning — Metrorail W/Cape (@CapeTownTrains) June 12, 2017 Update #1, 10pm: Cape Town's Metrorail service has now issued an update via the Metrorail Western Cape Twitter account. "Problems with Metrorail electrical power feeds were responsible for major delays experienced this afternoon," reads the statement. "Teams if technicians are currently working across the...

  • Corbyn vs May vs Twitter: UK elects a hung parliament, the internet reacts

    By on 9 June, 2017

    Yesterday, the United Kingdom voted in their snap election called for by Prime Minister Theresa May. May, who was hoping to increase her Conservative Party's majority in the House of Commons, has seen the opposite take effect and the UK are now looking at a hung parliament. Their biggest opposition, the Labour Party, has gained 29 seats, assuring that the Conservatives do not have a house majority despite their lead. This could lead to May's resignation. Naturally, the liberal-leaning Twittersphere took to this news quite well. When the Brexit clock is ticking, you blow £143000000 of taxpayer money on a snap election after years of austerity,...

  • Trump may face legal action for blocking people on Twitter

    By on 7 June, 2017

    US attorneys have sent US President Donald Trump a letter claiming that by blocking his citizens on Twitter he is violating their First Amendment right to free speech. The letter accuses Trump of blocking people because they either mocked or disagreed with him, which the Knight First Amendment Institute deems unconstitutional. "This Twitter account operates as a 'designated public forum' for First Amendment purposes, and accordingly the viewpoint-based blocking of our clients is unconstitutional. We ask that you unblock them and any others who have been blocked for similar reasons," the letter reads. One of The Knight First Amendment Institute's clients...

  • Sorry Donald Trump: Pope Francis is Twitter’s most popular world leader

    By on 5 June, 2017

    In April, Burson-Marsteller released a study on how world leaders use Instagram to communicate with their constituents (or subjects, depending on who you ask). But while Instagram is an up-and-coming way to market yourself as a politician, there has always been One Platform to Rule Them All, and that platform is Twitter. It all began 5 March 2007, when Illinois Senator Barack Obama became the first world leader to join the platform in the build-up to his presidential campaign. Since then, 856 leaders have joined the text-based platform to make it the most popular among politicians and popes alike. Thinking we're only one signature away...

  • Joke tweet gets called out as promoting rape culture

    By on 1 June, 2017

    A tweet posted on Tuesday, intended as a cute story, has received backlash for promoting "rape culture." The tweet in question told of the Twitter user's 13-year-old brother, who had been crushing on a girl since pre-school. The user called the girl dumb, and included shots from a conversation the young friends had on Snapchat. In the chat, the brother had asked his crush if he could buy her something, and she said he couldn't because they're just friends, and "that's what more than friends do." He then pushed that they could be best friends, and she declined again saying she already had one. "Oh it's...

  • Twitter adds 230+ new emoji for your enjoyment

    By on 25 May, 2017

    Twitter's 300-million strong user base can look forward to a treat today. The social network's UX designer Bryan Haggarty announced this week that users can look forward to seeing and using a slew of new emoji on the social network. 69 new Emoji 5.0 icons are now usable on Twitter for those who have supported platforms, and if you include the variations of these emoji, the number rises to 239. 🆕 🤩 We've just added all the new emojis to https://t.co/LOTAlBvtUR and updated our Twemoji open source repo 🥡 https://t.co/lD0IvE7ifj — Bryan Haggerty 🤩 (@bhaggs) May 23, 2017 If you use Twitter's website regularly,...

  • Twitter knows an awful lot about you, it reveals in new privacy policy

    By on 19 May, 2017

    Tweet often? If so, there's a fat chance that Twitter knows an awful lot about you, your interests and even your lofty aspirations. This revelation comes after the company announced an upcoming revision to its privacy policy, which allows it to siphon more data about you from the web, and gives users more agency in their privacy options. If you're a mobile app user, you would've seen a pop up notifying you about this change. Heading to Twitter's blog though, the company outlined a more granular point-form summary of the changes heading to the platform in the coming weeks. In case you didn't...

