Brands are Listening. Literally. - Tue, Mar 19 2019

Facebook Inc. has been looking to boost its local-news offerings since a 2017 survey showed most of its users were clamoring for more. It has run into a problem: there simply isn't enough local news in vast swaths of the country. One-third of…

Shel Holtz This is emblematic of a bigger problem. The decline of the newspaper business has resulted in fewer reporters to cover things like zoning commission and school board meetings, leaving people less informed about what's going on in their own backyards.

Engadget – Mar 17

Just because Google+ is shutting down on April 2nd doesn't mean your years of social posts will be lost in the void. The ArchiveTeam recently started caching public Google+ content to make it available on the Internet Archive after the fateful day.

Shel Holtz Let's all raise a glass to archive.org. One wonders what it'll do if the U.S. ever adopts the ill-advised 'right to be forgotten.'

Twitter is working on a feature that will allow users to follow specific threads with a ‘subscribe to conversation' button. Subscribing is a way for users to follow a conversation without engaging with it directly. Rather than liking or…

Shel Holtz This actually sounds useful.

In the first 24 hours after the deadly mass shooting in New Zealand, Facebook says that it has removed 1.5 million videos that were uploaded of the attack, and has blocked 1.2 million “at upload.” The company made the announcement in…

Shel Holtz Do tech companies need to do more to prevent the spread of vile, objectionable content? Yes, indeed. But part of the problem is that the existing technology just isn't up to the task.

YouTube has tried to keep violent and hateful videos off its service for years. The Google unit hired thousands of human moderators and put some of the best minds in artificial intelligence on the problem. On Thursday, that was no match for a…

Shel Holtz See my comment on the article about Facebook's efforts to keep the clip off its service. Somehow, AI needs to be trained to play whack-a-mole.

Facebook usage declined for the first time in a decade, while video-centric apps like TikTok are being touted as the future of social media. Entering this redefined playing field comes Firework, a fast-growing social video app whose clever trick is…

Shel Holtz Not quite to the same extent as TikTok, but watching 30-second Firework videos is strangely addictive. The 'reveal' feature -- part of the flip-the-phone technology -- is unique among video sharing services.

Voicesense makes an intriguing promise to its clients: give us someone's voice, and we'll tell you what they will do. The Israeli company uses real-time voice analysis during calls to evaluate whether someone is likely to default on a bank loan…

Shel Holtz One consequence of the rise of voice tech is that companies will be able to analyze your voice and draw conclusions from it to help them market to you. Some of this will be fine. Some will be very, very creepy.

NEW YORK — With Americans increasingly rallying to drive change, and expecting businesses to do the same, there are rewards for companies that take political and social action. However, there are risks for companies that don't first study up…

Shel Holtz You won't find anything surprising in this study, but it's good statistical validation of the best approach for companies to take when considering an advocacy position.

Foursquare is using South by Southwest (SXSW) to test out something new—just like it did a decade ago with the original app. This week during SXSW in Austin, Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley elaborated on company's week-long demo of…

Shel Holtz This is apparently as close as any tech came to being a hit at SxSW. The new Twitter camera barely made a ripple.