Category Archives: Instagram

Facebook to hide number of likes in trial aimed at improving users’ wellbeing

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Social media giant said the move was backed by anti-bullying and mental health groups

Some Facebook users will soon no longer see the number of likes, reactions and video views on other’s posts in a world-first trial aimed at boosting users’ wellbeing.

Instead, likes will be private and only visible to the post’s author in a change that follows a similar test on Instagram which started in July in Australia. The new Facebook trial, which begins on Friday, will also kick off in Australia.

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Campaign group in Finland crowdsource for ‘forgiveness’ emoji

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Ideas for emoji include vine of leaves on heart and people clasping hands

To err is human, it is said, to forgive divine. And soon that noblest of human qualities will be available in emoji form, following a global effort to find the most appropriate icon.

A coalition of charitable and peace-building organisations in Finland are leading the quest to crowdsource an emoji to be added to the thousands available to smartphone users.

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Instagram censors Melbourne artist’s anti-Beijing post but ignores trolls

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Badiucao accuses the social media firm of violating the free speech of people who speak up against China’s bullying

A Melbourne artist who posted anti-Chinese government work has had it pulled offline by Instagram, while death threats against him have remained uncensored.

The censorship of Badiucao – and later restoration – by Instagram came as Twitter and Facebook suspended more than 200,000 accounts deemed to be part of a “co-ordinated state-backed operation” of misinformation from the People’s Republic of China.

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Ivanka Trump’s embrace of nature sparks cries of hypocrisy

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The president’s daughter shared photos of a vacation in Wyoming, causing blowback over her father’s poor environmental record

Ivanka Trump shared a series of pictures on social media over the weekend of herself, husband Jared Kushner and their children availing themselves of the natural wonders of Wyoming.

“Love. Wonder. Wander. Repeat,” the president’s daughter and adviser captioned in one photo, in front of a painterly backdrop.

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‘She went back with me’: Ilhan Omar posts photos with Pelosi in Ghana

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Congresswoman mocks ‘send her back’ comments with Instagram post of trip to Ghana with House speaker


The congresswoman Ilhan Omar took a swipe at Donald Trump on Thursday, posting a photo on Instagram of herself and Nancy Pelosi in Ghana with the caption: “They said ‘send her back’ but Speaker Pelosi didn’t just make arrangement to send me back, she went back with me.”

The photo came from a congressional trip to the African country this week, in observance of the American slave trade’s 400th anniversary. The two women were joined by the civil rights icon and Georgia congressman John Lewis and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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‘Siberian Maldives’ is actually a toxic dump, Instagrammers warned

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Russian lake that has sparked social media frenzy is full of metal oxides from coal ash

A Russian energy company has warned Instagram users not to swim in a mesmerising turquoise lake nicknamed the “Siberian Maldives” because it is actually an ash dump filled with harmful metal oxides.

But despite warnings that the artificial pond contains dangerous calcium salts and other metal oxides, it has remained a popular site for selfies, wedding parties and scantily clad photoshoots.

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Instagram’s anti-bullying AI asks users: ‘Are you sure you want to post this?’

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Instagram said early tests found it encourages users to ‘share something less hurtful once they have had a chance to reflect’

Instagram is inviting users to think again before posting unkind comments with a new tool designed to curb bullying on the social media platform.

The company is rolling out a new feature that uses AI to identify negative comments before they are published and asks “are you sure you want to post this?” before it is shared on another person’s post.

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Instagram influencer staged ‘surprise’ engagement weekend

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Marissa Fuchs posted photos of disbelief, but marketers were sent itinerary months before

A public proposal is a risky thing to attempt. For every couple whose love for each other is perfectly in tune, there is a partner who has woefully misjudged their lover’s desire for public attention, grand romantic gestures, or simply marriage full stop.

So Gabriel Grossman might have been taking a huge risk when he and his girlfriend, the Instagram influencer Marissa Casey Fuchs, embarked on not just a public proposal, but a 48-hour-long surprise holiday scavenger hunt, exhaustively documented by the couple on their respective Instagram accounts. What if she’d said no? Or decided that this precious moment was too personal to be shared with her audience of 193,000 people?

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Adult performers to picket Instagram HQ over company’s nude photo rules

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Artists, activists and models join in condemning confusing guidelines leading to account suspensions

Dozens of adult performers are set to picket Instagram’s Silicon Valley headquarters over guidelines about photos containing nudity. The inconsistency of the rules, they say, has led to hundreds of thousands of account suspensions and is imperiling their livelihoods.

Adult performers are leading the protest on Wednesday, but other users including artists, sex workers, queer activists, sex education platforms, and models say they have been affected by the platform’s opaque removal system.

