Elon Musk Called Out For Pushing False Narratives About X’s Success Again

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is back to his usual tactics and that entails pushing out false narratives related to his X app again.

Musk is all praise for the platform, adding how it’s achieving great success. However, experts are raising concerns about his conclusions because they feel the opposite is taking place in the social media domain.

In the past week, we’ve seen Elon Musk and his crew amplify reports linked to X and how it continues to edge out others in the race, going as far as to refer to it as the best news app we have today.

While we’re not saying that his claims are all false the way he’s framing it all is really raising eyebrows. His post from July 31st has Musk hailing the app as the best social media platform today.

He quoted stats from SimliarWeb that are used for measuring web traffic and giving more insights about how top webpages happen to be performing. What’s interesting is how such pages only measure web traffic and that means this is only taking visits to X into consideration and nothing else.

Why is all of this so important? Well, that’s because as per the app, just 88% of all users on X log into the platform through mobile phones.

Out of X’s reported 250 million DAU, just 29 million are logging into the webpage. Therefore, the usage chart only measures the usage being a fraction of the entire user base. As far as total usage is concerned, X isn’t even trailing where Meta’s Facebook stands, and neither is it close to Instagram’s reigning position.

Today. Facebook has nearly 2 billion DAU and most of them access it through the webpage and not the app. Instagram has a completely different picture where most people log in through their mobile phone and the number of daily active users stands at one billion.

In raw figures, Facebook has nearly eight times the daily user count that X has while Instagram has four times that. Therefore, the data is only a measure of the fracture of every platform’s usage.

So what Musk is saying about X isn’t indicative of anything really. X argues that it’s seeing more people log into the app than Facebook and Instagram as it’s being done through the desktop.

Many have time and time again questioned Musk’s claims on this front and how his stats about traffic doubling between May and June have taken place.

It might be doing great in the News apps category but to claim that it’s a news-related platform would simply be dubious for obvious reasons. The link is related to the past where Twitter was once thought of as your go-to news platform. Today, that’s not the case as most of the context has to do with user-generated content.

As per experts’ opinions, the fact that X hasn’t added many new users for a long time is clear how it’s not doing great. The interest is increasing yes but that’s about it.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

OpenAI Creates New Tool That Catches Students Cheating On Assignments With ChatGPT

Tech giant OpenAI has found a new solution to combat cheating on assignment concerns with ChatGPT.

For months, many have debated how useful ChatGPT really is, considering the drawbacks it comes with. This includes using the popular chatbot to cheat in assignments but as per new reports linked to the Wall Street Journal, the company has developed a new tool that could detect writings done through AI.

The only issue is that ChatGPT is debating on whether it should release it or not.

A new statement was provided on this front to media outlets where an OpenAI representative mentioned how the firm is currently researching the text watermarking stories published in the Journal. It hopes to take a deliberate step to alter the complexities that could be involved here, not to mention how the decision might end up altering the ecosystem beyond this system.

This method that they developed seems to be promising on a technical level but it does come with a lot of risks for the company which they hope to be weighing while studying different alternatives. Common examples include the susceptibility related to circumvention by threat actors and the ability to impact groups such as those who don’t speak English.

• Also read: How To Use Google Docs Secret Feature to Detect AI Content Writing

It’s going to be a different approach to that witnessed from efforts conducted in the past when detecting AI-based text. It’s been so ineffective. Even the company itself plans to shut down any old AI text detectors that arose due to a lower accuracy rate.

Thanks to text watermarking, the company hopes to focus solely on making detections through writings produced via ChatGPT. This would not apply to other models in use. It’s going to enable this by making small amendments to how the tool makes word selections by producing invisible watermarks seen in writings that might be detected at a later time by another tool.

After the publication was done, we saw the tech giant make updates to one of its own blog posts from May related to a study that had to do with detecting AI-based content. The change says text watermarking is very accurate and could turn out to be very useful when it comes to localized tampering incidents which include paraphrasing.

But it’s still not as effective with global techniques used for tampering including translations or rewording done via a separate generative model. This includes asking the tool to add special characters in between each word and then going about with character deletions later on.

• Also read: Report Reveals Podcasting is Not As Easier to Do as It Used to Be

OpenAI says that such methods turn out to be trivial to evasion by threat actors. The latest update from OpenAi seems to be an echo linked to the representative’s point that has to do with non-English speakers. They added how such a technique would stigmatize the true purpose or use of AI as the most useful tool for writing when non-native English speakers happen to be involved.

Image: DIW

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Report Reveals Podcasting is Not As Easier to Do as It Used to Be

A recent report by WSJ shows that podcasting is getting tougher for those who do not have a large following. The data from WSJ shows that the top 100 podcast shows reach only 60% of US audience while top 25 podcast shows reach half of regular podcast listeners in the USA. Podcasts started getting popular in the early 2000s and Apple made them mainstream after supporting them on iTunes and then synching them with iPod.

