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Saturday, February 27, 2021
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Check Your Secret Facebook Messages

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Your Facebook inbox is trickier to manage than you initially believed.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – We all deal with important e-mails that our e-mail provider decides to send to Bulk or Spam, causing to miss it for weeks on end. What if we told you that there is a secret compartment on your Facebook page that does the same thing with your personal messages. Here is how you can check your secret Facebook messages.

Facebook cares a lot about privacy, so the social network implemented a strategy that sends all messages from people who are not friends with the receiver either in the “message requests” category, either in the “filtered” one.

So if you have a Facebook account for a couple of years now and a rainy afternoon with nothing to do, you can check your secret Facebook messages. The procedure is quite easy, but it is recommended to use a laptop or computer for the deal, rather than a smartphone or a tablet.

Once you braced yourselves and decided to spend a couple of hours scrolling through messages like “Hey I know you from that party last week, let’s hang” to the more common “I am a prince and I require your assistance for a business transaction,” to spams from different pages you liked.

For example, if you liked Bon Jovi on Facebook, the page sent you messages with all of his concert dates, but the social platform filtered them. Or if somebody with whom you had no friends in common messaged you, the PM would also go in the “filtered” category rather than in the “message requests” that you might check from time to time.

In order to check your secret Facebook messages, you can go to your Facebook account and click on the message icon. After doing so, you must select the “See All” option that appears on the bottom.

You will then be redirected towards the messages page. On the top, left corner you will find that you have additional columns. The default selected option is “Recent”, if you click on the next one, “Messages Requests”, you will find the messages from all of the people that sent you a PM that didn’t make it to your usual inbox.

Usually, these are the people that also sent you a friend request. But if you really want to make things interesting and check your secret Facebook messages, then you can go to the “More” button and select the option “Filtered.” That is where the fun begins.

Image source: Flickr

Weaponry Is Being Sold on Facebook Groups

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Facebook groups were being used for weapons trade by terrorists from the Middle East.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Even though Zuckerberg explicitly declared that his company will not tolerate any activity linked to terrorism, weaponry is being sold on Facebook groups. It seems that extremists have managed to find a loophole in the social platform’s terms and conditions, and they are still using it as a place where they can buy or sell heavy weaponry.

When Zuckerberg’s team thought about the groups feature, they had old classmates and fandoms in mind, not terrorists that want to unite and post pictures will all of the available weaponry for sale.

But instead of “The Cat Lovers Group” and “Yale 2015 Graduation Ceremony”, which are standard groups meant to bring together people interested in a particular activity, there are groups on the social network that deal with gun exchanges and extremist religious views.

The company announced that six such groups were already deleted from the platform, but there are several additional ones that they were not able to track so far.

The Facebook bazaars were hidden in groups meant for weapons enthusiasts. The sellers would post pictures of rare weapons, guns, and bombs usually used by terrorists and talk about them as a beauty forum discusses the latest trend in dyeing your hair.

This allowed the members to exchange rare, expensive weaponry that was later used in terrorist activities. The people who joined these groups were originally from Syria or Iraq. Because Facebook offers its users the possibility of making direct transactions, they managed to conduct significant business operations and bring dangerous weapons, bombs, and technology to the Middle East.

The company managed to locate one other group, but they weren’t able to shut it down because there was no visible evidence that the members were using it for the purpose of buying or selling weapons. The group is still active, but the social platform is monitoring it carefully so that it will be able to close at the first sign of illegal trade.

The global policy director at Facebook, Monika Bickert, declared in an interview with Times Magazine that

“Since we were offering features like that, we thought we wanted to make clear that this is not a site that wants to facilitate the private sales of firearms.”

Facebook’s creator, Mark Zuckerberg has received threats from terrorist groups in the past. The extremist organization was angry with the businessman that his platform was deleting the accounts of its members. In the public threat, the terrorist organization mentioned the existence of Facebook groups belonging to terrorists.

Image source: Pixabay

Facebook Is Not Being Abandoned by Youngsters

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Facebook is an undefended champion when it comes to the monthly traffic on the social network.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – In 2015, the media and a significant number of investors were anticipating a mass exodus of millennials from Facebook. But the data shows that Facebook is not being abandoned by youngsters, on the contrary, they spend more time on the social network than on Snapchat, its main competitor.

