Online&Social
Instagram Debuts Reels to Rival TikTok
Facebook-owned Instagram has rolled out a new way to create and share videos – Reels – to rival popular Chinese app, TikTok. The social media platform says that users can share reels with their followers on Feed, and if they have a public account, make them available to the wider Instagram community through a new space in Explore. Here’s a closer look at how to use Reels, according to Instagram: Select Reels at the bottom of the Instagram camera. Reels can be recorded in a series of clips (one at a time), all at once, or using video uploads from their gallery. Record the first clip by pressing and holding the capture button. Users will see a progress indicator at the top of the screen as they record. Stop recording to end each clip. User will see a variety of creative edi...
Twitter Blames Major Hack on Human Vulnerabilities
Sourced from Wired. Twitter has confirmed that on 15 July 2020 the company fell victim to a phone spear-phishing attack which saw hackers use employee credentials to gain access to 130 Twitter accounts, ultimately Tweeting from 45, accessing the DM inbox of 36 and downloading the Twitter Data of 7. The attack is ‘one of the most widespread and confounding hacks the platform has ever seen’, reports The Verge. The social media company says that the successful attack required the hackers to obtain access to both its internal network as well as specific employee credentials that granted them access to its internal support tools. “Not all of the employees that were initially targeted had permissions to use account management tools, but the attackers used their credentials to access our int...
Twitter Sheds New Light on Unprecedented Hack
Image sourced from Mission Statement Academy Twitter has revealed that the hackers who accessed 130 high-profile accounts – belonging to the likes of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, former US President Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos and Apple, amongst others – were also able to access a number of DM inboxes. In an official tweet, the social media platform says that up to 36 of the 130 targeted accounts, including 1 elected official in the Netherlands, were affected. We believe that for up to 36 of the 130 targeted accounts, the attackers accessed the DM inbox, including 1 elected official in the Netherlands. To date, we have no indication that any other former or current elected official had their DMs accessed. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 22, 2020 According to The Verge, hackers were able to...
Facebook’s Investing $57 Billion in Africa’s Economy
Facebook released findings from The Impact of Facebook’s Connectivity Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, a study conducted by Analysys Mason that highlights how Facebook investments in infrastructure and connectivity across the region will deliver over $57 Billion in Economic Benefits over the next five years (2020–2024). According to The Economist Intelligence Unit – Inclusive Internet Index 2020, over 800 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are unconnected to the Internet. Facebook’s infrastructure investments and connectivity initiatives include the following: Investing in Infrastructure that supports Internet connectivity Submarine cables – Will enable an increase in the supply of international bandwidth, reduction in costs for ISPs and resulted in a combination of more connectiv...
130 Twitter Accounts were Affected by Unprecedented Hack
Sourced from Wired. Twitter fell victim to a major hack that saw 130 high-profile accounts – belonging to the likes of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, former US President Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos and Apple, amongst others – targetted, although it’s reported that no passwords were stolen. Hackers used these accounts to promote a bitcoin scam where users were urged to send $1000 worth of the crypto to a specific account that was listed in the tweet, they would then receive double their payment in return. Image sourced from The Hacker News The unprecedented attack is ‘one of the most widespread and confounding hacks the platform has ever seen’, according to The Verge. Twitter has since confirmed that they are working on the issue and have “locked accounts that were compromised and will ...
Numerous High-profile Accounts were Hacked on Twitter
Image sourced from Mission Statement Academy Twitter fell victim to a major hack that saw verified high-profile accounts – belonging to the likes of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, former US President Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos and Apple, amongst others – taken over. Hackers used these accounts to promote a bitcoin scam where users were urged to send $1000 worth of the crypto to a specific account that was listed in the tweet, they would then receive double their payment in return. Image sourced from The Hacker News The unprecedented attack is ‘one of the most widespread and confounding hacks the platform has ever seen’, according to The Verge. Twitter has since confirmed that they are working on the issue and have “locked accounts that were compromised and will restore access to the original account...
Showmax Pro Rolls Out to 40 New Countries Across Africa
Showmax has launched its new service – Showmax Pro – across 40 countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa, after initially rolling out in Nigeria and Kenya. Showmax Pro will bundle the existing Showmax entertainment service with music channels, news and live sport streaming from SuperSport. It features all Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and PSL games, as well as a wide range of other live sport events. Here’s a closer look at Showmax Pro’s offerings: Showmax Showmax Pro Showmax Showmax Mobile Showmax Pro Showmax Pro Mobile Series, movies, kids’ shows, documentaries ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ IAAF Athletics, pro boxing, major international marathons, & more – – ✓ ✓ Music channels Trace Urban, Trace Gospel – – ✓ ✓ News channels Africa News, Euronews, Newzroom Afrika – – ✓ ✓ Football: all Premier League...
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...
US Companies Urge Employees to Delete TikTok
Sourced from Cosmico Wells Fargo has urged employees to uninstall the popular Chinese video-sharing app, TikTok, from their company devices over privacy concerns. “We have identified a small number of Wells Fargo employees with corporate-owned devices who had installed the TikTok application on their device,” says a Wells Fargo spokesperson. “Due to concerns about TikTok’s privacy and security controls and practices, and because corporate-owned devices should be used for company business only, we have directed those employees to remove the app from their devices.” This comes a few days after Amazon sent a company-wide email asking employees to delete the app – however, it quickly cleared the air and formally announced that there was “no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTo...
South Africa’s eCommerce Market to Reach $3.5 Billion in 2020, says Researchers
eCommerce has broken barriers as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic’s lockdown restrictions. Statista believes that the South African market will reach just over R62 billion this year, and show a compounded annual growth rate of 10% for the next four years. User penetration will be 37% this year and is expected to hit almost 51% by 2024. And even given the devasting impact of the national lockdown restrictions, which meant that online shoppers could order only “essential” items, 22% of a thousand South African adults surveyed in late April by Ipsos said they were using online shopping more frequently than in the month before, with 65% shopping less at a supermarket according to Nielsen figures released in early May. eCommerce and Consumer Trust “We’re seeing more and more people real...
WHO Partners with Facebook to Provide Data-Free COVID-19 Info
The World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with Facebook and South African based Praekelt.org to provide data-free information on the COVID-19 pandemic to vulnerable communities across the globe. This is said to add a vital element to the organisation’s work to fight misinformation – and ensure everyone has access to accurate health information and resources on COVID-19. In announcing this partnership, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Through this collaboration, we will reach some of the most vulnerable people who will be able to access lifesaving health information without any data charges in more than 50 countries”. The collaboration makes use of Free Basics and Discover by Facebook which provides people with access to useful services on their mobile phon...
TikTok Glitch Makes Views and Likes Disappear
Sourced from Gadgets 360. Popular video-sharing platform, TikTok has confirmed that some users have experienced a glitch where their account page, following feeds and For You Page all displayed zero likes and views. Hi TikTok community! We’re aware that some users are experiencing app issues – working to quickly fix things, and we’ll share updates here! — TikTokSupport (@TikTokSupport) July 9, 2020 “Some of our users experienced app issues around notifications, the display of likes and view counts, and trouble loading videos on some pages of the app,” says the Chinese app in a statement to The Verge. “The issues appear to have been caused by higher traffic than normal on our servers, causing temporary service disruptions. We’ve resolved the problem and are investigating the cau...
