iGyaan Network

Category: Twitter

  • Twitter Joins Hands With Women Advocacy Group to Fight Online Harassment

    Twitter Joins Hands With Women Advocacy Group to Fight Online Harassment

    We all know the depreciational quality of any online conversation with another human being. There’s something about the mode of online communication that leaves us shielded from other person’s emotions, leading us to create a lot of nasty content over the internet. The information super highway was meant for the world to unite and share ideas, instead, we have turned it into a septic tank of human nastiness. One of the worst issues online is the issue of online harassment. It is especially a common occurrence on social media. Now Twitter will be taking steps to prevent harassment on its pages.

    Twitter has joined hands with a non-profit advocacy organization Women, Action, and the Media (WAM) to take on online harassment. It is reported through a PEW survey that as many as 25% of women aged between 18-24 have been stalked online, while 26% have been on the receiving end of online sexual harassment.

    Using an online form you can report specifics of the harassment, you're facing.
    Twitter said that it works with multiple partners to take on online harassment.

    These are troubling figures as it creates a malignant atmosphere for women online. In the garb of anonymity, insensitive elements create a havoc on the person they are targeting. WAM will work towards making it easier for Twitter to take actions against these unscrupulous troublemakers.

    WAM has created an online form which can be used to report abuses. It is an anti-gender harassment campaign, and so the form can be used by women and men both. WAM has made it clear that they will use the complaints received to direct Twitter to take action, but ultimate authority lies with Twitter.

    Recently, a major Twitter scandal unfolded in the Tech world with the exposure of #gamergate, where certain female gamers were being harassed by gamers. They were forced to speak out against gender discrimination against females in gaming. After facing tremendous pushback from mainstream attention, the gamergate movement is now dying a silent death.

    The safety features might come in handy for reporting abuses, but what is really necessary to end this menace is accountability. The people who indulge in harassment of others leads to more controls on expression, which just spoils the fun for everyone. It’s important that the abusers face the consequences of their actions. But most importantly, we need to have an online culture conversation. The online world is an ecosystem of its own, and it is still discovering itself, constantly evolving. We need to create a civilisational grammar for this new society and make it a place to have real developmental interactions.

  • Air India Finally Gets on Board! Launches its Official App and Twitter Account

    Air India Finally Gets on Board! Launches its Official App and Twitter Account

    Seems like Air India is finally awake from a deep slumber. It has officially launched a new app for smartphones to make bookings simple and convenient even while you’re on the move. Better late than never,  Air India has also officially boarded the micro blogging site Twitter with a new account @airindiain.

    As already mentioned, the app should facilitate quick and hassle free bookings along with providing user oriented information like fare details, check ins etc. The app is only available only on the Play Store for now, though will be rolled out for iOS soon.

    The airline already has a Facebook page and getting onto Twitter account would be considered a step in the right direction. This makes Air India the sixth Indian airline to have an account on Twitter.

    “We will be launching our Twitter account in the next few days,” said Rohit Nandan, chairman and managing director of Air India. “I know it’s a tough task for us to be there, but we have to improve our customer services and I think this is the step in that direction. This will keep us on our toes. We would try to do our best so we can solve customer queries in real time. And gradually scale up our efforts,” said Nadan in a report published by Times of India.

  • Twitter Gets Musical with its New Audio Card Feature

    Twitter Gets Musical with its New Audio Card Feature

    All of our Twitter timelines are going get more musical after the social networking giant launched a new Twitter Audio Card feature that is already being used by SoundCloud and Apple’s iTunes.

    audio_card_blog copy

    “The world’s most influential musicians and media producers already share unique audio content through Twitter every day. Today we’re introducing a new way for you to experience audio directly on Twitter. ” Twitter wrote on the official blog. “With a single tap, the Twitter Audio Card lets you discover and listen to audio directly in your timeline on both iOS and Android devices. Throughout your listening experience, you can dock the Audio Card and keep listening as you continue to browse inside the Twitter app.” blog post added.

