Twitter

Trump's campaign wanted to buy Twitter emoji to attack Clinton

by @AndrewLiptak Nov 19, 2016, 3:19pm EST

Over the course of the 2016 presidential election, political campaigns took to Twitter like never before, using extensive ad buys and promoted tweets to spread their message. According to a Medium published last night, the Trump campaign attempted...

Twitter launches Android TV app for NFL streams and live video

by @cgartenberg Nov 16, 2016, 6:02pm EST

If you’re an Android TV owner, and you had resigned yourself to watching tomorrow night’s Saints / Panthers game through the Twitter app on your smartphone, then Twitter has some good news for you. Variety reports that Twitter is launching an...

Twitter adds QR codes for some reason

by @CaseyNewton Nov 16, 2016, 5:26pm EST

Twitter today introduced QR codes into its apps for iOS and Android, because not having QR codes was Twitter’s biggest existential threat as a business and the main reason that no one ever followed anyone on the service. Before now, to follow...

Twitter suspends major alt-right accounts

by @amartoo Nov 16, 2016, 4:13am EST

Twitter this week suspended several prominent accounts linked to the alt-right movement, the fringe white nationalist group that helped propel President-elect Donald Trump to the White House. As USA Today reports, the site suspended the accounts...

The FBI just got its hands on data that Twitter wouldn’t give the CIA

by @russellbrandom Nov 14, 2016, 5:30pm EST

The FBI has a new view into what’s happening on Twitter. Last week, the bureau hired Dataminr, a Twitter-linked analytics firm, to provide an “advanced alerting tool” to over 200 users. Twitter owns a 5 percent stake in Dataminr and provides it...

Trump complains about 'unfair' protestors, deletes his tweets calling for revolution in 2012

by @jjvincent Nov 11, 2016, 6:34am EST

President-elect Donald Trump has got his Twitter back. After meeting with President Obama at the White House yesterday, Trump fired off a couple of tweets, including one complaining about "professional protestors" who he claims have been "incited...

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Social media keeps reminding us of the election timeline that could have been

by @sokane1 Nov 9, 2016, 4:52pm EST

We are living in the universe in which Donald Trump won the presidency. But that’s a lot harder to accept any time I open Facebook. Or Instagram. Or Twitter. Because all three social media apps employ algorithms that surface older posts over new...

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Twitter is reportedly in talks to sell Vine

by @CaseyNewton Nov 7, 2016, 5:08pm EST

Vine may live on with a new owner, according to a new report. TechCrunch says Twitter is now evaluating multiple offers for the short-form video service, which it announced it was shutting down last month. Some of the offers are for less than $10...

In the final days of the campaign, Trump's aides have taken away his Twitter privileges

by @AndrewLiptak Nov 6, 2016, 7:20pm EST

As the 2016 election enters the home stretch this weekend, each candidate is working to make their final plea to the electorate by honing their respective messages. In a profile published by The New York Times, it seems that Donald Trump has...

Twitter removes tweets spreading fake vote-by-text info

by Jacob Kastrenakes Nov 3, 2016, 11:54am EDT

Twitter has removed a series of fake campaign ads trying to convince Clinton voters that it’s possible to vote by text. The fake ads were spotted yesterday by Robert McNees, a physicist at Loyola University Chicago, who reported them to Twitter...

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Talkshow, the social network for public texting, is shutting down

by @nickstatt Nov 1, 2016, 3:39pm EDT

Six months after its launch, startup Talkshow is shutting down. The mobile app, from former Twitter executive Michael Sippey, let users group text in public, so any number of users could drop in and view the conversation. It was a little bit like...

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Twitter introduces customer service bots in direct messages

by @CaseyNewton Nov 1, 2016, 12:31pm EDT

Twitter is rolling out bot-like features inside its direct messaging feature in an effort to lure more brands into using it as a customer service platform. The company today introduced automated “welcome” messages for customers who send a DM to a...

How the White House will hand over social media accounts to Clinton or Trump

by Chris Welch Oct 31, 2016, 5:46pm EDT

The White House just published an overview explaining its plans for a "digital transition" between the departing Obama administration and the incoming 45th president of the United States. It details how each White House social media account (and...

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My shameless love for promoted tweets

by Kaitlyn Tiffany Oct 28, 2016, 1:01pm EDT

I rarely laugh out loud while scrolling through Twitter anymore. When I do, it’s almost always at a promoted tweet. Promoted tweets, which are written by social media managers or marketing people for brands, are sometimes very boring. Sometimes...

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Why Vine died

by @CaseyNewton Oct 28, 2016, 12:15pm EDT

The thing about Vine becoming the internet’s premier tool for making short-form videos is that it happened almost completely by accident. Its founders had envisioned their tool for making 6-second clips as a way to help people capture casual...

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Remembering Vine with our 18 favorite loops

by Kaitlyn Tiffany Oct 27, 2016, 1:09pm EDT

Vine is dead. Twitter killed Vine. What can we do? Nothing. We are not in positions of corporate power and we don’t know any effective hexes. The six-second, looping videos of Vine were a new art form when they debuted a little less than four...

