Category: author_name|Karissa Bell
Tweets and direct messages are broken for many Twitter users
Something is very wrong with Twitter right now, but it’s not clear exactly what. As of Wednesday afternoon, core features, including direct messages and tweets, are not working for large swaths of users. While some users are able to tweet, many users are receiving messages that they can’t tweet or…
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Can TikTok convince the US it’s not a national security threat?
TikTok is, once again, facing an uncertain future. The company has spent the last two years quietly negotiating with US government officials in order to avoid an outright ban. But that process has now stalled, and calls for a ban have only intensified. Next month, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew…
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Facebook now has 2 billion users
Almost 20 years in, Facebook is still growing. The social network now has 2 billion daily active users, Meta reported alongside its fourth-quarter earnings. The report marks the first time Facebook, which added 16 million users last quarter, has reached 2 billion daily users. While Facebook isn’t the first Meta-owned…
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Like users, app developers are fleeing Twitter for Mastodon
When Twitter quietly updated its developer policies to ban third-party clients from its platform, it abruptly closed an important chapter of Twitter’s history. Unlike most of its counterparts, which tightly control what developers are able to access, Twitter has a long history with independent app makers. Now, the developers of…
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TikTok is expanding its labels for state-run media accounts to more countries, including China
TikTok is expanding its use of labels for state-run media accounts, the company announced. The app is now bringing the tags, which identify “accounts run by organizations whose editorial output or decision-making process is subject to control or influence by a government,” to dozens of markets. The company is relatively…
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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Satellite will let Android phones text off the grid
Last year, Apple introduced Emergency SOS, which allows the iPhone 14 to connect to satellites to send emergency texts. Now, Qualcomm has unveiled its own satellite messaging features for Android phones. It’s called Snapdragon Satellite, and it will allow devices equipped with the company’s X70 modems to connect to satellites…
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