Facebook news
Facebook’s Workplace Reaches 7 Million Paid Subscriber Milestone
Facebook has revealed that its business communication tool – Workplace – has reached 7 million paid subscribers. This is an increase of over 40% over the past year and a clear indicator that more companies are prioritizing employee experience for the long-term in the wake of the pandemic. “Interesting milestone: Workplace, our business communication tool, has hit 7 million paid subscribers — a 40% increase in the last year,” says Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerburg. “We built Workplace as an internal version of Facebook to run our own company, and it was so useful we started letting other organizations use it too, including everyone from Spotify to Starbucks to the World Health Organization. More companies are starting to use our virtual reality tools for work as well, and I’m excited t...
14.3 Million South African Facebook Users Implicated by Data Breach
On April 3, Business Insider uncovered how more than 530 million Facebook users personal information had been made publicly available in an unsecured database – this included names, email addresses, and phone numbers. And now, VPN provider Surfshark has revealed that of the affected users, Egypt is the number one victim of this hack with the accounts of 45.1 million users being exposed while 14.3 million users were South African. In general, the top 10 countries by breaches make up 50% of all the breach cases – and of those cases, fewer than 10% of the profiles had their addresses exposed. On the other hand, nearly 90% of the users suffered from phone number leaks /* custom css */ .tdi_3_009.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_009.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Faceb...
Facebook Says it Won’t Notify Users Implicated in ‘Hack’
On April 3, Business Insider revealed that more than 530 million Facebook users personal information had been made publicly available in an unsecured database – this included names, email addresses, and phone numbers. Facebook has now disclosed that it doesn’t plan to notify the users whose data was exposed online. According to The Verge, the social media platform “cited two reasons as to why it’s not telling users proactively: it says it’s not confident it would know which users would need to be notified and that users wouldn’t be able to do anything about the data being online”. Facebook believes that the data leak is the result of malicious actors who obtained the data by scraping it from the platform prior to September 2019. “We believe the data in question was scraped from ...
Facebook Launches JoziPlug – a Community City Guide
Facebook has officially launched JoziPlug – its first Community City Guide on the African continent. The Johannesburg edition of the initiative has been compiled and co-created by local Facebook Groups featuring unique and inspiring content about the city. The JoziPlug is aimed at showcasing Johannesburg’s “hidden attractions to visitors and members of the local community whilst supporting small businesses with their economic recovery” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 2020, more than 1.5 million people became new members of a group related to the city of Johannesburg. The guide compiles “the best tips and recommendations to some of the city’s local attractions, known and unknown through the eyes of these locals”. Themed around exploring hidden attractions and ‘plugging’ pe...
Facebook Tests Dark Mode for Mobile
Facebook is publicly testing a new dark mode feature for its mobile app on both Android and iOS. This news was confirmed by code sleuth Jane Manchun Wong. Facebook is publicly testing Dark Mode! 🌙 You asked it, I chatted with Facebook’s @alexvoica about it and here’s a video made in collaboration with Facebook! pic.twitter.com/TGjdTXDxoP — Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 30, 2020 /* custom css */ .tdi_3_535.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_535.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } According to Engadget, users with the option to test the feature will be able to do so by activating it in their Settings & Privacy section under the Menu tab – “[users] can force it on or off, or leave it up to system-level settings. If [they] have an OS-level dark mode switch on when...
Facebook Reveals New Messenger Design
Facebook has revealed a new look for Messenger including a new logo and default chat colour, as well as new chat themes. “We’re also adding features like selfie stickers and vanish mode, which are coming soon,” says the social giant in a blog post. “The new-look reflects a shift to the future of messaging – a more dynamic, fun and integrated way to hang out with your favourite people, on your favourite apps and devices” Facebook Adds New Shopping Tab to App As part of Facebook’s plan to create a place for users to discover businesses and shop for products, it is testing a dedicated shopping tab within the main app. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the shift to online shopping has rapidly accelerated, with an estimated 85% of people worldwide now shopping online,” says the social platfor...
Facebook Selects 12 Africans to Join its Community Accelerator Programme
Facebook has announced that 12 African community leaders have been selected to join the Community Accelerator, a six-month programme that aims to equip communities with the training, mentorship and funding they need to grow. As part of the global Facebook Community Leadership initiative launched in 2018, the Community Accelerator programme invests in leaders who are building communities around the world; including bringing people together, offering encouragement, and driving change. Awarding up to $3 million, selected community leaders will receive up to $30,000 in funding. In the first three months of the programme, these leaders will learn from experts and coaches, whilst developing customized curriculums focused on growing their own communities. The following three months will then be f...
Facebook and Instagram Now Remind Users to Wear ‘Face Coverings’
Facebook and Instagram have taken it upon themselves to remind users to wear face masks, this comes after a surge in positive COVID-19 cases in the US – there’s no word yet on whether or not this alert will rollout worldwide. Essentially, the social platforms will plaster an alert at the top of the respective apps – Facebook users will then be able to navigate the reminder for more tips by opting to visit the COVID-19 Information Center while Instagram users will be directed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information. “With the rise in COVID-19 cases in the US, we’re putting an alert at the top of Facebook and Instagram to remind everyone to wear face coverings and find more prevention tips from the CDC in our COVID-19 Information Center,” reads a statement from...
No Major Changes Expected for Facebook’s Policies Amidst Worldwide Boycott
Sourced from BBC. Facebook and its family of apps have been embroiled in a far-reaching ad boycott of its platforms. The boycott, started by civil rights groups in the US, has been joined by hundreds of companies worldwide, including the likes of Unilever, Microsoft and Coca-Cola. The campaign, #StopHateforProfit, calls for Facebook to implement stricter measures to rid hate speech and racism on its platform during a time when the US is embroiled in daily protests against systemic racism and police brutality. New reports indicate that Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not worried by the boycott and has no intention of changing any of Facebook’s policies regarding hate speech or otherwise on its apps. Zuckerberg allegedly says that the boycott is more of a PR issue than one that will harm t...
Microsoft Reportedly Suspending Advertising on Facebook and Instagram
Sourced from Getty Images. Microsoft has reportedly paused advertising on Facebook and Instagram worldwide due to growing concerns about the content that is accompanying its adverts. Interestingly, the company isn’t participating in the industry-wide Facebook advertising boycott alongside mega-corporations like Coca-Cola and Unilever. Instead, Microsoft is more worried that their adverts might be shown with “inappropriate content” such as hate speech or pornography, according to internal communication viewed by Axios. Microsoft distances itself from larger boycott “Based on concerns we had back in May we suspended all media spending on Facebook/Instagram in the US and we’ve subsequently suspended all spending on Facebook/Instagram worldwide,” Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela said in an intern...
Facebook’s Dark Mode is Now Being Tested on Mobile
Sourced from The New York Times Social media colossus Facebook has confirmed that some of the platform’s users are now able to switch to dark mode on their mobile app. So I have dark mode on Facebook now. 😍 #darkmode #facebook #iOS14 pic.twitter.com/AuC5uYoMJ2 — 🐍🏀💜💛 (@NotFridayCraig) June 26, 2020 These users have begun to post their reactions to the new dark mode on Twitter, showing off screenshots of the new UI. The option is now appearing in the ‘Settings & Privacy’ section of the mobile app of certain users. Facebook has said that, while they have only started rolling out dark mode for mobile users, as of right now the mode is only available for a “small percentage of users globally,” according to Social Media Today. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_...
