Facebook’s Paid Online Event program is being terminated by Meta

Facebook’s paid online event service is coming to an end, as Meta the parent company of the platform, has decided to shut it down. The service was known for letting content creators as well as brands earn revenue from organizing online events. Viewers were required to pay in order to enter the online event.

Three years ago, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was rolled out globally to assist business accounts in growing their businesses as well as give creators more opportunity to earn from the platform. However, things have started to change as Meta has decided to spend more time addressing the problems faced by content creators.

According to the platform, as the world is changing, such online paid events are now a thing of the past. According to one of the officials, with creators now preferring meeting their viewers personally instead of hosting online events, the company is shifting its focus to solving the issues faced by the creator community. The program will no longer be available starting next month, and if anyone wants to host any such event, they only have time until May 8.

Initially, at the time of the program’s introduction, it was announced that all of the money generated by any creator would be kept by the creator and that the platform wouldn’t charge any fees. The announcement was repeated over the next three years, but at the end, Meta decided to put an end to the service.

It won’t be the first time any such service has been made unavailable. With short video content starting to get famous, Meta decided to discontinue the live shopping program and start working on a new video format for content. However, Facebook is not the only platform where such features are being removed. Clubhouse, an audio chat room application, experienced a similar action when fifty percent of its employees were fired by the company.

All that’s left to see is what steps Meta will be taking in order to achieve its new goal of assisting creators with the problems they have been facing and if any other services will be taken down in the future.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Nearly 25% of Global Phone And US Calls Are Spam or Fraud

Quite a few people who are based in the US have begun to pay attention to the striking rise in spam calls that they have been receiving as of late. A study conducted by Hiya recently revealed that around 25% of all phone calls made in the US are nuisance calls, and 0.73% are outright fraud attempts with all things having been considered and taken into account.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, it bears mentioning that the number of calls that are flagged as spam has actually decreased by 26% between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. This still averages out to 14.5 spam calls per person per month, which basically means that regular Americans receive approximately one spam call every two days or so.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there has still been a rise in the proportion of fraud calls in the first quarter of 2023. Whereas fraud calls comprise around 0.73% of all calls in general, they come up to 1.8% of the total if we just look at this quarter.

One explanation for this is the holiday season in Q4 2022. Spam calls usually go up in this period because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making people more likely to fall for them. Hence, spam calls are usually lower than might have been the case otherwise during the first quarter of a year, which seems to suggest that the number is actually stagnant.

However, a stagnation in the growth rate of spam calls is actually a heartening sign. It indicates that these calls are not seeing all that much success, and if the current trend persists we might see a marked decline in such calls over the next few years. Most of these calls involve medical scams, so consumers need to be on their guard if they receive a call that asks them to provide any type of medical information to the person on the other end.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Android Users To Get Relief As Google Collaborates With Samsung To Kill Apps Running Unnecessarily In Backgrounds

A common complaint that we’ve seen arise from Android users is how so many apps continue to run unnecessarily in backgrounds. But it appears that Google may have found a solution to this.

The problem is encountered more with Android than iOS as the former does not kill such apps that continue to function without many people even noticing. The end result is battery drainage and that’s never appreciated for obvious reasons.

Today, the Android maker says it is working hard to address such background inconsistencies that are linked to Android 14 as it collaborates with Samsung by getting a new buy-in.

This simply means the South Korean tech giant is going to make it easier to get rid of such apps that developers try to manipulate by allowing them to run continuously. And when asked why, they come up with the excuse that it might restrict background work or prevent some key foreground services. So then they blame poor app performance on this.

While some developers feel the idea is good, others claim to be working around Android’s guidance and also added how following every restriction was not possible.

Today, Google says it has a starting goal with Android 14 and that’s designed to make it so much simpler for a few developers to produce applications that work in a consistent manner through several Android devices.

Google is on the search to solve the problems and challenges arising. And for that, they’re setting out deeper collaborations with various Android hardware producers to ensure APIs are readily available for conducting background work. They are those that get support in a predictable manner and arise consistently throughout the ecosystem.

Today, it’s Samsung who is getting the honor of the privilege of being the first to collaborate on this front. It’s all being made possible thanks to a new One UI 6.0 that enables foreground services to function appropriately on Android 14 while being given a guarantee to work so well, provided they align with the new policy set out by Android regarding APIs.

