From LinkedIn, YouTube to TikTok and Threads, Which App Reached 100 Million Users the Fastest?

After Elon Musk took control of Twitter and began its downward trajectory, rumors began to circulate of Meta creating its own Twitter clone. The tech juggernaut is known for being an app killer, often genericizing features such as what it did with Snapchat Stories by incorporating it into each and every service that fell under its umbrella. Threads is the latest addition to Meta’s social media catalogue, and it’s safe to say that its launch has been a resounding success.

Within the span of just 5 days, Threads was able to reach the 100 million user mark. This was helped in no small part by the billions of users Meta as across its other platforms, namely Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Funnelling all of these users into the Twitter clone allowed Meta to break the record easily, thereby making ChatGPT’s once impressive feat seem like a flash in the pan.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that OpenAI’s powerful chatbot was the previous holder of the top spot in terms of how quickly an app can cross the 100 million user threshold. It took ChatGPT 2 months to reach 100 million users, and now that it has been surpassed by Threads, it will be interesting to see if any other app is able to accomplish this feat so quickly.

Meta has a long history of breaking these types of records. Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook have all held this record at some point or another, with Facebook first reaching this total in 2004. It took a whopping 4 years and 6 months to reach 100 million users, with WhatsApp taking 3 years and 6 months in 2009, and Instagram taking 2 years and 6 months in 2010.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, these apps now occupy the 10th, 7th and 5th places respectively. Before ChatGPT’s soaring rise to the top, TikTok had managed the feat in 9 months in 2017, which signalled the end of Meta and Google’s rise to dominance. TikTok now sits in 3rd place behind Threads and ChatGPT.

Google has also seen its fair share of success, with YouTube toppling Meta to reach a hundred million users in 2005 after 4 years and 1 month. This was 5 months faster than Facebook managed it which puts YouTube in 9th place, although Snapchat took the crown in 2011 after its 3 years and 8 months race to the top which gives it the 8th ranking.

One thing that bears mentioning is that all of these apps were second to MySpace, which 3 years to reach a hundred million in 2003. Instagram was the first app to outrank it in 2010.

H/T: VC

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

To Join Threads, Anticipate These Potential Risks on Your User Data

Meta recently launched a new text-based app that is intrinsically connected to Instagram. Meta is a social media platform in competition with Twitter. Threads already have over 100 million registered users. Users are unaware of sharing their data by third parties, which Meta claims is not under their control.

Threads have enabled third-party services to access user online habits and location as aspects of data collection, over which Meta has no control, unlike its other applications such as Instagram, Facebook, and others. Users are clueless about how their data exploitation and where it ends up.

It gets more unnerving. The general privacy policy is applicable across Meta Products, mentioning an array of what is collected. These include accessing cameras, unencrypted messages, user interaction with website ads and content, and their screen time on apps. As though that does not infringe on user privacy enough, they have access to device details, including the users' device battery percentage and signal strength.

However, like other products by different companies, Meta accesses proximate locations by collecting their users' IP addresses regardless of location service status. But Threads also has access to personal demographics — race, ethnicity, pregnancy state, education status, health information, and loosely defined sensitive or classified data, and according to the policies constructed by Apple, those are religious or philosophical beliefs. Meta also collects credit card numbers and transaction details for online purchases, along with shipping, billing, contract details, and the product the user purchases.

This is highly concerning, as confirmed in a CBS report by a cybersecurity expert from Drexel University, who claimed that the guidelines did not protect users' data. Such breach of personal privacy data can be as invasive as the events of a Nebraska woman charged with aiding her daughter to receive an abortion upon evidence shared by Meta.

And this extent of data collection is just the tip of the iceberg. Users can only delete their Threads account by deleting their Instagram profile. But what is essential to consider is Threads’ supplemental privacy policy which further collects profile information, users’ interaction with the app and the content they upload, and their engagement with other communities and people. The third parties control this integration, which is beyond Meta’s control. This means they can send off personal user data to various companies and investors, all unbeknownst to the user.

Although users can delete their information within Instagram settings and control their privacy settings, that does not guarantee their safety from private data scraping. Meta further claimed to Insider that their privacy policies are similar across all their apps. They only collect data shared with them according to the types mentioned in the App Store, and users can share various types of data. They also suggested reviewing Threads' supplementary privacy policy on data collection.

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by Ahmed Naeem via Digital Information World

Google Claims SEO Has Stayed the Same for 20 Years

Individuals working in the field of search engine optimization are often sitting around and waiting for the next big change to drop. Doing so can be crucial because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing them to adjust their methodologies accordingly. However, Google’s liaison of search, Danny Sullivan, has claimed that the manner by which you can climb the rankings on Google’s SERP has not changed all that dramatically in the past two years.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there is at least some veracity to his statement. If you were to take a look at Google’s guidelines back in 2002, you might notice a section that tells people to create content for users instead of the algorithm. Even now, this can help you rank higher than might have been the case otherwise, so it might be a useful thing to keep in mind.

