Social Networks

We often joke around that hackers or government agencies are listening to our calls. Facebook just patched a bug that would’ve allowed anyone to snoop on your calls on Messenger. The bug was found by Google Project Zero researcher Natalie Silvanovich last month, and it affected Messenger‘s Android users. To start the attack, the hacker would have to initiate a call and send a specially crafted invisible message. Then they could listen to your audio, even if you don’t pick up the call.  Thankfully, this vulnerability was only exploitable in special circumstances and required specific tools. For instance, both the attacker and the victim would need to have been logged in to Messenger for Android. In addition to that, the victim also needed to be logged into Messenger through a web browser. What’s more, the attacker would need permission to call the victim  — meaning, they’d have to already be on the victim’s friend list. Last year, Apple fixed the bug that let your contacts eavesdrop on you through FaceTime. Silvanovich said after this exploit was found, she began to research other apps. Till now, she’s managed to find bugs in other communication apps such as Signal, Mocha, and JioChat; all of them have been patched.  Facebook revealed details about this bug as a part of the blog on the 10th anniversary of its bug bounty program. The company said it has paid $11.7 million to security researchers for 6,900 accepted bug reports out of more than 130,000 submitted. Last month, the social network unveiled a new loyalty program, called Hacker Plus, to further incentivize bug sleuths discovering vulnerabilities in Facebook’s platforms. You can read the full technical description of the vulnerability here. Read next: 10 embarrassing PR fails that show how NOT to pitch

He received a deceiving message from a friend whose phone number was hacked. Cover image via @chuannyboy (Twitter) & TechCrunch A Twitter user who goes by 'Rii Chuan' recently shared his experience regarding a WhatsApp scam tactic On 18 November, Rii Chuan posted a thread warning people not to open any messages from friends asking for a code.According to the thread, he received a message from his university friend asking him to send a six-digit code. After sharing the code, he was logged out of his WhatsApp account and was asked to verify his phone number Rii Chuan received a call from the US, which lasted for 30 seconds. The operator spoke in a different language.After the call, he had to wait for 12 hours to get another six-digit code or risk not getting his account back. Rii Chuan received a text message for the code in Spanish, indicating that the scam might have taken place outside of Malaysia He recovered his account yesterday, 19 November, but unfortunately, his messages were all wiped Rii Chuan has asked those with his phone number to delete or block it to prevent anyone from being deceived by his compromised phone number. You can prevent similar scams from happening to yourself by making your account more secure Two-step verification is a feature that adds another layer of security to your WhatsApp account. When you enable it, you will be required to enter an email address as well as a new PIN.Every time you log into your WhatsApp account, you will be required to enter your PIN along with the six-digit code tied to your phone number.WhatsApp will sometimes prompt you to enter your PIN to help you remember it. Read the full Twitter thread below: Here's a list on how to prevent yourself from…

But who is to blame? by Liam Doolan 3 hours ago © NintendoHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has been available in certain countries like Australia, New Zealand and Japan for nearly a day now. While you think this would mean it's safe to stream the game on a platform like Twitch, it seems not, as a number of streamers have been temporarily banned for 48 hours. This has seemingly happened to multiple streamers. There's no clear reason as to what exactly has gone wrong - so we're thinking it's either a timezone issue, the local embargo (for the US), or perhaps it might just be Nintendo taking some extra precautions after the game was reportedly leaked earlier this week. If we hear anything else, we'll be sure to let you know. What are your own thoughts about all of this? Tell us below.

Why Arent You in Africa?: Woman Throws Glass Bottle at Black Jogger, Hurls Racial Slur One of the popular Twitch streamers, Daphne, known as 39daph, is at the receiving end after she called Kpop girl group BLACKPINK an electronic dance music trash. BLINKs, or the fans of BLACKPINK, have started DMing Daphne and bombarding her inbox with hate messages.Daphne too took to social media and reacted to the hate messages sharply. "You Kpop b*****s are crazy," she lashed out. With this, the feud between BLINKs and Daphne supporters has intensified on social media. Twitch streamer Daphne is being criticized for treating BLACKPINK Kpop group badly. Instagram Hate Comments Pour InDuring one of her streamings, Daphne had expressed her views about BLACKPINK's music. "Blackpink is actually not good though, they literally just regurgitate the same EDM trash shit over and over and people are like 'Oh my God, they're so beautiful, they're so great, look at them!' Yeah they're really popular, but quality wise, they're not great," she had said that hurt the BLACKPINK fans.Daphne has 681,000 followers on Twitch. She has 249,000 followers on Instagram, 559,000 followers on YouTube and 178,900 followers on Twitter. Having a strong fan presence, now her supporters have started answering BLINKs hate messages.Daphne Fights BackDaphne is primarily a Just Chatting streamer, but she sometimes tries her hand at games including Apex Legends. Daphne is said to be friends with KPop star, Jae Park, a member of Korean rock band Day6. BLINKs are even targeting Jae by dragging him into their hate messages.Daphne did not shy away from these messages but answered BLINKs in the same tone she was being targeted in. In a Reddit clip she is seen telling: "He's not gonna give a f**k what I said! Dude, you K-Pop b*****s are crazy ,…