  • A tweet about chicken nuggets just broke Twitter’s all-time retweet record

    By on 10 May, 2017

    It's not often Twitter users see more than 1000 retweets for a single tweet, let alone 3.5-million, but that's what internet famous nugget-loving teenager Carter Wilkerson achieved this week. Ousting previous record holder Ellen DeGeneres for posting the most retweeted tweet of all time, Wilkerson has single-handedly turned the humble chicken nugget into a meme. HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3 — Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017 In total, his tweet now boasts over 3.5-million retweets, compared that 2014 Oscar selfie with 3.4-million retweets. While he's still nowhere near that 18-million retweet milestone Wendy's set for "a year of free...

  • 15+ SA journalists you should follow on Twitter [Digital All Stars]

    By on 8 May, 2017

    Digital All Stars is a series of articles which aims to celebrate the best of South African digital. The articles, which will appear on Memeburn and Ventureburn, recognise and celebrate South Africa’s best digital entrepreneurs, business people, advertisers, and media professionals among others. Twitter, although not exactly lucrative for its creators, is a fantastic tool for journalists. From sourcing stories to tweeting their final copies for all to read, Twitter has become an essential tool in the journalist's tote bag. But the social network is actually changing the face of journalism and story-telling itself. How, I hear you ask? Twitter has become...

  • #MetGala: Rihanna ignites social media with fandangle frock

    By on 2 May, 2017

    Rihanna can be a divisive figure in the music and fashion industries, but there's no denying her power to create almost instantaneous social media trends in the blink of an eye. Or perhaps in this case, a flash of a frock? At last night's #MetGala, the annual celebrity shindig that sees stars from Famousville descend on New York City for a night of charity and dress up, the Barbadian singer-songwriter left Twitter wondering why anyone else even bothered to dress up. Donning a gown comprised of flakes of brightly coloured, flower-imprinted fabric, Riri was more the vehicle for a piece of...

  • What has Donald Trump tweeted about most in his first 100 days?

    By on 28 April, 2017

    Even though Donald Trump is now president of a global superpower, he still has plenty of time to throw a tweet or two out there. In light of this, and as his first 100 days in office draw to an end, Twitter Data took a look at the US President's time in office thus far. Here's what the social network's data miners found. #MAGA, #USA and all the patriotism These are the top Tweeted hashtags used by @realdonaldtrump during #Trump100Days: pic.twitter.com/LB9UjRNBsH — Twitter Data (@TwitterData) April 28, 2017 Among Trump's most commonly tweeted hashtags, #MAGA (Make America Great Again), #AmericaFirst and #USA featured prominently since...

  • Twitter now boasts 328m users, bests investor estimates

    By on 26 April, 2017

    Although Twitter is an integral member of social media's biggest hitters culturally, it's lacking an impact financially. Still, the company enjoyed a better than expected Q1 2017 according to its latest investor letter (pdf). While the service continues to be a less than sound investment, there are positives that emerged from the latest results. User growth is slow, but positive For one, Twitter beat investor estimates, claiming an additional nine million new users worldwide. That takes it's total monthly active user figure up to 328-million. That figure however still places it behind the likes of LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. As for daily active users,...

  • Bonang faults SAA’s food, airline hits back with sassy tweet

    By on 19 April, 2017

    Bonang Matheba is trending on Twitter once again today, and that's largely thanks to SAA. The airline, in a month that has seen viral customer care gaffes from others in the industry, responded to a tweet from the 29-year-old socialite. And it included a fair amount of cheek. Bonang, commenting on the quality of the food offered on SAA flights (while also responding to a tweet from SA DJ Ph Madubela), received this gem of a reply from the airline's customer care account. @bonang_m @flysaa Hi, please note that other passengers enjoyed the meals. #flysaaa_care — FlySAA Care (@flysaa_care) April 18, 2017 The socialite...