    In SoundCloud’s case, the Audio Card opens up a full-screen player for the audio, complete with whatever artwork the creator has uploaded to SoundCloud for it. The audio will continue playing when the card is minimised, though. As the new feature launched, Guetta tweeted a link to a new remix of his song Dangerous, while Chance the Rapper followed suit with a link to his new single No Better Blues.

    Twitter also announced that content by select iTunes artists will also appear in Audio Cards, allowing users to preview music that has not been released yet. U.S. rock band Foo Fighters gave fans a taste from their new album “Sonic Highways” by tweeting their song “Something From Nothing.”

    It is worth noticing that the iTunes player on Twitter plays the whole song, unlike the preview on iTunes Store itself, which plays less than 2 minutes of it. Twitter said it is still testing Audio Cards, and plans to open it up to more partners and creators. The feature follows other Twitter Cards that allow users to add more content to their tweets such as in-stream videos.

  • After Bendgate, Apple’s iPhone 6 Now Faces Hairgate

    After Bendgate, Apple’s iPhone 6 Now Faces Hairgate

    Forget #bendgate, iPhone 6 Plus users have discovered a new problem with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The online uproar started after some iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners got strands of hair caught between the screen and the aluminum frame of the iPhone. And soon after, Hairgate caught on and started trending.

    It is difficult to decipher whether there is any real issue, but Twitter users have made #hairgate a rising social media trend, leading major news outlets to glomp on the story. Bearded iPhone users have also complained that their facial hair gets yanked during calls, leading to the separate trend #beardgate.

    However, it has been regarded as fabricated and misleading. Gordon Kelly, Forbes’ reviewer said, “The gap between the front glass and aluminium does not exist. There is a bevel, but the glass front panel is actually fused to the aluminium and the tiny gap you do see is significantly narrower than a human hair.”

    2014-10-07-12.13.20-1940x1435

    “Furthermore even if a significant gap did exist, hairgate would still make no sense. It has been pointed out that ‘Gapgate’ on the Galaxy Note 4 (where a tangible gap exists in the phablet’s seam) was also present in both the Note 2 and Note 3 designs and owners go by without widespread reports of hair trauma. The Note 3 alone sold 10 million units in 2 months, so that’s a pretty wide test base.” Kelly added.

    Meanwhile, Twitter has been flooded with funny tweets about the new false scandal. Apple has faced quite a bit of criticism since the mega launch event in Cupertino. The technology giant had to face massive social media bashing for news that their new iPhone 6 Plus has the tendency to bend in tight pockets. Apple’s biggest competitors like Samsung, LG and HTC got together with some brutal take downs of Apple’s latest flagship in an event dubbed “bendgate”. Adding to the woes was the faulty iOS 8.0.1 update which caused issues in the new iPhone and had to be withdrawn.

  • Twitter for New iOS 8 Gets a Major Makeover

    Twitter for New iOS 8 Gets a Major Makeover

    With the new Apple iOS 8 update, Twitter app for the iPhone just got slicker. Earlier layout of the Twitter app for iOS was clustered and has been criticised for not being user friendly. With the new updated look, Twitter seems have used the earlier feedback to make the new and improver interface more user friendly and declustered.

    The updated app has got  a brand new design for profiles, which brings your bio front and center. Earlier users had to swipe the user name window to see the bio. Also, the company has added different timelines for tweets, pictures/GIF uploaded and favorite tweets for easy reading.

    The new profile layout will show up on both iOS 7 and iOS 8. So, if you haven’t upgraded yet to the new iOS, you can still enjoy the new layout in your iPhone. However, you get some extra perks with iOS 8 such as the power to retweet, follow and favorite posts right from the notification center.

  • The Best Twitter Reactions to the Arrival of Apple Watch and iPhone 6

    The Best Twitter Reactions to the Arrival of Apple Watch and iPhone 6

    Love it or hate it, the long-awaited Apple iPhone 6 is here to stay. For Apple lovers it was time to meet the world of multimedia friendly big screens with the company releasing two variants this time, the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus.