Home / Delhi News / Delhi: Boy shoots sister for chatting with friend on WhatsApp A 17-year-old boy shot his younger sister in the stomach at their home in north-east Delhi’s Welcome neighbourhood on Thursday afternoon for refusing to stop talking to or messaging her male friend on WhatsApp, the police said. The 16-year-old girl is admitted in Jag Prawesh Chandra Hospital and is expected to survive, said Ved Prakash Surya, deputy commissioner of police (North-East).Also read | Instagram influencer held for snatching dollars from Forex firm employeeThe boy, who is pursuing his education from open school and also works at a salon, has been apprehended and the pistol allegedly used in the crime recovered from him. “He has told us that he got the weapon from a friend who had passed away three-four months ago. We are ascertaining the authenticity of his claim,” said the DCP. The girl, who lives with her parents and brother, is a school dropout. The DCP said the boy had seen her past speaking over the phone and chatting on WhatsApp with a friend. “The boy would repeatedly object to it, but the girl continued with her communications,” the officer said. On Thursday morning, when he caught her chatting with her friend again, “he objected and they quarrelled over the matter. It ended with the boy bringing out a gun and shooting his sister in the stomach,” said the DCP. The parents rushed the girl to a hospital where the authorities dialled the police around 12noon. A case of attempt to murder has been registered at Welcome police station.

Instagram Movement Guides. Never heard of them? You’ve probably seen them. Instagram Movement Guides are the increasingly popular Instagram posts that portray facts in an aesthetically pleasing way. They can also be mantras or phrases, but regardless of the content they all have some connection to political activism. Most of the people making them are actual designers, sharing information that add to the visuality of protest, allyship, social justice, and many other things. Some examples you may have seen include the Instagram account @soyouwanttotalkabout, posts from @subliming.jpg, or posts from @madison.utendahl like this one. These Movement Guides are doing a lot of things. For one, they’re making information accessible, condensed, and quick to consume. While it’s common to get lost in the Instagram scroll for hours, Instagram posts at the same time can be small snapshots that are quickly consumable. These guides portray the (subjectively) most important information about a topic chosen by the creator; the added element of “aesthetics” make these posts even more desirable. It’s not surprising that many people use these guides as a source of news instead of scrolling through paragraphs of text from The New York Times. Another thing these Movement Guides are doing is making the line between social media and reality more thin than ever. I’ve always been a firm believer that “social media is not real life,” but honestly, I’ve been really reconsidering that. Did I watch Tracee Ellis Ross’ IGTV with Maya Harris about the Biden campaign? Did I watch Lizzo’s IGTV with Kamala Harris? Do I get a lot of my news from Instagram posts from The New York Times? Yes, yes, and yes. As much as I hate to admit it, social media is real life to a certain extent. It’s getting closer every day, and these Movement Guides…

Instagram didn’t make any fuss about its latest feature, choosing not to distract from the big reveal of its new app redesign. And so, when it released Community Content for brands last week, it did so quietly. However, that doesn’t mean the Facebook company’s not excited about the update. With the new Community Content feature, businesses can add visuals shared by creators to their product pages. Instagram sees it as another step in its path to becoming a legit shopping destination, but in a way that stays true to the platform, Ethan Arpi, Instagram product marketing lead for shopping, told WWD. “Businesses on Instagram are part of the community,” he explained. “We see everyday people tagging their favorite brands in photos and videos to show them love. Our investment in Community Content strengthens these relationships.” If people tag a brand when they share photos or videos on Instagram, the business will receive a notification and an option to ask the creator for permission to use the content. The brand can match the shared item to a specific product in its inventory, connecting the asset to a particular product page, in a special section titled “From the community.” Community Content appears in a special section.  Courtesy image For Arpi, “it’s a win-win,” he said. Fans can feel acknowledged by the brands they love, while businesses benefit from these deeper connections, all while receiving some extra sales and marketing power for their social commerce efforts. In reality, it may be more like a trifecta of wins, because shoppers benefit, too, from seeing how products look on a greater range of people. “When people shop, they want to know — how does this dress look on someone with my body type or how does this lipstick look on someone with my skin tone?”…

