Twitter Introduces Troll Blocker Feature

Twitter has introduced a new feature that will hopefully combat trolls and make the site a more “friendly” environment for its users.

Twitter user safety engineer Xiaoyun Zhang believes that “this new, advanced feature makes blocking multiple accounts easy, fast and community driven.”

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The feature will allow harassed users to block multiple accounts with ease, and it will also allow that user to share a list of trolls with others. A feature of this magnitude would allow good users to weed out the troublemakers and possibly make Twitter enjoyable for everyone.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has admitted that Twitter is not very good when it comes to tackling online trolls.

In a leaked memo to staff, Costolo said that “we suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve sucked at it for years. It’s no secret that the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day.”

This is just the first step of many. In recent months, the company has banned the use of “Revenge Porn” aimed at embarrassing past lovers.

On many social networking sites, trolls have become so rampant that many people avoid using the site altogether. Twitter has to realize that its site is no place for the unnecessary hate.

Twitter’s New ‘Retweet with Comment’ Feature Garners Mixed Reviews as It Symbolizes the Platform’s Ongoing Evolution

Depending on what kind of social circle you have immersed yourself into in the Twitterverse, your timeline may have been excitedly squealing about Twitter’s new “Retweet with Comment” feature or angrily smashing their keyboards to push out expletive-filled tweets cursing the new feature’s existence.

It’s one of the moments that truly underlines the great Twitter divide that tends to exist between the social media platforms original, classic users and the newer users who are turning to Twitter as a blogging platform.

The new addition at the center of the digital discourse is the “Retweet with Comment” feature that the tech giant has been testing since last summer.

The feature allows users to add a comment within a retweet to make adding commentary to tweets easier and more convenient.

The feature is being rolled out on the site’s iPhone app, but the site promises that the feature will be coming to its Android app in the future.

From a general view, it’s a new feature that adds a lot more flexibility for users and caters to the desire to make ongoing dialogue easier to follow.

Previously, if users wanted to comment on a retweet they would have to make due with whatever space was left in the already short 140-character limit.

This often resulted in users shortening the original tweet, which could sometimes alter the context of the message. In other instances, users would have to significantly shorten their own comments or use other third-party apps to find their way around the character limit.

This new feature gives users their own additional 140 characters to use to comment on whatever interesting tweets they decide to share on their timeline.

Seems like there is very little not to like about the new feature if you are a part of a growing community of bloggers who use Twitter as a space for dialogue and general dissemination of news.

This is a population that is relatively new to the Twitterverse.

Long before the arrival of a wave of users driving extensive dialogue on the site, however, the brevity of 140 characters was an essential part of the platform’s appeal.

It was a restriction that presented a challenge for those who originally ushered Twitter into social media spotlight — the virtual comedians.

It’s a culture that’s hard to explain but easy to witness if you find yourself in certain digital subcultures like that of Black Twitter.

The brevity of the messages when commenting on retweets laid the foundation for certain emojis to be granted new meanings, shortened phrases and hashtags to hold greater context and essentially helped formulate secondary digital languages within certain subgroups on Twitter.

While commenting within the same retweet was often messy, difficult for some to follow and lacked any real sense of organization, it was also a cherished part of the Twitter experience.

For that reason, some users aren’t taking too kindly to the new feature that seems to have a Facebook-ish design behind it.

Retweet With Comment When the official Twitter page sent out a tweet to demonstrate the new feature, these users were quick to urge the social media giant to take another stab at the new addition.

“Revamped? It’s garbage,” one user replied to the tweet.

Another user wrote, “Change it … it looks atrocious.”

“I HATE IT,” another added.

Others voiced their frustrations that they would now have to seek a different Twitter app to use while the official Twitter app would now be boasting the new “Retweet with Comment” feature.

Others, of course, were excited about the feature’s arrival.

A series of thumbs-up emojis flooded Twitter’s replies along with tweets like “finally!” and “THANK YOU.”

Others didn’t seem too interested in the feature and instead suggested Twitter should have been working on a way to allow users to save .gifs from tweets or be alerted of people taking screenshots of their tweets.

It’s also important to note that it is not possible to embed the full retweet with comment to other platforms and websites.

For now, Twitter users remain extremely divided on the new feature’s arrival, but there is also a simple solution for the users who aren’t happy about the feature’s appearance or how it may impact the platform’s previous strictly enforced culture of brevity.

Don’t use the new feature.

After Revealing Its Own Diversity Issues, Tech Giant Google Gives $775,000 to a Diversity-Boosting Nonprofit

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After years of contributing to the diversity problem in tech, Google is stepping up and donating $775,000 to Code2040, a nonprofit that aims to boost diversity in the tech space.

It wasn’t long ago that Google was in the hot seat after the tech giant’s diversity report revealed a stunning lack of diversity among its employees. Reports indicated that only about 1 percent of Google’s employees were Black.

Well now Google is hoping to help foster diversity with a hefty donation that will allow Code2040 to launch a Technical Applicant Prep (TAP) program.

The program will give Black and Latino students access to the type of resources and tools they need to perfect their craft in the tech sphere. This is a major move for Code2040 because the lack of resources is one of the major factors keeping people of color out of the tech space, in addition to racially biased hiring processes and subconscious prejudices in the industry.