    Folks on twitter were also pretty excited with the launch and here are some of their reactions:

    Some Were Appreciative:

    Some were hurtful:

    Some were really Imaginative:

    Some were just totally Bizzare:

    Some caught something unique:

    There were some foreign policy questions too:

    The Apple Watch also drew some attention:

    At the end, Samsung’s sponsored Twitter Trend didn’t go unnoticed:

    As Always no nerd fest is complete without a Star war reference:

  • Motorola Releases KitKat 4.4.4 Update in India

    Motorola Releases KitKat 4.4.4 Update in India

    Motorola is surely in it to win it. The brand with its fierce product placement is ruthlessly being a thorn in the eye of the competition. After being the first company to bring Kitkat to all price points, the company will become one of the firsts to have the Kitkat 4.4.4 running on all its devices.

    Motorola informed the users through its twitter account. The company claims that this new update will add an extra layer of security for web browsing. The company also stated that the new update will fix several stability, framework and OpenSSL-related issues. The phones will get a new phone dialer.

    Motorola phones presently are the most feature-packed and competitively priced devices. All three phones have successfully become the leaders and have ushered speed in delivering updates in an update starved market. The company had released a 4.4.3 update just last month.

  • 10 Things You Don’t Know About Twitter (But Should)

    10 Things You Don’t Know About Twitter (But Should)

    Recently, we’ve been paying quite a bit of attention to this powerful social media forum. Why shouldn’t we? It is used by millions everyday, and we especially love the way it helps us stay connected. Twitter needs to be given credit for being one of the first sites which helped us communicate with famous names. Everyone starting from Barack Obama to Shah Rukh Khan use this microblogging service. Companies also use this service to keep in contact with their customers.

    Yesterday, we explained the 10 easy steps you can use to become a Twitter Pro. Carrying on the series, here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Twitter:

    1. Narendra Modi’s Tweet Created History

    On 16th May 2014, the Indian election results confirmed a huge victory for the Bhartiya Janata Party. On the same day, @NarendraModi’s victory tweet, created record history by becoming the most retweeted and favourited tweet from India.

    2. You Can Use Twitter to Share Files

    Log onto Filesocial.com with your Twitter ID, upload a file and it will automatically be shared on your twitter account.  You can upload PDFs and documents, as well. It’ll appear as a regular post on your feed; anyone can see, comment and even download that file.

    3. Get Your Entire Twitter History Emailed to You

    At the bottom of your Account Settings page, there is a tab labeled ‘Request Your Archive’. Click on it to request a file containing all your information, which goes back to your first Tweet. Twitter emails you a link from where you can download the file that includes a detailed document with timestamps, tweets, retweets and URLS.

    4. You Can Create Secret Lists

    Twitter list

    It’s fairly simple, when you click on the tab to create a new list, click on the option of making the list private. Now no one other than you would be able to view that list. Twitter lists can be used de-clutter your account. Once you have a large number of followers or if you’re following too many people, you can sort out the  by organising them into lists which are only visible to you. Lists can be organized on the basis of location, topics being discussed, job profiles, or your closest friends. 

    5. The Blue Bird Has a Name

    twitter-bird-

    Twitter’s famous mascot is named “Larry”. Larry the Bird has been reportedly named after Larry Bird, a former professional basketball player who played for the Boston Celtics.

    6. People Buy Followers on Twitter

    Okay, most of you might already know this. Similar to buying ‘likes’ on Facebook, you can buy followers on Twitter. There are a ton of sites available which claim to give you cheap rates to increase your followers. This might be a good idea if you’re building a brand and promoting it through Twitter, however you should know that these followers will not be an active audience. They’re not going to be interested in your brand or tweets, they’re only an added number.

    7. The Most Followed Person on Twitter is..

    katy perry

    With more than 53 million followers, Katy Perry has been reigning on top since November 2013. She is followed closely by Justin Bieber (52.2 million) and then President Barack Obama (43.5 million). Says a lot about where the world’s priorities lie. The most followed Indian is Amitabh Bachchan, with more than 9 million followers.