Every trend has its end. And the media and the investors were afraid that Facebook’s demise was just around the corner. But they were wrong. Facebook is not being abandoned by youngsters, on the contrary, they spend more time on it than they do on any other social platform.

According to a study, internet dwellers that were born after the 80s are still using their Facebook account regularly. Even though they are now in their thirties, they did not abandon their favorite social media website.

Furthermore, the same study concluded that millennials spend two and a half more times as many minutes on Zuckerberg’s platform than they do on Snapchat, Facebook’s main competitor.

Facebook is not being abandoned by youngsters, on the contrary, they generate roughly $340 billion per year for the company.

The data used by the report comes from comScore, a US company that analyzes Internet trends. The analytics company showed the amount of internet users with ages between 18 and 34. It also gathered information on the frequency with which the targeted audience uses social media platforms.

As of December last year, approximately one hundred percent of all individuals that live in the United States and that are aged 18 to 34, were active on Facebook.

The same study showed that owners of Facebook accounts spend an average of 1,000 minutes per month on the social network. The second social platform is Snapchat with almost 400 minutes per month.

Furthermore, the data collected by the researchers showed that people aged 35 and older are as active on Facebook as the younger generations. The difference being that they are not interested in any other site other than the now classic social network.

The media and the investors were scared that Facebook will no longer be appealing to the younger generations because they are now flooded with some other social media platforms. But Facebook is not being abandoned by youngsters; they are not ready to leave the mothership and embrace other, less meaningful websites.

Snapchat may be fun, but it can’t offer all that Zuckerberg’s platform can, not even Twitter can rise to the challenge. There is still lots of life remaining in the social network.

Image source: Flickr

Safety Check Was Glitchy Over the Weekend

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The Safety Check feature is handy in the case of an emergency.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Facebook is constantly trying to improve user experience by implementing new and unique tools. A while back, it invented the Safety Check, and it performed smoothly up until the last few days. Safety Check was glitchy over the weekend, prompting the company to apologies for all of the inconveniences it created.

Initially, the Safety Check feature was developed with natural disasters in mind, but ever since the terrorist attacks in Paris, Facebook has been activating it on every occasion that can be a cause of concern.

So after the bombing in Lahore, Pakistan, the social network activated the safety measure so that people living in the area could let their friends and family know that they are OK and the bombing did not affect the.

But the Safety Check was glitchy over the weekend, so it started sending messages to users from the United States and Europe. Some people actually panicked because they ambiguous messages like

“Facebook Safety Check: Are you affected by the explosion? Reply SAFE if you’re ok or OUT if you aren’t in the area.”

There was no mentioning of the place where the explosion took place so people started panicking thinking that their area was targeted by terrorists.

Other users received more detailed messages and were asked if they were anywhere near Lahore’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park in Pakistan.

According to the official statement of a Facebook spokeswoman, the Safety Check was glitchy over the weekend and it sent messages to people that weren’t in the vicinity of the incident, causing even more panic.

Facebook apologized for the misunderstanding and assured the users that the problem was solved and that there will be no further such errors when the Safety Check will be needed in the future. They did not give any details about what caused the problem.

The safety feature was activated numerous time by the social network offering comfort to thousands of users. The first time that it was used in a terrorist attack was last year during the Paris tragedy.

Last week’s Brussels incidents prompted the activation of the seasonal feature. Most Facebook users are pleased with the idea because they are able to find out whether or not their friends and family were involved in the terrible incident.

Zuckerberg declared recently that he received critiques because the social media platform did not activate the Safety Check feature during the bombings in Beirut or any other places previous to Paris.

Safety Check was glitchy over the weekend, but Facebook is assuring users that all problems have now been fixed.

Image source: Pixabay

Oculus Rift Launches Quietly

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The Oculus Rift is launched alongside the Virtual Desktop that allows you to work in VR.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – The Oculus Rift launches quietly today after the world held its breath expecting it. There will be no party, no big event, just boxes containing the much-awaited headsets arriving at the doors of the people that pre-ordered them.