Code2040 has always operated on a platform that supports the idea that people of color can thrive in the tech space if they are given the resources and opportunity to do so.

In addition to allowing Code2040 to launch its TAP program, Google’s donation could have an even greater impact on the nonprofit.

Google is one of the most popular and most successful tech giants there is and its hefty donation is a major seal of approval of the Code2040 mission, which could easily help the nonprofit garner the attention of other major players in the tech field.

People are also hoping that it will encourage other major tech companies to make diversity a priority.

To be clear, Google certainly isn’t the first major tech company to dedicate a large amount of money to helping the diversity mission.

Intel recently announced a plan to spend $300 million to improve workplace diversity and invest in other diversity-boosting initiatives, programs and nonprofits over the course of several years.

Apple was also a major giant behind the Hour of Code, which provided free coding classes to young people all across the globe. Apple has also recently surfaced as a leader in hiring more Blacks and Latinos than the other major competing tech giants.

While Google, Twitter, Facebook and Yahoo all had workforces that weren’t even 10 percent Black and Hispanic, Apple boosted its number of Black and Latino workers to 18 percent.

That percentage is still low and not representative of the actual number of Blacks and Latinos in the tech space, but it is certainly a vast improvement for the company and a much better score than the numbers presented by its competitors.

For now, Blerds are hopeful that Google’s donation is also a sign that the company will be opening its own doors to more Black and Latino employees.

As for Code2040, the nonprofit will also be launching a residency program for tech entrepreneur hopefuls.

The “entrepreneur-in-residence” program will kick off in three pilot cities—Austin, Texas; Durham, North Carolina, and Chicago.

While these residents will receive roughly $40,000 in seed money from the nonprofit, Code2040 will not take any equity from the businesses.

 

9 Major Changes You Should Know About That Transformed Social Media This Year

twitterlogoandbirdTwitter and Tumblr’s social impact in topics ranging from Ferguson, Missouri, to immigration reform has revolutionized and revitalized social activism in the United States.

 

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New App: Twitter Small Business Planner.

 

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Apple iCloud was shown not to be a very safe way to store photos and other personal items. Celebrity nude photos that were leaked earlier this year may lead to changes that can help to improve the security of the product.

More Than Fun & Games: The True Power of #BlackTwitter

With well over 600 million active users, it was always apparent that Twitter would become a powerful social vehicle, but in recent years it has been a niche community inside the social media giant that has unveiled itself as being unbelievably and undeniably powerful.

Every now and then you may see the hashtag — #BlackTwitter — but most of the time you will find yourself unknowingly stumbling upon Black Twitter’s hilarious antics or growing social movements.

Black Twitter is the name that was given to the community within Twitter that has always held Black popular culture, news and controversies at the center of its timeline.

While it initially became famous for outrageous jokes and sparking worldwide trending topics in a matter of minutes, it has recently become the latest and perhaps one of the most effective tools for social justice and racial equality.

Black Twitter’s list of accomplishments includes the cancellation of a book deal for a juror in the George Zimmerman case; Reebok’s rejection of rapper Rick Ross’ endorsement deal after his infamous date rape lyrics; and more recently,  promoter Damon Feldman’s withdrawal of a George Zimmerman celebrity boxing match.

The community has managed to use clever hashtags to gain support from other Twitter users across the globe to achieve commendable goals, all through the use of 140 characters and countless numbers of retweets.

“It’s kind of like the Black table in the lunchroom, sort of, where people of like interests and experiences and ways of talking and communication, lump together and talk among themselves,” said Tracy Clayton, a blogger and editor at BuzzFeed.

In fact, if anyone knows the power of Black Twitter, it’s BuzzFeed.

During Zimmerman’s trial, Black Twitter began sending out its own BuzzFeed-type lists with the hashtag #BlackBuzzFeed, which put BuzzFeed’s social media to shame.

“Black Twitter made this the No. 2 hashtag worldwide,” BuzzFeed later tweeted about the #BlackBuzzFeed hashtag. “Our wig has thoroughly been snatched. *Bows down.*”

Even the NAACP realized the momentum and power behind Black Twitter and made the community a part of its strategies.

The NAACP used hashtags like #TooMuchDoubt to gain support for halting the execution of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, and the #OscarGrant hashtag trended nation wide, leading to support for the film “Fruitvale Station.” The film documented the life of the young Black man who was unjustly killed by a police officer.

“We realized more than anyone that we had to go in that direction and we’ve done it,” NAACP interim President Lorraine Miller said of the organization’s social media use.

Perhaps the real magic behind Black Twitter is the combination of fighting for justice and captivating comedy.

Black Twitter gains attention through humor, while also bringing attention to major issues.

For example, when celebrity chef Paula Deen admitted to using racial slurs in the past, Black Twitter created the hashtag #PaulasBestDishes, which began trending nationwide.

The hashtag earned tons of laughs with imaginary recipes like “Massa-Roni and Cheese,” “We Shall Over-Crumb Cake,” “Three-Fifths Compromise Cheesecake,” “Coon on the Cob” and “Swing Low, Sweet Cherry Pie.”

At the same time it garnered attention to Deen’s remarks, created a national discussion via Twitter about the use of the N-word and led to the cancellation of several of Deen’s endorsement deals.

In short, Black Twitter has stepped to the forefront as the lead watchdog when it comes to racial injustice and other controversial issues.