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Twitter is killing off Vine

by @CaseyNewton Oct 27, 2016, 12:14pm EDT

Twitter is killing off Vine, the short-form video app it once hoped would complement its text-based network with a vibrant community of independent creators. The mobile app will be discontinued “in coming months,” the company said. A source told T...

Twitter is cutting 9 percent of its workforce, aims for profitability in 2017

by @jjvincent Oct 27, 2016, 7:22am EDT

Twitter has announced it will be laying off 9 percent of its staff (roughly 350 people), as the company tries to cut costs and refocus its operations. The news was rumored earlier this week, and confirmed this morning along with the company's...

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What should we do about all these white supremacists on Twitter?

by @russellbrandom Oct 19, 2016, 12:22pm EDT

Today, the Anti-Defamation League released a new report on anti-semitic harassment of journalists, detailing more than 20,000 instances over the course of a year. The report is worth reading in full, but the conclusion is fairly simple: there are...

What it’s like to be blamed for Trump’s candidacy: an interview with Russ Steinberg

by Kaitlyn Tiffany Oct 14, 2016, 4:39pm EDT

SB Nation contributor Russ Steinberg tweeted a prescient joke at Donald Trump three and a half years ago, and now some strangers are holding him accountable for the Republican presidential nominee. Steinberg’s exchange was simple enough: Obama...

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No one wants to buy Twitter

by Jacob Kastrenakes Oct 14, 2016, 2:10pm EDT

The emotional roller coaster that is Twitter’s future seems to have hit a new low today as Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff tells the Financial Times his company has “walked away” from making a bid to buy it. If you’re keeping track, that’s now......

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This Twitter bot is tracking dictators' flights in and out of Geneva

by @amartoo Oct 13, 2016, 4:24am EDT

A Swiss journalist has created a Twitter bot that tracks dictators’ flights to and from Geneva, as part of a crowdsourced effort to shed light on potentially shady dealings. The bot, called GVA Dictator Alert, tracks planes registered to...

Twitter tests replacing Moments with a new ‘Explore’ tab on mobile

by @nickstatt Oct 12, 2016, 7:03pm EDT

Twitter is experimenting yet again with the structure of its mobile app. This time around, the company is thinking about replacing its Moments tab, first introduced last fall to let users better track breaking news and other prominent events, with...

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Can Facebook and Twitter stop social media surveillance?

by @russellbrandom Oct 12, 2016, 11:53am EDT

Yesterday, social media surveillance became a very real problem for Facebook and Twitter. An ACLU report revealed a CIA-funded tool called Geofeedia was being used by police to track data from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to aid in...

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Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram surveillance tool was used to arrest Baltimore protestors

by @russellbrandom Oct 11, 2016, 1:42pm EDT

For years, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have provided data to a company marketing social media surveillance tools to police, according to a newly published investigation by the ACLU of Northern California. Geofeedia used the company’s APIs to...

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From Recode

Twitter is advertising around New York City, including right near Wall Street

by Recode Staff Oct 10, 2016, 5:14pm EDT

Twitter launched a new ad campaign today around New York City, placing colorful Twitter-themed signage in some of the city’s numerous subway stations. The ads are pretty cryptic in that they don’t do much of anything to actually explain what...

The internet’s alt-right are mistakenly arguing with a bot

by Kaitlyn Tiffany Oct 7, 2016, 3:11pm EDT

For the last month, a Twitter bot named "Liz," with the handle @arguetron, has been quietly engaging with the internet’s seediest subculture. Well-versed in internet bigotry of all stripes, the bot makes simple statements (five or six per hour)...

Salesforce CEO on Twitter acquisition: 'We look at everything, but pass on most'

by @jjvincent Oct 6, 2016, 5:39am EDT

Twitter is in trouble, and customer relations company Salesforce has emerged as a possible buyer. When asked about rumors of an acquisition yesterday, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told CNBC that he was not willing to "start a precedent by having to...

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Twitter opens its Moments feature up to everyone

by Jacob Kastrenakes Sep 28, 2016, 4:39pm EDT

Twitter will now let any of its users create a Moment. Moments, best known as the feature you have to swipe past to see your notifications, are collections of tweets that generally focus on a single subject. It may be people tweeting reactions to...

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Disney is also thinking about buying Twitter

by @nickstatt Sep 26, 2016, 3:46pm EDT

Disney is the latest high-profile name to consider an acquisition offer for Twitter, according to a report today from Bloomberg. While a formal bid has not been placed, Bloomberg says Disney is working with Bank of America to put one together. J...

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Twitter reportedly in talks with Google, Salesforce for potential sale

by @kwameopam Sep 23, 2016, 9:48am EDT

Twitter is reportedly in conversation with a number of tech companies for a potential sale. According to CNBC, the social company is in talks with the likes of Google and cloud computing company Salesforce, among others, and may receive a formal...

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Twitter will live stream the US presidential debates

by @jjvincent Sep 21, 2016, 9:00am EDT

Twitter is continuing its push into live events and TV with the announcement it will be live-streaming the US presidential debates. As with the company's streams of NFL football games, the live video will be shown alongside curated tweets, and...

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