    8. Twitter’s Current CEO Was a Professional Comedian.

    Their previous COO and current CEO Dick Costolo, in an interview revealed that he tried his hand at stand-up comedy and failed. According to Business Insider, his stakes at Twitter are now worth $430 Million. We’re pretty sure he has no regrets.

    9. You Can Send Tweets Via Text Messages

    In fact, this is the site’s foundation stone. Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey had initially pictured it as an SMS-based communication platform. Though Twitter is a free service, your mobile carrier service might charge you according to your chosen messaging plan. If you have an unlimited texting plan you won’t get charged, if you have a pay-per-message then the regular charges will apply.

    10. Facebook Almost Bought Twitter

    -facebook-twitter-

    According to the tech grapevine, sometime around October 2008 Mark Zuckerberg offered to pay $500 million to buy out Twitter. He was dealing directly with Jack Dorsey. The deal came to a crashing halt when Dorsey was yanked from his position as CEO, and assigned the position of a Chairman with zero operational control. 

  • Rumor Report : Twitter To Buy Soundcloud

    Rumor Report : Twitter To Buy Soundcloud

    Twitter had shown interest in the music scene before, by introducing its own Twitter Music app, which unfortunately proved to be a failure. But that hasn’t deterred the company’s effort to find a way to make music a larger part of its service.

    According to Recode, Twitter is attempting  to purchase SoundCloud, one of the internet’s best homes for sharing music.

    twitter-is-reportedly-in-talks-to-buy-soundcloud-0-300x300Berlin-based SoundCloud is a free service that lets users upload and share audio files around the Web; it is popularly described  as the “YouTube for audio.” In October 2013, the company announced that it had 250 million users.

    If the deal is confirmed, the acquirement would be a huge move for Twitter, which has seen its stock worn out over the last few months – its investors anxious about its slow growth pace. If the deal goes forward, it would also be Twitter’s most pricey acquisition till date. Earlier this year, SoundCloud announced a $60 million funding round that valued the company at $700 million. Last fall,  Twitter was preparing to go public with its acquirement of a mobile advertisement company called MoPub, in a deal that valued the company above $300 million.

    A Twitter deal will also likely up the pressure on SoundCloud to reach a deal with big music labels to distribute their songs. SoundCloud currently has no such deals, which puts it in a gray area similar to YouTube in its early days. Some copyrighted songs are on the service without the owners’ permission, but others are uploaded by artists and labels that value the distribution SoundCloud provides.

    The two are already linked in several ways. Twitter’s users frequently pass along SoundCloud links in their messages; Peter Watts, a music tech hacker, has been tracking the popularity of music services on Twitter, his survey found that Twitter users share SoundCloud links more than any other music service, including Spotify.

    twitter

    If SoundCloud can gets favorable music licensing deals to legalize how their users get access to published songs, then maybe we could see music become a deeply embedded feature on Twitter. This deal would give Twitter the much needed push into media by adding another interesting and popular publishing platform.

  • Twitter Commerce Will Allow Users To Buy Directly From Tweets

    According to a recent report on the Re/code site, popular social network Twitter appears to be getting serious about commerce on its service; and is probably close to finalizing an agreement with payment services firm Stripe. 

    The site posted mockups, reportedly created by Fancy, of what would be called Twitter Commerce, a new program that would allow people to purchase items through Twitter. The documents, discovered in a public area of Fancy.com’s website, showed a “buy” button embedded directly in tweets. Customers would have to provide Twitter with payment credentials prior to using the service. 

    Twitter will report its first ever quarterly earnings next Wednesday with investors and analysts sure to be interested in Twitter Commerce and other plans for bringing in revenue. 

    Twitter’s decision to add revenue streams may be a good move for the company but following the recent series of hacks on the social network site raises questions about the safety of user’s financial data.

     

  • Twitter Buys 900 IBM Patents

    Twitter has agreed to buy 900 patents from International Business Machines Corp. to gain access to new technology and build a defense against infringement suits.

    The deal came about a month after Twitter revealed that IBM had accused it of violating three of its patents related to advertising, “resource locators,” and discovery of contacts. Twitter was willing at that time to handle the situation outside of court, and it appears it went that way.