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Chernobyl writer urges Instagram tourists to ‘respect’ nuclear disaster site

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Spike in visitors, including some who pose in little more than a g-string, prompts writer of HBO hit to speak out

The writer of the acclaimed HBO drama series Chernobyl has spoken out about the proliferation of lewd and inappropriate selfies taken by tourists visiting the nuclear disaster site in Ukraine.

Since the five-part miniseries about the 1986 catastrophe at the former Soviet Union power plant began airing in May, tourism at the site has reportedly increased by 30–40%. Social media influencers visiting the site have been subject to criticism in recent days for using renewed interest in the disaster to stage glamour shots for their Instagram accounts.

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Doctored video of sinister Mark Zuckerberg puts Facebook to the test

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Last month Facebook declined to remove a manipulated video of Nancy Pelosi even after it was viewed millions of times

A doctored video of Mark Zuckerberg delivering a foreboding speech has been posted to Instagram, in a stunt that put Facebook’s content moderation policies to the test.

Videos known as “deepfakes” use artificial intelligence to manipulate the appearance and voices of individuals, often celebrities, into theoretically real-looking footage. They are likely to become the next wave in the battles over disinformation online.

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Naked protesters condemn nipple censorship at Facebook headquarters

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Demonstrators cover bodies with stickers to ensure nipples on display are ‘male’, in line with Facebook policy

Some were hairy. Some were pointy. Some were dark brown, some a pale pink. But the hundreds of nipples on display in front of Facebook’s New York City headquarters on Sunday were technically “male”, despite some being on female protesters.

More than 100 people lay nude on the sidewalk to call for a change to the company’s censorship policies. The action, called #wethenipple, was organized by the artist Spencer Tunick and the National Coalition Against Censorship.

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Teenage girl kills herself ‘after Instagram poll’ in Malaysia

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Police investigating after she asked her followers to choose death or life and 69% voted for death

A 16 year-old girl has reportedly killed herself in Malaysia, after posting a poll on her Instagram account asking followers if she should die or not, and 69% of responders voting that she should.

Police in the east Malaysia state Sarawak said the girl, who has not been named, posted the poll on the photo sharing app with the message: “Really Important, Help Me Choose D/L”. After most responders voted for “death”, she killed herself.

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Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users report outages

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Thousands having difficulty accessing social networks, says tracking site

Facebook was inaccessible to some users on Sunday, according to Downdetector, a website that monitors outages.

The site showed there had been more than 7,700 incidents of people reporting issues with Facebook at its peak.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks popcorn, politics and DIY with Instagram followers – video

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In her latest Instagram live, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez takes questions from followers while assembling furniture in her chair-less Washington DC apartment. Covering topics from popcorn flavours to staying focused on the issues that matter,  Ocasio-Cortez demonstates her ability to use social media in an authentic way that engages potential young voters

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Harry and Meghan break record with Royal Sussex Instagram account

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Duke and Duchess gained one million followers on new account in less than six hours

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, broke a record by reaching one million followers on their newly launched Instagram account in less than six hours, Guinness World Records has said.

The “sussexroyal” account was launched on Tuesday with a post featuring a monogram symbol with their names and now has 3.1 million followers.

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Want to know where influencers spring from? Look at their parents

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How my heart leapt when the US college admissions scandal drew in a sitcom star and her Insta-famous daughter

What’s happening with Olivia Jade, the Instagram influencer who was named and shamed in the US college admissions scandal?
Dawn, London

I’m back! As some of you (well, my mother) may have noticed, I have been away for a few weeks. Booking time off is always exciting, isn’t it? Until that time off comes around and you realise you are now missing the most exciting news story ever. What, Brexit? The Mueller report? I guess they have their newsy appeal. But, no. I am referring to the US college admissions scandal, a story that involves privileged American kids, the actor Felicity Huffman and a cast member from Full House! The only way this story could appeal to me more is if it was filmed by John Hughes and renamed Hadley Freeman’s Day Off.

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Apple Martin tells off mother Gwyneth Paltrow for sharing photo without consent

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The 14-year-old publicly criticised Paltrow for oversharing, reflecting unease in an entire generation

Gwyneth Paltrow’s teenage daughter has criticised her mother for posting a picture of her online without her consent, a reaction one expert says will become more common as a generation that has been snapped since their birth grows up.

Paltrow posted a photo to Instagram earlier in the week of herself with Apple Martin, her 14-year-old daughter with Coldplay singer Chris Martin, at a ski field. Apple’s face is largely covered by ski goggles.

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Queen shares digital milestone with royal Instagram followers

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Monarch posted image of 1843 Charles Babbage letter to Prince Albert during Science Museum visit on Thursday

The Queen has proved she is in touch with the touch screen by sharing her first Instagram post in the latest personal technological milestone of her lengthy reign.

The 92-year-old monarch shared an archive image to the 4.6 million followers of @theRoyalFamily’s Instagram account during a visit to the Science Museum to formally open the new Smith Centre and summer exhibition, Top Secret.

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