Samsung adds how this partnership came about in the creation of a unified policy that it feels will work well for all of its Galaxy users.

Alongside this news, we saw Google put forward a trio of changes that users can expect soon to arrive. For starters, there would be a clause to declare types of foreground services while requesting permission and when it’s necessary to use those.

Secondly, there would be a new data transfer procedure that indicates the job type. This would convert the whole experience of managing huge user uploads and downloads into a much more smoother experience. And lastly, the company’s new policies for Google Play would ensure there is the right use of foreground services. And that is what initiated such job transfers to arise in the first place.

Moreover, all developers were also requested to send feedback on the matter to ensure consistent results.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Struggles Continue For Twitter As The App’s Early Birds Cancel Subscriptions

Twitter Blue has been struggling for quite some time now, ever since we saw tech billionaire Elon Musk take on the role of heading the company.

But the mega $44 billion investment is not exactly giving what he may have wanted as new data suggests the app’s early birds have canceled subscriptions.

Those considered loyal patrons have opted to bid farewell as they aren’t keen on what Musk has to provide. Therefore, we’re seeing subscriptions decrease instead of increase and it’s not what investors were hoping for, let alone Musk himself.

The Blue Subscription was unveiled last year in the month of November. The app has only been able to turn around 640,000 users of the platform into making payments. That also came with its fair share of drama as some who weren’t paying were still provided legacy blue ticks so people were confused.

But the lackluster remains and why are people leaving the app is still a mystery that baffles Musk even though his decision-making might have a huge thing to do with it.

Data proved how from the 150,000 early subscribers of the platform, nearly 68,157 stuck around and they maintained the payments. It was ranging between $8 to $11 per month when using your smartphone.

Moreover, the complete number of early subscribers was directly related to leaks published internally by the top media outlet Washington Post. It proved how in the previous year, there were a staggering 150,000 users that signed up on the app at the start. But after the launch of it in November, a few days later, we saw people canceling the signups and opting out within less than a month’s timeframe.

The signup was only temporary as the intention of quite a few was to just impersonate several huge brands on the app. So when we really put things into perspective, a staggering 55% of the people who made subscriptions are no longer there and that is a huge rate. Why did so many people unsubscribe so quickly, it’s mindblowing.

Meanwhile, one study that was published in the past year by a management firm for subscriptions proved how the average yearly rate of people leaving online subscriptions of leading apps ranged between 5 to 6% but this is huge.

There are definitely some major additions to this information as we know there are still some who continue to remain subscribed without any additions. Moreover, it’s very much possible that some users ended up canceling or allowing the subscriptions to lapse with time but we did witness them coming back at a future date.

Additionally, it’s quite possible that a small portion of people that showed up as a subscriber ended up canceling because the app is giving it for free. That’s a rare case but we need to consider it too when looking at the figures.

For instance, there are reports of ex-Twitter subscribers trying to get out of the subscription but it not working in their favor, as they’re provided the tick again, and that too, free of cost.

The reason might be linked to the fact that there’s a poor retention rate as people are not feeling that this app is giving too much in return. The features of Twitter Blue on offer are not enticing enough for premium users.

We know about the edit button and the feature linked to producing longer posts but does that really justify the huge price tag attached?

Clearly not and people are now voicing their concerns to Musk on the app publicly about how he needs to do something about it or face people leaving the paid Blue service.

H/T: Mashable

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Predators Are Using Webcams to Prey on Children According to This Study

Technology has created a lot of new opportunities that never existed in the past, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it has also brought its fair share of unforeseen problems. The Internet Watch Foundation recently highlighted one of the most pervasive toxic elements of the online world, namely the use of webcams to capture images of CSA. Such images have increased ten times in their number since 2019, and they point to a huge issue with online culture.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that social media as well as online forums such as chatrooms are allowing a lot of these activities to take place. Predators are able to find vulnerable children through these online portals, and they then gain access to their webcams. Once this access has been obtained, predators use them to generate images of sexual abuse which can then be distributed through the dark web.