    A cross-licensing agreement will help safeguard Twitter against similar claims in the future. The most high profile exhibit of buying patents to curb future lawsuits would be Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility.

    IBM is one of the industry’s largest research spenders and stockpilers of intellectual property, a consistent leader in US patent filings and the owner of some 41,000 patents. Twitter is following on the heels of Facebook, which itself faced similar claims before its own 2012 IPO. 

    Twitter is seeking to get more revenue from retailers and is trying to make it easier for users to shop via its 140-character messages.

  • Twitter Now Allows You to Receive Direct Messages From Any Twitter User

    Twitter has allowed users who follow each other to send direct messages to each other, or for users to send direct messages to accounts that follow them.  Now, Twitter has rolled out an option to ease the use of direct messages.

    A new setting, that appears to be out over the past week, allows Twitter users to receive direct messages from any follower. “If you check this option, any Twitter user that follows you will be able to send you a DM, regardless of whether you decide to follow them back,” is a option than can be enabled or disabled according to the user preference.

    This is not a major update, but can be beneficial among all Twitter users. The new direct messages option can be enabled from the main settings page at Twitter.com. It appears to be rolling out to accounts at the moment so it might not be available to every user soon.

  • Facebook and Twitter reportedly Unblocked in Iran

    Facebook and Twitter reportedly Unblocked in Iran

    Facebook and Twitter became widely accessible to Iranian users on Monday for the first time since 2009, when the services were blocked in the midst of widespread protests against former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to reports emerging from the country.

    Various reporters for print as well as Network media located in the country were able to access the services starting Monday. 

    “Some other blocked sites are reporting themselves unblocked – the National Iranian American council is reporting themselves unblocked as well,” York said, referring to a U.S.-based nonprofit group.

    Iranian authorities blacked out Facebook and Twitter in the summer of 2009, when Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election victory sparked massive protests that gained momentum with the help of organizers using social media. The new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had stated earlier this month, that he would have a more open minded approach to social media when compared to the hard minded predecessor. 

    [VIA]

  • Twitter App For Android Leaks

    Twitter App For Android Leaks

    During Samsung’s IFA unveiling of the Galaxy Gear, Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy Note 10.1, they inadvertently showed “the redesigned Twitter app” for Android tablets. The basics of the app worked exactly how Twitter for Android smartphones operates, just optimized for larger tablet displays (similar to Twitter for iPad).

    There was no firm release date by Twitter, but for those deeply into the social media platform – perhaps while watching TV – can go forth and download the app as a copy as a APK has founds its place online. While the APK is available for installation (thanks to the industrious folks over at Android Next), the installer package is tricky to get working. If you can get it to work, the app probably won’t run all that great. But, it’s a great sign of what’s to come, and hopefully, the official version of the tablet-optimized Twitter app for Android will be available soon.

    For those who have been complaining that Android tablets aren’t getting all of the apps that they should, this is an encouraging sign.

    [Via]

  • 7 Months After Launch, Vine Hits 40 Million Users

    7 Months After Launch, Vine Hits 40 Million Users

    Twitter’s video sharing app, Vine, has been overshadowed by the addition of video to Instagram, but that hasn’t stopped millions of people from signing up for Vine. Vine announced this afternoon that it just hit 40 million registered users today – a huge jump from the 13 million users it announced in June.

    However, the company behind the app, which lets users share looping videos of up to six seconds, doesn’t give any data on the number of active users. Without the all-important active user figures, it’s difficult to draw too many conclusions from Vine’s announcement, though at least the numbers appear to be heading in the right direction for the company.

    For a long time, Vine was an iOS exclusive, but the Twitter-owned startup released an Android app in June, and has been constantly improving both versions since then.

    Instagram recently attempted to thwart Vine’s rise with its own video component, but it lives within the main app and its 15 second limit has inspired less creative results. By comparison, Instagram had 130 million active users as of late July when it introduced video, and likely has more than that by now.

    More competition in the mobile short-video space appeared this month with the arrival of MixBit, created by YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. 

    [Via]

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