Anyone with a microphone and a good story to tell can start a podcast but there's no guarantee if it can reach a large audience. Nowadays only the podcasters who have a large following can earn most of the cash and audience because the brands only reach out to them. According to Podcast Industry Insights, there are about 450,000 active podcast shows but only the top 25 of them are able to reach half of US weekly listeners.

Many top podcasters like Alex Cooper, Trevor Noah and Joe Rogan have millions dollar deals with their respective platforms and even have their own tours and merchandise. Right now, Spotify is on the top podcasting list and earns a great revenue from it. Amazon’s Wondery podcast is also doing good and making big deals.

The podcast named Archetypes with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was a flop and cost Spotify $20 million. The launch of Apple’s iOS 17 was also to be blamed for reduced listeners of podcasts. With the iOS 17 update, podcasts do not download a new episode automatically and this way listeners miss the new episode. One company says that with this new update, they lost $9 million.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Researchers Find Apple AirTag, Samsung SmartTag2 Superior in Tracking Accuracy
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

5G Dominates Early 2024 Smartphone Market, CounterPoint Finds

According to CounterPoint, 2 out of 3 smartphones sold in the first half of 2024 were 5G-capable. The first 5G-capable smartphone was introduced in 2019, and since then, OEMs have introduced a number of smartphones capable of 5G networks. In 2023, the shipment of smartphones with 5G capability surpassed 2 billion units. In 2019, the 5G-capable smartphone penetration was just 2%, which increased to 20% after the launch of the 5G-capable iPhone 12 series in 2020.

During 2020-21, the sales of 5G-capable smartphones were slowly increasing, but they were limited to the premium segment because of the high cost of 5G chipsets. In the next two years, 5G smartphones dropped from triple-digit percentage growth to single-digit percentage growth. Mature markets had high shares of mid-range to premium smartphones with 5G contribution, and they crossed 80%.

It is expected that India, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa will be emerging markets for 5G-capable smartphone growth. The biggest challenge here is that 5G smartphones should be available in lower price tiers. In the first half of 2024, the ASPs for global 5G smartphones had already dropped by 30% since their release in 2019. This became possible when chipset makers reduced the price difference between 4G and 5G chipsets. Transsion Group, Xiaomi, and Samsung have introduced 5G-capable smartphones at cheaper prices now.

Right now, all 5G-capable smartphones have prices above $400. Smartphones priced between $249-$399 are also getting popular. $100-$249 smartphones are still 4G for now. Many 5G chipset makers are making efforts to bring 5G to lower prices. OEM Xiaomi is going to be the first company to introduce a chipset priced below $100, which will be available by the end of 2024.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Researchers Find Apple AirTag, Samsung SmartTag2 Superior in Tracking Accuracy

The researchers over at 9to5Google shipped different trackers from United Kingdom to United States to find out which tracking networks are best in finding lost things. The researchers used different trackers like Pebblebee Clip, Samsung SmartTag2, Chipolo One Point and Apple Air Tag and tracked them on their respective networks. Apple Air Tag was tracked on Apple Find My, Samsung Tag2 was tracked on Samsung’s SmartThings and Pebblebee Clip and Chipolo were tracked on Google’s Find My Device. All the trackers were placed in one package and shipped away.

In the first 24 hours, Samsung SmartTag2 and Apple AirTag were quickly located 200 miles away from the original shipping location. Chipolo and Pebblebee were still showing their location at a postal storage. This may be because of the slow expansion of Find My Device in the UK. After almost 40 hours, these two were also located via Find My Device. After some time, all four trackers were listed as arriving in the USA at Newark International Airport. Even though there were some differences in the location of all trackers, they were still within a 100 meter radius of each other.

Image: 9to5G

After 72 hours, trackers were tracked at John F. Kennedy Airport but with less pronounced location discrepancies. AirTag was giving frequent location updates than other trackers while SmartTag2 was giving updates on a regular basis. Chipolo and Pebblebee were not getting updated that much. All the trackers were located within a few meters of each other. Now they had to be moved to different locations and AirTag and SmartTag2 were handling it well by frequently updating the location. But Chipolo and Pebblebee were still stuck in the location they were earlier in the day. The distance from their current location to the location they were stuck at was about 80 miles, showing how inaccurate Google’s network was.

On day five, almost 120 hours later, all trackers except Pebblebee showed an accurate final destination, Syracuse, New York. But Pebblebee was showing its location 30 miles away from the final destination. Even after refreshing several times, Pebblebee didn't change its location even though it was connected to the same account as Chipolo.

