Category: Twitter
Twitter not providing edit button ‘anytime soon’
Hopes of an edit button coming to Twitter anytime soon are fading after a senior executive indicated that it is not a primary concern for the social network at present. One of the main reasons users have called for an edit feature is to correct mistakes – at the moment, errors in tweets either have…
Twitter account branded ‘homophobic’ after mass-blocking LGBTQ+ users
A Twitter profile set up in protest against inclusive sex education in UK schools has mass-blocked LGBTQ+ users. People who have had no interaction with the account have logged on to find they have been blocked from seeing tweets by @QuestionLGBTEdu. The account protests LGBTQ+ education in schools, referring to it as “dogma” and…
Twitter reveals revenue rise, daily user increase
Twitter reported a rise in revenue and daily active users as the social media platform published its latest financial results. The company said revenue for the last quarter was $841 million (£676 million), an increase of 18% compared to the same period last year. Monetisable daily active users (mDAU) – Twitter’s new preferred metric for…
Unmask Twitter trolls so they can be banned from football matches, says Labour
Twitter trolls who abuse sportsmen and women should be unmasked and identities handed over to governing bodies so they can be banned from attending matches, Labour has said. Shadow sports minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, leading an Opposition Day Debate on discrimination in sport, hit out at social media companies for not doing more to tackle…
Jack Dorsey payments firm Square to work with refugee entrepreneurs
Payment company Square is to support refugee entrepreneurs by providing them with equipment to take card payments for their small businesses. Announced as part of London Tech Week, the payment firm unveiled a partnership with the Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (Tern) to support those who have come to the UK and are trying to grow a…
Twitter updates rules to make them ‘easier to understand’
Twitter has revealed a major re-write of its rules as part of plans to make the site’s processes easier for users to understand. The social media platform said it had cut the words in its official guidelines from about 2,500 to fewer than 600, in an effort to simplify them for users. Twitter is one…
Twitter acquires British AI startup Fabula AI to address fake news
Twitter has acquired London-based startup Fabula AI which has developed AI technology that could help it deal with disinformation and fake news spreading across the social network. Fabula AI's researchers have developed a way to make sense of the deluge of information that is shared on social networks, and detect network manipulation. The move comes…
Twitter revenue up 18%, but 6 million less active users than last year
Twitter has reported growth in revenue but saw monthly active users drop by six million on this time last year, the firm’s latest financial results show. The social media company’s revenue for the first quarter of 2019 was 787 million dollars (£605 million), up 18% on the same period last year and above analysts’ expectations.…
Diane Abbott: Social networks ‘shirking responsibilities’ to remove racist abuse
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has said social media companies are “shirking their responsibilities” to remove abusive content after racist tweets targeting footballers were found on the site up to five years after being posted. Ms Abbott, herself a regular victim of racism on the platform, was speaking after the Press Association discovered dozens of…
Twitter reduces daily follow limit to 400 to tackle spammers
Twitter has reduced the number of accounts people are allowed to follow daily in a fresh attempt to take on spam and bots across the social network. The site already had a 1,000-a-day cap in place, but the company has now decided to bring the number down to 400 as it grapples with the health…