The researchers created a chatbot that posed as a pubescent girl, generally around 13 to 14 years of age, and conducted 953 separate conversations with adult men through these chat rooms. A startling proportion of these conversations were sexual in nature, and 39% of them included a link sent by the predator which the supposed child was encouraged to click on.

19% of these links contained malware, and 5% linked to sites that would “phish” the victim by taking control of all of their log in credentials once they tried to sign in. As many as 41% of these links led to a video conferencing software called Whereby which was created by a Norway based corporation that specializes in tech.

The popularity of Whereby is crucial because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing predators to manipulate the settings and spy on the child. This is just one of the many ways in which technology is facilitating the sexual abuse of children, and more effort need to be put into keeping these harmful activities at bay.

H/T: TheConversation

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Political Bias is the Single Biggest Component in Misinformation, New Study Reveals

The spread of misinformation has become a concerningly prevalent problem as of late, with the recent pandemic bringing this issue to the fore in an unprecedented manner. Most people assume that gullibility among the general populace is what leads to misinformation getting spread around more than might have been the case otherwise. In spite of the fact that this is the case, a new study has revealed that a lack of so called truth sensitivity might not actually be the main culprit here.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, shed some light on the state of misinformation. One thing that it revealed was that it wasn’t truth sensitivity but rather political bias that could make someone or the other more likely to share fake news that they see on some kind of a social media platform.

The study involved experiments which were conducted with over 2,400 participants drawn from various backgrounds in America. The participants were sourced from both sides of the political spectrum, and they were shown 60 headlines to determine their level of bias with all things having been considered and taken into account.

One thing that this revealed was that most participants displayed a strong ability to discern between true or false information. Also, people that assume that they have an above average ability to spot fake news from real news were also far more likely to let their political biases lead them astray.

Such studies are important because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up explaining the mechanisms behind the spread of misinformation. Assuming that you can tell which information is false could lead to you believing in your own biases, since you would be unable to determine if a news piece that confirms your biases is not presenting factual information. More work will need to be done in order to further these findings and help bring an end to the age of misinformation.

Photo: Freepik/Redgreystock

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

TikTok Under The Radar For Tracking UK-Based Journalist Through Her Pet Cat’s Account

It appears as if the issues surrounding tech giant TikTok never seem to end as the company is involved in another controversy.

This time around, it’s a bizarre yet alarming ordeal. Think along the lines of a UK-based journalist’s whereabouts being hunted down through her pet cat’s account on the social media platform.

The incident arose two days before the holiday for Christmas. And that’s when the platform called up Cristina Criddle to inform her how the firm’s own employees located in China and the US ended up viewing her details that were linked to her personal account.

They did not take any knowledge or any form of consent prior to that, and it was just a chilling and horrible ordeal. Let’s not forget how invasive that was, evading all the rules and regulations linked to privacy policies that the app takes great pride in.

What is even more interesting is how TikTok and ByteDance tend to brush away such reports as fake or false narratives but this time around, that was not going to happen. People had enough and it was time to bash those responsible. And in this case, journalist Cristina reported directly to the BBC so her story and points of view were not silenced and were going to be published as her truth.

So what does this mean, there’s a huge threat? Yes, that’s the case. The leading app confirmed how members that worked for the organization did indeed peek at her IP address and they ended up comparing it to the IP data of an unknown number of their staff. They wished to gain knowledge about who were the ones that were carrying out a meeting in secret conditions with the press.

The authority was misused and Cristina is furious because she has no clue about how long this has been taking place. Similarly, she had zero knowledge about how much information was given. By the looks of it, they knew everything including where and when she was going on holiday and that’s wrong because this was her personal details.

She feels violated as her intention was to do her job but what she got in return was chilling details about people knowing each and everything about her, all in the name of her feline pet.

The journalist’s real name and her details weren’t ever a part of the bio provided.

There were nearly 170 followers and in a span of just three years, she ended up adding 20 videos of Buffy and they were viewed several hundreds of times.

TikTok does like to grab onto details of its users including location, likes, which device is used, and the activity conducted outside of the app as well.

So many Western users’ information was not accessed or saved in China, the firm adds. And TikTok also justified by mentioning all those workers involved in this shady business of Cristina being tracked were also fired. They had similarly done this for other journalists from the West and TikTok said it could not save them for such misconduct.

Image DIW via MidJourney.
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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World