Gucci Mane and Jeezy’s Verzuz was a moment that will definitely go down in hip hop history. Aside from the music that made you feel like you were in school again, for the two Trap pioneers to come together after years of beefing with one another was a beautiful thing for the culture to witness. However, things were definitely rocking between Jeezy and Guwop even though they both tried to be in good spirits during their battle. And yes, that unfortunately means that some shade was thrown in the mix. When Gucci played his diss track “Truth,” an awkward moment ensued and Jeezy had to check him for being so foul. If you know the song, you know it references Gucci fatally shooting a Jeezy associate who broke into his home in 2005. “See when I called you and extended this invite, my nigga, I did it as a real man. It’s been 20 motherfucking years... you still talking the same shit,” the Snowman told Gucci. “All these kids out here doing what the fuck they do cuz they saw what went on with us. This shit ain’t ‘bout me, it ain’t ‘bout you. This shit about King Von, this shit about Doe B, this shit about Nipsey Hussle, this shit about motherfucking Pop Smoke, Mo3...” However, another awkwardly shady — though hilarious and much more lighthearted — moment came prior to the “Truth” diss. As the two were slick dissing one another all night, Gucci decided to insult Jeezy’s ice game. He made a statement along the lines of them doing a jewelry Verzuz next time and Jeezy responded that they should, instead, do a real estate one. Naturally, social media thought the mature, grown man shade was funny. Take a look at some of the best reactions to…

Facebook is teaming up with the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce to feature more than 60 different small black-owned businesses and the products they sale. MEMPHIS, Tenn — Millions of Americans look forward to Thanksgiving and the day after, an unofficial shopping holiday called “Black Friday.”  This year, there is a push to support small businesses impacted by the pandemic, but particularly black-owned businesses.   Facebook is leading a national campaign called “Buy Black Challenge” and a local event strategist is gearing up for a virtual black Christmas expo.    Facebook Manager for State Public Policy and Memphis native Erica Woods says black-owned businesses are closing at an alarming rate during the pandemic so an initiative like this will really help dozens of minority owners stay afloat.  “Essentially, it’s a campaign that redirects your Black Friday spending, holiday spending towards small black owned businesses. At Facebook we understand that small businesses have been negatively impacted by Covid and the pandemic,” Woods explained.    The campaign has several elements.  One includes Facebook teaming up with the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce to feature more than 60 different small black-owned businesses and the products they sale.    “Some of your favorite shops in Memphis if you got to their Instagram pages and make sure to include the hashtag buy black or if you post them on your Instagram stories or on your own feed they will be featured under the hashtag as well,” Woods said.    Memphis is full of black-owned businesses.  Next month, event strategist Cynthia Daniels is launching her 3rd annual Black Christmas Expo.   "Juneteenth was so successful.  We had one million dollars spent in one day with one hundred Black businesses, so I felt like it was important to do the same thing for the Christmas holiday," founder of Black Christmas Expo.   The expo is free and people can register on Eventbrite.    INITIATIVES SUPPORTING BLACK BUSINESSES -…

Loading... The Yubo application is available to be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. ― Picture courtesy of Yubo via AFP SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 20 ― Ever heard of Yubo? This social networking application lets users chat about all kinds of topics and hang out live via video. Largely used by Gen Zers, the platform is winning over more and more investors thanks to significant growth driven by lockdowns and stay-at-home mandates. Dubbed a kind of “Tinder for teens,” the social network has announced plans to build new safety features after raising significant funds. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and now Yubo. This social networking app is attracting growing numbers of fans, especially among Generation Z. Five years after it launched in North America, the UK and Australia, this alternative social network claims some 40 million users worldwide ― half of whom alone are in the US. The app was made by a French start-up, although it remains relatively little known on home turf. Sacha Lazimi, Jérémie Aouate and Arthur Patora developed the platform in 2015, and decided to break into the international market first. So what is it? Well, Yubo lets users make friends around the world, chatting to others via video, talking and hanging out face to face, like in real life. The app uses algorithms to find users similar in age and with the same interests. And while the application is free, it is based on a freemium model, with extra features available to paying users. Unlike Facebook and TikTok, it doesn't rely on advertising. Strong growth driven by the pandemic Unsurprisingly, Yubo has managed to cash in on the global public health crisis. With lockdown measures enforced in various countries to halt the spread of Covid-19, teens flooded onto social media to socialize. This proved a…