Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people's health and well-being.Many governments and non-governmental organizations have made big efforts in healthy lifestyle and health promotion.
Mental Health
Mental health can be considered a very important factor of physical health for the effects it produces on bodily functions. This type of health concerns emotional and cognitive well-being or an absence of mental disorder.
Public health
Public health can be defined in a variety of ways. It can be presented as "the study of the physical, psychosocial and socio-cultural determinants of population health and actions to improve the health of the population.
Reproductive Health
For the UN, reproductive health is a right, like other human rights. This recent concept evokes the good transmission of the genetic heritage from one generation to the next.
Health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
lundi 21 novembre 2016
Why You Should Think Twice About What You Read on Facebook
Update: Since the publishing of this story, Facebook has taken several steps to combat fake news on the site. The company, along with Google, will "no longer allow fake news sites to use their ad-selling services," reports CNN. Mark Zuckerberg also addressed the controversy again in a Facebook post on Nov. 18. In it, the CEO discusses how it usually leaves the community to decide what's fake on the site. However, if the community is spreading something false, the News Feed "penalizes this content."
Zuckerberg also outlined the seven steps the company is taking to stop the spread of fake news. It involves developing better tools to flag fake news, creating a simpler process for people to report fake news, working with more sources that fact-check news, "showing warnings" when someone decides to read fake news, showing higher-quality content when it comes to related articles, "disrupting" how fake news sites can make money on the site, and lastly, listening and learning from media companies that already do rigorous fact-checking.
The post has more than 131,000 reactions, 9,000 comments, and 10,000 shares. Read it for yourself below.
Original story: A study in May found that 44 percent of US adults get their news from Facebook, which means you - yes, you - quite possibly clicked on this story from your news feed. There's nothing wrong with that; I also get my news from Facebook and the links my friends share. However, what you and I see on our news feed may look extremely different. Though Facebook continues to insist that it is not a media company, the fact that it's how a significant number of Americans get their news suggests otherwise. In its media-company role, Facebook helped disseminate misinformation throughout the election, failing its own mission statement and letting down its users.
On Facebook's own profile page, the company includes its mission statement:
Founded in 2004, Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what's going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.
Based on this statement, it's clear that the company has a duty to you - the user - to "discover what's going on in the world." But is the company failing us if it allows you to find fake news and share it with all your Facebook friends?
Facebook's algorithm surfaced fake news.
After the company fired the human curators who were running Facebook's "Trending Topics" section, the section has repeatedly surfaced fake news. Did you happen to read how Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump? Or that Hillary Clinton was calling for civil war should Trump be elected? These fake stories spread because they were shared on Facebook.
An algorithm, which one researcher warns is inherently not neutral, cannot distinguish between what is fake and what is not. Facebook's vice president of product management, Adam Mosseri, has admitted to this problem in a statement to TechCrunch.
"We take misinformation on Facebook very seriously. We value authentic communication, and hear consistently from those who use Facebook that they prefer not to see misinformation. In Newsfeed we use various signals based on community feedback to determine which posts are likely to contain inaccurate information, and reduce their distribution. In Trending we look at a variety of signals to help make sure the topics being shown are reflective of real-world events, and take additional steps to prevent false or misleading content from appearing. Despite these efforts we understand there's so much more we need to do, and that is why it's important that we keep improving our ability to detect misinformation. We're committed to continuing to work on this issue and improve the experiences on our platform."
The New York Times reports that, internally, employees at Facebook are also concerned about the role the company played in the election and considering what its responsibility is. Employees are giving product managers suggestions on how to address the news feed problems.
Employees at Facebook are so dissatisfied with Zuckerberg's words and lack of action that dozens of them have formed a task force to investigate whether the company did enough to stop the spread of fake news, reports BuzzFeed. "If someone posts a fake news article, which claims that the Clintons are employing illegal immigrants, and that incites people to violence against illegal immigrants, isn't that dangerous, doesn't that also violate our community standards?" said one anonymous employee to BuzzFeed.
Where is this fake news coming from?