Every time a new console or video game is launched, the media goes wild. There are several release events; journalists receive the product for testing a few days before so that the reviews would fly in on the day of the launching and the marketing campaign throws it all in.

But not this time. The Oculus Rift launches quietly today, Palmer Luckey being more interested in working on the new batch of headsets than parading them in front of media.

Luckey built his first pair of VR goggles 4 year ago using smartphone parts. Now, the Oculus Rift technology is the property of Facebook ever since 2014 and an improved version of the Rift is hitting the market starting today.

 The first wave of products has already been sold out and those who didn’t manage to pre-order it will have to wait until this summer to get their hands on the $600 equipment. The headset is sold by itself for the moment.

According to the manufacturer, sometime this summer a controller for Xbox One and a couple of games will become available for the Rift, but they will be sold separately. The company did not mention a price for the motion-detecting devices.

The maker of the Oculus Rift expects that the life span of the device will be somewhere between a console and a phone. He also believes that there will come a day when the VR devices will be as slim as sunglasses, not ski goggles.

On April 5th, the day Civil War will hit the theaters, the new HTC Vive will also hit the market. The VR headset will cost $800, and it will be equipped with controllers that kind of look like wands, but that will offer customers the opportunity of enjoying VR while standing.

Also, this October will be marked by the launch of the PlayStation VR, a headset designed primarily for the PlayStation IV console. The cost of the equipment is estimated around $400, and it will only be compatible with the PlayStation device.

The CEO of Unity, John Riccitiello, says that the VR market is a long way from becoming an industry. He believes that the developers should make baby steps to avoid any drawbacks. If everything goes as planned, by 2019, the Rift technology will become an industry.

The Oculus Rift launches quietly today, a small step for the virtual reality community.

Image source: Wikimedia

Facebook Will Be Able to Detect Fake Accounts

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Security on Facebook is starting to be more and more strict, allowing more protection to the users.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Identity theft or on-line impersonation are real concerns in the twenty-first century. And even though a social media profile can appear harmless, it could cause a lot of damage when used by the wrong people. Fortunately, Facebook will be able to detect fake accounts.

Creating an account on social media is one of the easiest things a person could do. You just need to set up a Facebook and a Twitter and then log in to a bunch of other websites or platforms using them. Facebook alone allows you to connect to IMDB, Skype, Instagram, YouTube and many other such accounts.

Until now, there were lots of individuals creating fake accounts. And that task was as easy as starting one from scratch. They took the profile picture and public information of a user and proceeded on creating a new, fictitious one.

With this new power, the perpetrators were able of destroying a person’s image and causing irreparable damage. It just takes a few private messages and posts to denigrate a Facebook user. Especially since other individuals who are using the platform have made a habit out of sharing any post, they find slightly disturbing.

Next thing you know, you open your front door, and there is an angry mob sitting there waiting to lynch you because of the disturbing thing you posted on-line. Well, that may be a bit harsh, but profile hackers have been known to destroy relationships or even get somebody fired due to their on-line meddling.

But the time of the phony profiles is almost over because Facebook will be able to detect fake accounts and, if given the all clear, wipe them out from existence.

Mark Zuckerberg’s company is presently testing a new method to keep forgers at bay. The mechanism behind the new feature is pretty basic.

An existing algorithm searches for accounts with the same name and profile picture. If such a thing is found, then the real user is notified about the presence of the impersonator. And if it proves that the profile is indeed, fabricated then the social network takes the appropriate disciplinary methods.

The best thing about the protocol that Facebook is still testing is the fact that it features a human-machine collaboration. While the accounts are flagged by the AI, the verification process is realized by a real person.

By doing so, the company is eliminating further, unnecessary notifications or scares, or it makes sure that the machine doesn’t miss out on any clues.

Antigone Davis is confident that the feature will be available soon for all of Facebook users, and on-line identity theft will be combated.

