Word on the Street Volume 3: News Feed Updates, Roseanne, and Facebook’s Solution to Political Advertising

Our digital world is constantly changing to better serve us. Are you keeping up? If you’re having trouble staying on top of the latest news, launches, or revised regulations, stay with me. I promise to make it short and sweet so you can get back to living in the present.

 

#byefelicia

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are helping users personalize their feed and remove annoyances (finally!) with their most recent software update. These popular social media platforms have added a “mute” (Twitter & Insta) and “snooze” (Facebook) feature that lets you hide posts from your feed without unfollowing or removing them as your friend. This way, you can avoid awkward conversations like “Why did you unfollow me?” Too bad MySpace couldn’t figure this out back in the day so we could all eliminate the stress of our friend seeing they were demoted from our Top 5 … am I right?

 

Twitter has also made it possible for users to control the content they want to see on their feeds. The mute feature extends beyond people. You now have the option to mute tweets that include certain words, phrases, or hashtags you’d rather not see. Click here for a break down on how you can opt out on topics, or follow these step-by-step instructions on how to snooze/mute users on all the different social media platforms:

 

 

If you don’t have something nice to say…

 

I’m sure you could easily finish this famous catchphrase, but if you need a refresher, that’s why we’re here. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all. Perhaps Roseanne Barr could have saved her famous sitcom if she remembered this. It isn’t a secret that her personal actions on Twitter resulted in ABC abruptly canceling “Roseanne” after being renewed for a second season earlier this year. Social media is a place where we should be able to express ourselves, but we also need to take into consideration who we represent, who could be affected by our actions, and how what we say is on the internet for everyone to see forever. When in doubt, bless your followers’ news feed with animal videos!

 

Get Verified

 

Primary elections are in full swing and Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are cracking down on political ads to ensure misinformation isn’t spread about candidates. Back in 2016, Facebook removed over 260 accounts associated with Russia’s Internet Research Agency, the “troll factory” that spread misinformation before and after the presidential election. Zuckerberg spoke out about this hot topic and explained that these steps wouldn’t stop people from trying to game the system, but they will make it a lot harder to create fake accounts and pages to run ads.

 

Advertisers who are running political ads for candidates must submit proof of government-issued identification and a United States address. Prior to these steps being completed, Facebook will mail a unique code for the advertiser to enter to be verified.

 

“It’s certainly a great step to take and helps to solve the problem of foreign influence, but I would not be surprised if people get creative and find ways around those requirements.” – Travis Ridout

 

Twitter Feud of the Week: Drake vs. Pusha-T

 

Adonis isn’t anonymous anymore thanks to private investigator, Pusha-T. Should he have spilled this information about Drake’s alleged son?

 

[yop_poll id=”1″]

 

 

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