A BuzzFeed investigation found that many of the fake news stories were originating in Macedonia. Teens who wanted an easy way to make money created sites to write fake news that would cater to Trump supporters. One source told BuzzFeed that a friend who runs one of these sites can make "$3,000 a day" when a story takes off. In another investigation, The Washington Post found that sometimes Facebook surfaces stories from known satire sites, like SportsPickle. Fake news isn't the only issue on Facebook either: as an interactive story from The Wall Street Journal points out, your news feed will look vastly different if you're a liberal or a conservative.
Can we change what we see on Facebook?
To a certain extent, you can control what you see in the news feed. Facebook shows you posts it thinks you may like based on previous information, including pages you've "liked," where you're from, and other details in your profile. These same details are surfaced to advertisers, who will then show you things you might like to buy or see. At this point, however, you've probably clicked and "liked" so much stuff on Facebook that it's hard to escape the bubble you've created for yourself on the site. Besides, if what you're seeing is information and stories that you want to believe, why would you try to re-create a new world for yourself on Facebook?
Mark Zuckerberg doesn't believe the fake news on Facebook had a strong affect on the election
Two days after the election, on Nov. 10, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to all these arguments at a conference. "Personally I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, which is a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way - I think it is a pretty crazy idea. Voters make decisions based on their lived experience."
On Saturday, Nov. 12, Zuckerberg wrote a post that said "more than 99 percent of what people see [on Facebook] is authentic. . . Overall, this makes it extremely unlikely hoaxes changed the outcome of this election in one direction or the other." Zuckerberg acknowledged that there is more work to be done in curbing fake news from the site.
Meanwhile, Gizmodo reports that Facebook may already have the features to get rid of fake news. Talking to two sources, Gizmodo found that a news feed update that "would have identified fake or hoax news stories" was in the works. But the source contends the company never moved forward with it because "there was a lot of fear about upsetting conservatives after Trending Topics." The update, in addition to flagging fake news, "disproportionately impacted right-wing news sites by downgrading or removing that content from people's feeds" - which may have been another reason the update was never released.
Facebook denied the report and all of its findings in an emailed comment to POPSUGAR. "The article's allegation is not true. We did not build and withhold any News Feed changes based on their potential impact on any one political party. We always work to make News Feed more meaningful and informative, and that includes examining the quality and accuracy of items shared, such as clickbait, spam and hoaxes. Mark himself said 'I want to do everything I can to make sure our teams uphold the integrity of our products.' This includes continuously review updates to make sure we are not exhibiting unconscious bias."
The company did not respond to our other questions for comment.
Where do we go from here?
Joshua Benton, director at the Nieman Lab, explores several different options. One of the most beneficial ones is to rehire human curators who can decide what goes in the "trending topics" section. See, there is plenty of great, well-reported journalism out there. But, if the algorithm on the site can't fix what you see on your feed, it can at least attempt to resolve this via the Trending Topics section. Benton also goes on to suggest that a team could sort through all the content on Facebook and flag fake news - and even potentially remove the publisher or page from the site if it continues to do this action.
Facebook can also do what reporters have been asking the company to do for months: declare itself a media company. When it controls this amount of information and dictates how and when you see that, it is making editorial decisions. When the company refuses to strike down fake news from the site, that is an editorial decision. Facebook is the company determining what information is vital to its readers - decisions which reporters and editors make in newsrooms every day.
We'll never know the full extent of how much Facebook did or did not influence the election. But with local and state elections now a year away, the company can and should do better. It owes that to its users and employees, who subscribe to a mission statement that wants to "make the world more open and connected."
samedi 27 mai 2017
How to Talk to Kids About Upsetting News Coverage at Every Age
Kids get their news from many sources which might not always be correct and are sometimes scary. Here are tips from our friends at Common Sense Media on how to talk about the news - and listen, too.
Shootings, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, end-of-the-world predictions - even political coverage of current events - can be upsetting news for adults, not to mention kids. In our 24/7 news world, it's become nearly impossible to shield kids from distressing current events.