Image source: Flickr

Many Are Displeased With Twitter’s New Algorithm

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Twitter decided to implement an algorithm that shows people what it thinks they are interested in.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – No matter if we like it or not, social networks are a big part of our lives. A change in the way we interact with the virtual platforms every day can affect some more than others. It could also cause excitement or rage, depending on the user’s preferences. Many are displeased with Twitter’s new algorithm because they think it’s starting to resemble Facebook way too much.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Facebook, everywhere we look. And the song could go on, but the main idea is that many are displeased with Twitter’s new algorithm. Users have complained about the new feature that activates itself automatically, instead of letting people decide if they want to use it or not.

And while it is true that you can deactivate it from your profile settings, there is that feeling that Twitter is just using Facebook strategies to turn the social media platform into a hashtag version of Zuckerberg’s network.

Up until yesterday when the tweet feed algorithm automatically took over the way in which users were able to browse their tweets, there was a significant difference between the hashtag platform and the reactions one.

On Twitter users decided what they wanted to see, keeping the list of people they followed on check and tweeting and re-tweeting whatever they liked. But the 160 characters birdie decided to interfere with people’s routine tweet check and introduce an algorithm that brought to the attention of the account’s owner the tweets that seemed relevant to him or her.

Many are displeased with Twitter’s new algorithm because it deprives them of a certain freedom of choice. Of course, they can always uncheck the “show me the best tweets first” box and return to their old, routine list. But that’s not the point. The damage is already done.

It’s not only about the fact that the social media platform decided to go Facebook, but it’s also about the fact that people decided to go on Twitter and stay there because it was something bigger and, sometimes, better.

There are no reactions; there was no computer telling you what you would like to see or re-tweet. There was only the user and a bunch of accounts that he or she decided to follow. But now the algorithm is starting to crawl up people’s personal space; it’s beginning to look a lot like Facebook or Instagram.

But that doesn’t mean that an algorithm is the worst idea ever implemented. Netflix and Spotify offer suggestions, sometimes even very good ones. But Spotify has a suggestions button that can be turned on whenever the user decides to do so; it isn’t activated by default.

Many are displeased with Twitter’s new algorithm, and maybe that’s a lesson on not to presume that whatever works on Facebook will work on another social network.

Image source: www.pixabay.com

You Can Now Request a Lyft via Facebook Messenger

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"Lyft"

The new Facebook Messenger car-sharing app is available only for Android devices, for now.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Taxis are becoming overrated. Ever since the idea of car-sharing came to the market, more and more companies are implementing systems that allow users to ask for a ride from independent drivers. Similar to Uber, Ola, Grab and Didi, you can now request a Lyft via Facebook messenger.

The app has been announced today, and it will be available for every Facebook Messenger user with an Android device. The Lyft platform is only a small part of a wider expansion that the platform is trying to integrate.

Requesting a Lyft from your messenger is similar to the procedure you go through when asking for an Uber. Users will see a transportation icon situated above the keyboard. They will then select the Lyft option and tap on the “ride” button. From that point on, Lyft will take care of your transportation needs.

For the moment, the feature is not available to all users, but according to the developers, all US citizens with Android devices will be able to access it in the following weeks.

But the idea of requesting a car-sharing service directly from Facebook is not new. Ever since December, the most successful company in the field, Uber, has been working on an integration system with the famous social network.

Furthermore, users who requested an Uber car directly from the messenger option of Facebook received a $20 coupon for their first ride. There are no official statements that suggest any sort of gratuity offered by Lyft.

The beta is already over and the company is hoping that the new car-sharing service will be a hit among customers. During the testing, Lyft experimented with a Slack integration sometimes last fall. The combination allowed users to type a command directly into the Slack channel in order to request a Lyft.

All users had to do was type “/lyft ride” followed by the address they were at and the address where they wanted to go.

But this is not all. Lyft has scored a partnership with CityMapper and a couple of other such services. So when users try to find the best and quickest route towards a location they will be shown buses, trains and Lyft vehicles that are in the area.

Facebook is planning to transform Messenger into a standalone application. As in the case of WhatsApp, the social media giant wants to remove the umbilical cord and let it live on its own. This is actually good news for people who wish to use the messaging feature but are reluctant to the idea of creating a profile.

You can now request a Lyft via Facebook Messenger, and users are waiting for the moment where they will be able to order foods and clothing using the same service.

