These Three New Tools Are Helping Twitter Users Visualize Information For Free

Thanks to Indiana University, researcher are getting the chance to visualize the spread of networks and different information on Twitter's platform.

A new report from the university has spoken in regards to its Observatory linked to social media and highlighted the launch of various new tools for Twitter.

In this way, users can best analyze information that’s spread across the various apps in more detail. Hence, this means getting an up close and personal look at how a particular tweet moves on the platform and what it takes for a trend to go viral on the app.

The particular collection of tools doesn’t cost users a penny and is also easily accessible. They deeply examine all sorts of conversations, texts, and even main players involved in building momentum around details like hashtags and even various tweets.

The first tool called Trends Tool is designed to examine the volume of a tweet, thanks to the hashtag or other keywords it’s affiliated with. They assess the viral topic and also any brands, shares, or products involved. One caveat though is this tool allows only 1 month span of data analysis. 

The next tool called the Networks Tool produces three-dimensional maps that display links between mentions, keywords, and retweets with other types of information.

Meanwhile, the final tool called the BotAmp tool can outline bot activity for any particular keyword seen through various topics.

Indiana University says it’s the perfect way to give users insight into how the viral trend works and who the real players in this ordeal are. It’s like getting a first-hand look at the world of polarization and exploration.

These tools can even go as far as collecting data from 10% of tweets made publicly. These undergo the process of being indexed and then examined in detail. And the best bit being is how data gets stored for as long as three whole years.

This way, you can even see how trends altered with time. It also provided so many researchers with the best way to realize that bad actors end up deleting so much content on the app so as to limit the tweet volume.

The researchers also used the tools to figure out how so many people even go to the extent of linking liked content with something that’s unliked before it undergoes deletion. This way, they can artificially amp up particular content that’s popular without being detected.

So who are these tools designed for in the first place? Well, for anyone and everyone. This ranges from brands to all sorts of publishers out there today. In particular, those who want to take a big nose dive into the working of social networks.

Remember, there’s no better way to see how digital platforms’ systems perform than this.

Read next: Twitter Tests New Unexpected Service Where Users Can Follow Others Without Making An Account
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Companies have lost a large sum of money due to Data breaches

When a company has a data breach incident, many people expect the company to bear the losses, but the thing is that while the company does have losses the consumers also get affected by it. Data breaches or any sort of security breach have an equal effect on both the customers and the company because it is their data that gets leaked. There is also another thing that may come as a surprise to some and that is that sometimes the breaches can come from the inside as well.

A new report titled Cost of a Data Breach 2022 analyzed hundreds of organizations across the world to see what the effects and the costs of Data breaches are. The survey was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and analyzed by IBM Security. They interviewed about 550 organizations and out of those 550, 80% had been the victims of data breaches more than once.

In 60% of the cases, the breach resulted in price increases, an effect on the consumer, and the total average cost of the breach exceeded $4.35 million in 2022 only. The amount increased by 2.6% from last year and a very disturbing 12.7% from 2020 only two years back.

The costs that came with it were not at all light and thus had to be divided into four categories, lost business, detection and escalation, notification, and post-breach response. In the past years, lost business was the costliest aspect of Data breaches but now the first place has shifted to detection and escalation.

The field which lost the most money was the healthcare field. The healthcare field lost 10.10 million this year and the financial, pharmaceuticals, technology, and energy industries also lost a lot of money.

Read next: Report shows Ransomware and Business Email Compromise Attacks are causing 70% of the cyberattacks we see today
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Pinterest Rolls Out New Shuffles App That Inspires People To Use Their Own Creativity

While most people turn to Pinterest for inspiration, the app is now turning the tables and asking users to make use of their own creativity.

The company was seen recently launching a new app for iOS users where they can tap deep down into their creative thinking tanks instead of relying on others.

It’s quite an interesting move as we all love Pinterest for being the go-to app for inspiration linked to design and shopping trends. All in all, this news is definitely a game changer for the platform and one that not too many saw coming.

With Shuffles, the company says users would be given the chance to come up with their set of collages while using images, cutouts, and animations. It’s based on an invite-only ordeal and that just goes to show how exclusive it is.

Hence, you’ll definitely need to get on board a wait-list after choosing to do so from the home screen.

As can be seen by the platform’s new description in the Apple App Store, users get the chance to come up with their fixed share of collages with Pinterest’s library. They can even go far by clicking pictures of objects that they wish to incorporate into their collage with the help of the app’s camera feature.

Apple iOS users can even use the innovative cutout ability to separate individual objects located in a picture with a simple tap of the button. This feature is also seen in the app.

These pictures can then be rotated, shuffled, and also resized across the screen, according to your preference. And in the end, your final creative result is shared with friends so they can collaborate, and you can post across different public groups to get fame for your creations.

Users can remix the actual product with some of their own, adding their own twist to it. Some ideas brought forward include room makeovers, mood boards, and also great wardrobe inspiration. The choice is all yours.

There was no announcement made about the app’s launching in a formal way by Pinterest but one spokesperson mentioned that it came into being thanks to its TwoTwenty project.