According to Common Sense Media's report, News and America's Kids: How Young People Perceive and Are Impacted by the News, kids get their news from family, friends, teachers, and of course the internet. Kids like to check their social media for shareable videos, posts, blogs, feeds, and alerts. But the news can stress them out. Since much of this content comes from sites that are designed for adult audiences, what your kids see, hear, or read might not always be age-appropriate. Making things even more challenging is the fact that many kids are getting this information directly on their phones and laptops. Often parents aren't around to immediately help their kids make sense of horrendous situations.
The bottom line is that young kids simply don't have the ability to understand news events in context, much less know whether or not a source of information is credible. And though older teens are better able to understand current events, even they face challenges when it comes to sifting fact from opinion - or misinformation.
No matter how old your kids are, threatening or upsetting news can affect them emotionally. Many can feel worried, frightened, angry, or even guilty. And these anxious feelings can last long after the news event is over. So what can you do as a parent to help your kids deal with all this information?
Tips for all kids
Consider your own reactions. Your kids will look to the way you handle the news to determine their own approach. If you stay calm and rational, they will, too.
Take action. Depending on the issue and kids' ages, families can find ways to help those affected by the news. Kids can write postcards to politicians expressing their opinions; families can attend meetings or protests; kids can help assemble care packages or donate a portion of their allowance to a rescue/humanitarian effort. Check out websites that help kids do good.
Tips for kids under 7
Keep the news away. Turn off the TV and radio news at the top of the hour and half hour. Read the newspaper out of range of young eyes that can be frightened by the pictures (kids may respond strongly to pictures of other kids in jeopardy). Preschool kids don't need to see or hear about something that will only scare them silly, especially because they can easily confuse facts with fantasies or fears.
Stress that your family is safe. At this age, kids are most concerned with your safety and separation from you. Try not to minimize or discount their concerns and fears, but reassure them by explaining all the protective measures that exist to keep them safe. If the news event happened far away, you can use the distance to reassure kids. For kids who live in areas where crime and violence is a very real threat, any news account of violence may trigger extra fear. If that happens, share a few age-appropriate tips for staying and feeling safe (being with an adult, keeping away from any police activity).
Be together. Though it's important to listen and not belittle their fears, distraction and physical comfort can go a long way. Snuggling up and watching something cheery or doing something fun together may be more effective than logical explanations about probabilities.
Tips for kids 8-12
Carefully consider your child's maturity and temperament. Many kids can handle a discussion of threatening events, but if your kids tend toward the sensitive side, be sure to keep them away from the TV news; repetitive images and stories can make dangers appear greater, more prevalent, and closer to home.
Be available for questions and conversation. At this age, many kids will see the morality of events in stark black-and-white terms and are in the process of developing their moral beliefs. You may have to explain the basics of prejudice, bias, and civil and religious strife. But be careful about making generalizations, since kids will take what you say to the bank. This is a good time to ask them what they know, since they'll probably have gotten their information from friends, and you may have to correct facts.
Talk about - and filter - news coverage. You might explain that even news programs compete for viewers, which sometimes affects content decisions. If you let your kids use the Internet, go online with them. Some of the pictures posted are simply grisly. Monitor where your kids are going, and set your URLs to open to non-news-based portals.
Tips for teens
Check in. Since, in many instances, teens will have absorbed the news independently of you, talking with them can offer great insights into their developing politics and their senses of justice and morality. It will also help you get a sense of what they already know or have learned about the situation from their own social networks. It will also give you the opportunity to throw your own insights into the mix (just don't dismiss theirs, since that will shut down the conversation immediately).
Let teens express themselves. Many teens will feel passionately about events and may even personalize them if someone they know has been directly affected. They'll also probably be aware that their own lives could be affected by violence. Try to address their concerns without dismissing or minimizing them. If you disagree with media portrayals, explain why so your teens can separate the mediums through which they absorb news from the messages conveyed.
Additional resources
For more information on how to talk to your kids about a recent tragedy, please visit the National Association of School Psychologists or the American Psychological Association. For news about kids, check out Common Sense News.
Marie-Louise Mares, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, contributed to this article.