Even when the trackers were shipped to the true final destination, AirTag was quick with updates about location every 5-10 minutes. SmartTag2 was also doing well but Android’s Find My Device was less regular with its updates. The updates were coming every few hours. It is still good enough to have an idea about where you left something.

The results showed that Apple’s AirTag is a good tracker, along with Samsungs’s SmartTag2. But the same cannot be said about Google’s Find My Device. AirTag is good in the USA because of the large number of iPhone users there. Google’s default settings make it difficult to find a tracker in high traffic network areas but it can help you in getting an idea about where you left something.



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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

These Are The World’s Most Visited Websites In 2024

Latest data from SimilarWeb shows the most visited websites worldwide as of June 2024.

There are over 5.4 billion internet users, which make up 67.1% of the total population of the world. Many of them visit numerous websites daily, increasing the revenue of those websites.

As per June 2024 data, Google.com (boasting 18.32% of global web traffic share) is the most visited domain in the world with 82 billion monthly visits (approximately 2.73 billion visits daily). On average, a user views around 8 web pages on Google search and spends around 10 minutes on the website per visit. Following Google, the second most visited website globally is YouTube.com, with 31 billion monthly visits. Both of these websites are owned by Alphabet.

The third most visited website in the world is Meta’s Facebook.com, with 3.41% of global traffic share and 15 billion monthly visits. Instagram comes next with 7 billion monthly visits. X.com (Twitter) is the 5th most visited domain, with 6 billion monthly visits. All of the top five websites are based in the USA. The 6th most visited website is China’s search engine Baidu.com, with 4 billion monthly visits.

Other websites included in the top ten most visited websites in the world are Wikipedia.org and Yahoo.com. Russia’s search engine Yandex.ru is the 9th most visited website in the world, with 3 billion monthly visits. WhatsApp.com (by Meta) and ChatGPT.com (by OpenAI) also made it to the top 14 most visited websites in the world, both with 3 billion monthly visits.

Reddit.com is also one of the most visited websites in the world with a 0.51% traffic share, followed by TikTok.com with a 0.51% traffic share, and Amazon.com with a traffic share of 0.49%. All of these websites have 2 billion monthly visits. Wikipedia.org is the only non-commercial website on the list.

Domain	Global Traffic Share	Monthly Visits	Country	Industry
google.com	18.32%	82B	USA	Search Engine
youtube.com	6.96%	31B	USA	Video Sharing
facebook.com	3.41%	15B	USA	Social Media
instagram.com	1.55%	7B	USA	Social Media
x.com	0.87%	6B	USA	Social Media
baidu.com	0.98%	4B	China	Search Engine
wikipedia.org	0.93%	4B	USA	Online Encyclopedia
yahoo.com	0.75%	3B	USA	Web Portal
yandex.ru	0.70%	3B	Russia	Search Engine
whatsapp.com	0.67%	3B	USA	Messaging
chatgpt.com	0.62%	3B	USA	Software (AI)
reddit.com	0.51%	2B	USA	Social Media
tiktok.com	0.51%	2B	China	Social Media
amazon.com	0.49%	2B	USA	E-commerce

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Indonesia Bans Search Engine DuckDuckGo After Massive Complaints Issued By Users

DuckDuckGo has just been outlawed in Indonesia.

The popular search engine that gained fame for being one of the best in terms of offering privacy mentioned that its operations in the country have been stopped after the recent ban.

The question on many people’s minds is why. And the answer is simple. The wings were clipped after so many citizens issued complaints on the great number of complaints linked to explicit content including pornography and other illegal activities such as gambling.

The news is shocking because the popularity in the country amongst citizens was immense but the government explained to media outlet Reuters that they were left with no decision but to take immediate action.

The search results displayed rampant queries and requests for illegal content and considering how the country has the biggest population of Muslims who consider such acts against religion, it was something that was bound to happen.

As per data released by the government, three million citizens took part in the behavior last year and the situation was getting out of control.

It’s worth mentioning how this privacy tool mentioned on its main homepage how its goal is just to display to the world that its privacy protection is the top priority. This was not in line with what the government thinks who have been left with no solution but this.

Another interesting point is how the country has failed to take action against others like Google which is still functional.

In cases where users still want to continue using the search engine, private VPNs are trending in the country. This prevents being detected and enables IP address spoofing and access to the web. It’s like using it from a totally different country.

In terms of selecting the best secure VPN for evading censorship, experts recommend something that works well at targeting the killswitch. In this manner, when and if connectivity is in decline, users will not be left with browsing the actual IP address.

You’ll find so many great VPNs that work for free as well but for them to work in a country like Indonesia isn’t a simple task as experts note.

This is why the government is working on reducing access to free VPN tools from now.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World