Image source: www.wikimedia.org

Twitter and Facebook Founders Threatened by ISIS

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"Mark Zuckenberg, CEO of Facebook"

Neither Zuckenberg, nor Dorsey wished to comment on the threats emitted by the CSA.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – A video released by an ISIS-supporting terrorist group, the “Sons Caliphate Army” warned Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg that their efforts against on-line terrorism are useless. The SCA threatened the social media giants that their eradication measures are futile and their “names will soon be erased”.

The hacker terrorist group behind these threats, the “Sons Caliphate Army”, made a 25-minute long video in which they presented all of their “achievements”. They also showed pictures with Twitter and Facebook’s CEO’s, Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg being used as target practice. After they were done shooting at the cardboard figures of the two media giants the terrorist group burned the pictures in order for their message to be clear.

Mythology thought us that the hydra was a magical creature that thrived when it was attacked. The reason? When you cut one head, two more took its place. The concept was later adopted by the Captain America comic books where a Nazi German group named themselves “Hydra” and munched on cyanide pills when they got caught.

The SCA took the analogy even further and threatened Dorsey and Zuckerberg that with every account they delete, they will hack ten more. This is the first serious threat that the social media moguls received after they publicly announced last month that they are actively trying to eliminate all terrorist-affiliated profiles from their platforms.

But why is the Islamic State so interested in having profiles on social media platforms that support most things Allah bans? Because Twitter and Facebook have millions of active users, a gold mine for ISIS potential recruits.

Only this month, Twitter announced that 125.000 accounts were suspended because of terrorist affiliations. According to the press release, these accounts were either threatening or promoting acts of terrorism, all in the name of ISIS.

Facebook also made it very clear that any promotion or praise linked to terrorism or terror act are strictly prohibited on the platform. Users that do not follow this rule will have their accounts deleted.

As you can see in the short version of the SCA video embedded below, the terrorist group of hackers claim that they are presently in control of 10,000 accounts and 150 groups on Facebook and over 5,000 profiles on Twitter.

Also, they deemed the two social network’s eradicating efforts as being futile because “they are not in their league”.

Neither Facebook nor Twitter representatives had anything to comment regarding the video.

Image source: www.ytimg.com

Snapchat Treats You with a New Filter for Your Birthday

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Snapchat is desperately trying to bring new, entertaining features to its users.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Snapchat really wants people to feel special on their birthdays, which is why the mobile app is treating its users with a new, special birthday filter. The exclusive feature can only be used once a year, on your birthday.

Facebook sends notifications to all your friends and invites them to wish you a happy birthday, and now Snapchat treats you with a new filter for your birthday. Soon enough, social media platforms will be the most important way of reaching people on their special, yearly celebrations.

The mobile messaging app, Snapchat, revealed its new “birthday party” feature this Tuesday. Now users can take a selfie, apply a “happy birthday” filter that features classical cake-like writing, balloons and candles, and send it to all their friends in order to, well, remind them that it’s their birthday.

If that sounds like your piece of cake, then all you have to do is go to the Settings menu and input your birthday. The app will then notify you on your special day, and also add a cake emoji next to your name so that friends and loved ones are also reminded of the importance of the day.

On one hand, it’s a pretty nice gesture that seems user-oriented. On the other, it may be that Snapchat wanted to do something special for its users in order to keep up the pace with Facebook.

The social media giant just announced a new feature that will be available soon for Android users. Anybody who has a Facebook account will be able to record a short, 15 seconds video, frame it in the different birthday-themed framework and post it on the wall of the respective friend.

The customizable videos are new to social media, so Facebook wins again in the innovation department. Also, the birthday cake emoji was implemented by Zuckerberg’s company before it was cool.

Snapchat treats you with a new filter for your birthday, letting you choose from balloons, a glittery “Happy Birthday” or a cake emoji in order to embellish your photos.

The filter would make sense in a different context. Like, for example, taking a picture at your birthday party surrounded by your friends, applying the said filter and then posting it on a social media platform like Facebook or Instagram.

But then again, why wouldn’t you take a selfie, write Happy Birthday on it and send it to your friends and family. The birthday cake emoji next to your name could go unnoticed.

Image source: www.wikimedia.org

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