In the statement, they mentioned how Shuffles was produced by TwoTwenty and will function as a standalone feature. They called it their innovative program where users can share visual content with ease.

For now, the app was stated to be in its starting trial phase so we’re definitely going to be seeing plenty more changes and details before the final product comes. As of now, the firm is hush-hush regarding its future plans.

Pinterest has been working hard for a while now in terms of experimenting on its social networking platform to bring change and innovation, keeping in mind today’s user trends.

Today it’s not just a pinboard that garners attention due to its visual effects. Instead, it amalgamates all sorts of creative ordeals with e-commerce and live shopping too so users stay engaged.

We think it’s a smart move to introduce an app that isn’t just based on video like most other leading social media platforms out there.

Read next: New Data Shows Customers Prefer Inflation to Shrinkflation, Here’s How That Affects Brands
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

The Metaverse and Its Impact on Online Gaming

The gaming world has experienced tremendous growth since the introduction of the internet, creating a gaming experience never seen before. From online casinos to webGL, and cloud gaming, technology isn’t static. Its impact on the online gaming world is enormous. The Metaverse aims at making the gaming world much more immersive than ever.

What Is Metaverse?

The phrase “metaverse” was first coined in a 1992 fictional novel titled “Snow Crash”, written by Neal Stephenson. Metaverse is a combination of the prefix “meta”, which stands for “beyond” and “verse”, a short abbreviation of the word “universe”.

The Metaverse is regarded as an alternate reality, a reality besides the real world or universe. A universe where people use different varieties of technology to interact with each other and the objects within the Metaverse. The Metaverse uses technology similar to what we would now recognize as VR headsets.

Why Is Metaverse Such a Big Deal?

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and the owner of WhatsApp and Instagram, has changed his company name to Meta. The company is currently hiring experts to work on the Metaverse since it has been identified as the next big thing. Many companies across the globe recognize the challenges, implications, and opportunities it possesses.

In the Metaverse, avatars, virtual property, and services can be bought and sold. These transactions are often carried out with cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Metaverse will be an online dimension with links to virtual assets, NFT, DEFI, virtual financial assets, digital ledger technology, esports, smart contracts and online gambling, i.e., casino gaming.

Introduction to Metaverse Gaming

The Metaverse’s effect on the gaming world is incredibly exciting. Game developers are constantly striving to meet the demands of gamers to enable them to get the best gaming experience. With the constant evolution of gaming technology, the future may see experiences that likely exceed our expectations. Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR) are technologies that will most likely become essential in making games much more immersive and more realistic than ever.

Among the games that are already making headway in the use of these new technologies are online casinos. The online casinos make use of the latest technologies by replicating the sights and sounds of an actual casino; hence making the game much more pleasurable for the players.

The Metaverse aims to introduce a more open and encompassing economic model, particularly in the gaming sector. The Metaverse will sidestep the predominant capitalist one-sided driven model to a more vibrant and inclusive play-to-earn gaming format. The online participants and players stand to gain a more immersive experience.

Besides the encompassing online gaming exhilaration, players and online participants will also be a fundamental part of this new economic model. Digitalization, tokenization and NFT proliferation will help players and users create and garner value and support the format. Players with innovative ways will also create more value for their patrimony.

Reality in the Metaverse

One of the things that make the Metaverse such a big deal for the real world is found in e-commerce. Through e-commerce, NFTs and other collectables, it is now possible to earn real income in the virtual world (the Metaverse). It also helps improve the use of gaming as a spectator experience, enabling fans to interact with and support their favorite players and superstars.

Technology has long led us toward the Metaverse, but things were sped up due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Unsurprisingly, gamers have been using their games for real-life interactions that were forbidden for health and other reasons.

Will the Metaverse Be a Safe Space?

This new economic model, alongside the Metaverse, will extend the value into the physical reality, where the digital and physical worlds will be fused. The idea of the fusion of the physical and digital worlds promotes the notion of value. This will also certainly bring about new risks, changing many of our laws and policies to curtail such risks and establish a safe, functioning new digital economy.

The level of service provision will have its boundaries tested here, because players and online users will be actively involved, creating value and subsidizing this new economic model. The future of gaming lies in electronic commerce and decentralized finance. The total dependency of this unique physical and virtual reality convergence is solely dependent on trust. Besides adequate laws and regulations, we should not forget that trust is the main lynchpin of all businesses.

Conclusion

With the gradual advance in technology, the era of the Metaverse has just begun. The boundaries of the Metaverse are endless.

From using games to socialize with friends online to hosting parties and virtual weddings in games like Animal Crossing, the virtual world is already here. This would be an exciting journey into the future for all game enthusiasts, with increasing access to more realistic and immersive games.

by Web Desk via Digital Information World

New Data Shows Customers Prefer Inflation to Shrinkflation, Here’s How That Affects Brands

The global economic crunch is forcing both brands as well as individual consumers to rejigger their monetary strategies in the coming year. Many brands are trying to use various tactics to bolster their profit margins, and the three most common tactics are inflation, shrinkflation and skimpflation. Inflation is when the price of a good increases, whereas in shrinkflation you pay the same price but get less of a product for it such as in the case of chips packets containing fewer chips by weight. Skimpflation is when brands reduce the quality of the product to avoid having to increase the price.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that consumers have a clear preference for one out of these three strategies, namely inflation. Brands sometimes assume that increasing prices would alienate consumers, but in spite of the fact that this is the case 62% of consumers said that they might stop buying from a brand that uses either shrinkflation or skimpflation.