"Make pages for users, not for search engines." -- Google, 2002

Our good advice then remains the same over two decades later. To succeed in Google Search, focus on people-first content.https://t.co/NaRQqb1SQx pic.twitter.com/bibv53icz9

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) July 6, 2023

Many website owners try to manipulate the algorithm, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, creating content precisely for the search engine is never going to help you get a high enough ranking with all things having been considered and taken into account. People first approaches are the name of the game, and it has clearly been that way for at least two decades if not longer.

It will be interesting to see how this affects people’s approaches to SEO in the near future. Some are saying that this is the harbinger of a major change that is to come, although Danny Sullivan himself has claimed that this is just a useful piece of information to provide. SEO professionals who try to game the system are always going to end up with subpar results, since their webpages simply won’t contain the type of authoritative information that Google is trying to provide to people.

The core advice has stayed the same, and it is not likely going to change anytime soon. Only a major seismic shift can change such a foundational element to SEO.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

A decade of record-breaking emoji popularity throughout the course of 10 years

Emojipedia, the world's leading emoji reference and resource platform, has highlighted the upcoming celebration of two remarkable milestones.

Emojipedia, the premier online repository for all things emoji, will commemorate two significant occasions on this day next week. The 10th World Emoji Day will be celebrated by Emojipedia on July 17, 2023, which also marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the website. The dual celebration honors emojis' continuing influence on international communication as well as a decade of unparalleled prosperity.

But first, let's take a trip down memory lane to July 2013, when Emojipedia was originally founded, before we get into the intriguing facts. Since then, emoji usage has advanced significantly around the world. Emojipediafounder Jeremy Burge sent that first tweet, and the landscape of digital communication was forever transformed.

It's fascinating to learn which emojis captivated the world's attention back then as we look back on the early years of Emojipedia. The most often used emojis in July 2013 were very unlike from those that are most frequently used in discussions now. They represented a glimpse into the emerging language of emotion and expression. Through Emojipedia, people gained a new way to communicate and connect on a global scale.

Emoji usage has increased dramatically as of 2023. Emojis have had an unheard-of rise in popularity over the past ten years on a variety of social media sites. Emojipedia has been at the forefront of documenting and embracing this cultural phenomenon.

To kick off its 10th anniversary celebrations, Emojipedia has delved into Twitter's vast emoji data to uncover intriguing insights. The findings showcase the enduring impact and evolution of emojis since Emojipedia's inception. Most notably, 2023 has witnessed a new global peak in emoji usage. It is clear that emojis have assimilated into contemporary communication, bridging linguistic divides and promoting global connectedness.

Data from March 2023 indicates that almost 26.7% of tweets now contain at least one of the 3,664 emoji characters recommended by Unicode as of September 2022 (Emoji 15.0 recommendations). This marks a significant increase in emoji usage and represents the highest recorded rate of emoji usage on Twitter.

Since July 2022, every month has set a new record for emoji usage on Twitter. When comparing January 2013 to March 2023, there has been an overall increase in emoji use of approximately 724%, as depicted in the chart.

In the year Emojipedia was founded, there were just over 700 emojis recommended by Unicode for inclusion on emoji keyboards. However, today there are 3,664 emojis recommended for general interchange (RGI). The graph below illustrates the increase in the number of emojis recommended by Unicode from Unicode 6.0 in October 2010 to Emoji 15.0 in September 2022.

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Twitter Issues Request To Federal Court For The End Of FTC’s Privacy Settlement

Twitter has requested the Federal Court to intervene and put an end to the FTC’s privacy settlement involving the company.

The tech giant says the FTC’s probe on how the firm stores and makes use of user’s data has really gotten out of hand and now, it wants the world to know that this behavior is not okay as the issue is spiraling out of control.

In 2011, we saw a document come forward that spoke about how the app failed to keep its users as a top priority and how it failed to delineate what it was doing with their information. The order made the firm go through a series of assessments related to its security program over a decade and it also banned the firm from misleading users related to its doubtful security practices.

But Elon Musk says it’s just been too long and now it wants Twitter to be free from this order by the FTC from 2011. The firm added during a recent investigation how it’s all just so biased and very misfitting for the company to go through something of this sort. Hence, it will no longer serve any major purpose and therefore should be removed without further due.

The popular microblogging website put out a new statement about how the FTC is putting out unnecessary demands against it. Twitter has referred to this behavior as one that’s linked to stepping over the line and overreaching.

Before Elon Musk had taken over the firm, we saw it reach a massive $150 million agreement, alongside the FTC, that spoke about how the company did violate orders and didn’t let users know how data that belonged to them was being used for ad targeting purposes.

A few days after we saw Elon Musk take charge of the firm, we saw the regulatory body announce how it was on a mission to keep the same orders in place, despite major names leaving the organization. They issued bold statements about how it was silently watching the organization and keeping track of its daily activities.

The FTC said that no organization was going to be ruling above the law and all firms need to follow consent orders. They even put out revised orders of consent that would give them more means to ensure Twitter was in line with its policies. And if required, they would not hesitate one bit in terms of making use of it.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

OpenAI Under Fire As FTC Begins Probe For False Information Allegations Against ChatGPT

American regulators are not happy with OpenAI after striking allegations arose against the company regarding its ChatGPT tool.