Just 7% of consumers seem unbothered by these two tactics, which suggests that increasing prices is the way to go for brands with all things having been considered and taken into account. 75% of consumers feel like prices will continue to increase, and 45% suggested C-suite executives taking a pay cut because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up keeping prices stable without requiring shrinkflation or skimpflation.

This will have a noticeable impact on marketing strategies, with marketers looking to expand their reach whilst keeping the current inflationary climate in mind. 65% of consumer said that they plan to decrease their spending this year to ride out inflation, so marketers will have to work overtime to continue inducing consumption among their target markets. It will be interesting to see how the marketing industry adjusts to the new normal, and chances are that it will require them to delve deeper into the world of analytics and opt for more automation by using AI and machine learning.

Sources: Gartner / Martech

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

The Metaverse Shows Promise Among Younger Gamers While Older Demographics Remain Hesitant

The metaverse is one of the most controversial and frequently talked about new innovations in the world of tech, and among the few areas in which it can be seen to have a practical impact is that of gaming. With consumers between the ages of 13 and 17 increasingly picking gaming as their pastime of choice, the metaverse stands poised to capture this demographic and keep a tight hold on it for the next few decades if it is implemented right.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that a new report from Bain & Company revealed that younger gamers are readily adopting the metaverse and incorporating it into their gaming experiences. Most older gamers don’t seem to be interested in the metaverse, but in spite of the fact that this is the case the younger demographics are more than making up for this.

Additionally, around 50% of younger individuals seem eager to use the metaverse for other types of socializing as well. The same proportion of Gen Z respondents said that they would prefer hanging out with friends in the metaverse as opposed to real life, and a similar percentage also stated that they would enjoy attending school events like this in the future.

Several games like Roblox and Minecraft have metaverse-like features that companies like Meta would likely want to expand on. However, Meta’s attempts at creating the metaverse don’t seem to be appealing to the right individuals. Meta’s focus appears to be on adults working from home by offering them digital office spaces, and this is the wrong path to take if statistics are factored in.

Young gamers appear to be the only major demographic that might help make the metaverse a success. They will need to be listened to moving forward so that the metaverse can be optimized according to their needs. Kids who grow up in digital worlds will be more used to them, and that offers the metaverse the chance to become truly profitable if the current trends continue to persist.

Read next: Research shows smartphone sales decreased by nine percent YOY in the second quarter of 2022, along with the economic crisis
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

New Report Says That 84% of the Organizations Had an Identity Breach in the Past 1.5 Years

Delinea reported that 60% of the firms and companies believe that they’re not keeping pace with the threat landscape. Moreover, 20% of them are lagging in this race, 13% are treading lightly and 27% are barely able to keep up.

A lot of information is also shared about different security strategies and their effectiveness. 40% believe they have the right strategy to counter the cyberattacks, while 84% reported they had a security breach in the past year and a half.

It is also believed that many firms and brands are looking to make changes to their security strategies and make improvements. Moreover, 90% know the importance of security in their business, and 87% that it's their biggest priority for the future year. Furthermore, 75% of security experts and professionals don’t have the support of the company to protect its assets, the organization argues that they don’t have enough budget to accommodate them for their services.

It is also reported that 63% of the companies’ respondents believe that their firms don’t fully understand the importance of cybersecurity. While their leaders save face on the surface, there’s no proper backing up for security analysts and IT experts to implement proper security. This leaves them vulnerable to security breaches and cyberattacks.

This laidback attitude is harming the companies and while this has begun to change, it’s still going to take a lot of time for these companies to fully implement the best cybersecurity team at their firm. This is especially true as 50% of the respondent companies didn’t have any policies regarding basic cybersecurity such as managing passwords, account privileges, and monitored approvals. 52% of the respondents also don’t have multi-factor authentication enabled when giving access to the companies’ credentials and other sensitive information to privileged accounts. This means that if these accounts get stolen, the company’s cybersecurity is in a really bad position.

Moreover, only 44% of the companies manage these accounts properly and secure these accounts meaning the rest are very susceptible to attacks that could lead to a big scandal. However, these aren’t limited to human identities, but automated machine identities are also implemented and have large access to sensitive information which makes them very useful for cybercriminals. They’re also easier to access and hack into making them a vulnerable point in the security system.

Cybercriminals have a reputation for exploiting any weakness or vulnerability they can get their hands on in a company or organization. This is especially true for machine identities as many organizations give them the privilege to have access to sensitive information which might not even be given to human identities. Criminals can easily hide under these accounts and have access to a huge amount of data making them the perfect place to begin an attack. The companies need to realize the importance of cybersecurity and especially govern their machine identities carefully as they’re the weakest link to their security.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World