This was linked to a high risk of the program giving out false information. Therefore, a letter was sent to the company that spoke about relevant data and how the company poses certain risks such as these that really put an individual’s reputation at stake.

The probe is a clear indication of how many AI platforms will no longer be given the benefit of the doubt or be spared when such allegations come forward. But the firm’s CEO Sam Altman says it’s working side by side with the FTC to make sure it gets all the necessary answers it needs to complete its investigation.

ChatGPT is famous for producing replies that are very real as if it was generated from a human and not an AI chatbot. But that comes with its fair share of risks including misinformation and without people even knowing, they’re tricked into believing something of the sort in a matter of seconds. The same thing would take you minutes or more when using traditional aspects linked to search.

This is why experts fear the world of AI is going to change the way we all attain data when carrying out online searches. Moreover, this is another reason why one firm’s downfall could be another great opportunity for a new startup to fill in the loops offered by ChatGPT. And so far, no one has come too close to make it feel threatened but you never know.

There is a huge debate that surrounds whether or not the information being put out is real and if yes, how accurate is it? Similarly, other aspects worth a mention include whether or not the firm is going against its own policy and training its AI model using data that belongs to others. If yes, that’s another matter altogether.

In the letter that was sent over to OpenAI, we are seeing how the company was also quizzed about how much potential it has to produce replies about real people that are actually fake, damaging, and harmful.

For now, the FTC says it is also keen on seeing which measures OpenAI takes in terms of protecting data and ensuring it remains private. Similarly, how it uses data to train its models is another keen area under observation.

But the company’s CEO says it’s got nothing to hide. For years, they claim to be spending more and more time and funds to ensure the system is safe and that all research carried out is in line with its rules and regulations. They also vow to keep their users as a top priority, as confirmed through a recently published tweet on the Twitter app.

Another post generated by the firm added how confident it felt that it was behaving in line with the laws of the country and that is why they are open to all investigations and scrutiny by anyone including the FTC.

During the start of this year, we saw the OpenAI CEO delineate further in front of Congress how AI technology, including that of ChatGPT, was prone to errors. Therefore, he requested more laws in place to ensure such an industry could better regulate what’s taking place as that would be in everyone’s best interest.

Altman similarly spoke about how the AI sector can have profound effects on so many things including people’s future and career prospects and since there is a lot at stake, he was vocal about how better regulations must be added. And that’s why we’re seeing this new probe take place right now.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Twitter's Cash Splash: Top Tweeters Raking in Thousands of Dollars

Once again, Twitter has made heads turn around towards it. Twitter has officially made its creator ad share payouts public, and the results are nothing short of spectacular. While the admission requirements were demanding, the gradual rollout plan now makes perfect sense. Top tweeters are already counting their green, with rewards reaching hundreds of dollars, in a move that has many Twitter users rejoicing.

For our readers context, Elon Musk, the eccentric Twitter owner, said earlier this year that Twitter would split ad income with Twitter Blue users to empower artists. The program's mechanics remained unknown until yesterday when Musk said that the first creator payments would be issued for advertising presented in answers to verified users only.

More information on the qualification requirements for creators was revealed this week. To be eligible for the program, authors must have earned at least 5 million monthly tweet impressions over the previous three months. That is no easy task, but the benefits have shown to be well worth the effort.

The first round of payments arrived on Twitter this week, and they did not disappoint. Some fortunate Twitter users have claimed to get payouts of $25k, $30k, and even more. These are stunning stats that are sure to pique the interest of other prominent Twitter users. Everyone will soon be clamouring for a piece of the revenue pie.

It's worth noting that these payouts have been backdated to Musk's original February statement. As a result, the funds collected cover a hefty five-month ad income split. As a result, these figures are likely to be larger than most creators can expect.

Twitter's strategy, which was first perceived as a result of internal issues, is pretty intelligent. Twitter has made the quoted statistics appear extremely appealing by delivering five months' worth of revenue share in one go and restricting rewards to the most engaged users. Naturally, this has created a surge of interest in the initiative, with a slew of ardent tweeters hoping for similar rewards.

The possibility of such significant revenues will definitely encourage artists to tweet more frequently. Everyone wants to increase their interaction and include more advertisements in their responses. However, This rise in participation may raise concerns about the sorts of content the program unwittingly encourages.

Twitter must strike a delicate balance as it navigates the obstacles of its new revenue-sharing venture. The program's success depends on recruiting and rewarding top tweeters while ensuring that the information provided stays valuable and diversified. Let's see how well and long it goes.

Wrapping up the story with this thought, Twitter's creator ad share rewards have created a frenzy on the network. Others are ready to board, with top tweeters earning thousands of dollars. However, to minimise possible content generation complications, Twitter must carefully supervise the program. Only time will tell how this daring decision will affect the social media giant and its creators' future.

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by Rubah Usman via Digital Information World