How to Talk to Kids About Upsetting News Coverage at Every Age
Kids get their news from many sources which might not always be correct and are sometimes scary. Here are tips from our friends at Common Sense Media on how to talk about the news - and listen, too.
Shootings, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, end-of-the-world predictions - even political coverage of current events - can be upsetting news for adults, not to mention kids. In our 24/7 news world, it's become nearly impossible to shield kids from distressing current events.
According to Common Sense Media's report, News and America's Kids: How Young People Perceive and Are Impacted by the News, kids get their news from family, friends, teachers, and of course the internet. Kids like to check their social media for shareable videos, posts, blogs, feeds, and alerts. But the news can stress them out. Since much of this content comes from sites that are designed for adult audiences, what your kids see, hear, or read might not always be age-appropriate. Making things even more challenging is the fact that many kids are getting this information directly on their phones and laptops. Often parents aren't around to immediately help their kids make sense of horrendous situations.
The bottom line is that young kids simply don't have the ability to understand news events in context, much less know whether or not a source of information is credible. And though older teens are better able to understand current events, even they face challenges when it comes to sifting fact from opinion - or misinformation.
No matter how old your kids are, threatening or upsetting news can affect them emotionally. Many can feel worried, frightened, angry, or even guilty. And these anxious feelings can last long after the news event is over. So what can you do as a parent to help your kids deal with all this information?
Tips for all kids
Consider your own reactions. Your kids will look to the way you handle the news to determine their own approach. If you stay calm and rational, they will, too.
Take action. Depending on the issue and kids' ages, families can find ways to help those affected by the news. Kids can write postcards to politicians expressing their opinions; families can attend meetings or protests; kids can help assemble care packages or donate a portion of their allowance to a rescue/humanitarian effort. Check out websites that help kids do good.
Tips for kids under 7
Keep the news away. Turn off the TV and radio news at the top of the hour and half hour. Read the newspaper out of range of young eyes that can be frightened by the pictures (kids may respond strongly to pictures of other kids in jeopardy). Preschool kids don't need to see or hear about something that will only scare them silly, especially because they can easily confuse facts with fantasies or fears.
Stress that your family is safe. At this age, kids are most concerned with your safety and separation from you. Try not to minimize or discount their concerns and fears, but reassure them by explaining all the protective measures that exist to keep them safe. If the news event happened far away, you can use the distance to reassure kids. For kids who live in areas where crime and violence is a very real threat, any news account of violence may trigger extra fear. If that happens, share a few age-appropriate tips for staying and feeling safe (being with an adult, keeping away from any police activity).
Be together. Though it's important to listen and not belittle their fears, distraction and physical comfort can go a long way. Snuggling up and watching something cheery or doing something fun together may be more effective than logical explanations about probabilities.
Tips for kids 8-12
Carefully consider your child's maturity and temperament. Many kids can handle a discussion of threatening events, but if your kids tend toward the sensitive side, be sure to keep them away from the TV news; repetitive images and stories can make dangers appear greater, more prevalent, and closer to home.
Be available for questions and conversation. At this age, many kids will see the morality of events in stark black-and-white terms and are in the process of developing their moral beliefs. You may have to explain the basics of prejudice, bias, and civil and religious strife. But be careful about making generalizations, since kids will take what you say to the bank. This is a good time to ask them what they know, since they'll probably have gotten their information from friends, and you may have to correct facts.
Talk about - and filter - news coverage. You might explain that even news programs compete for viewers, which sometimes affects content decisions. If you let your kids use the Internet, go online with them. Some of the pictures posted are simply grisly. Monitor where your kids are going, and set your URLs to open to non-news-based portals.
Tips for teens
Check in. Since, in many instances, teens will have absorbed the news independently of you, talking with them can offer great insights into their developing politics and their senses of justice and morality. It will also help you get a sense of what they already know or have learned about the situation from their own social networks. It will also give you the opportunity to throw your own insights into the mix (just don't dismiss theirs, since that will shut down the conversation immediately).
Let teens express themselves. Many teens will feel passionately about events and may even personalize them if someone they know has been directly affected. They'll also probably be aware that their own lives could be affected by violence. Try to address their concerns without dismissing or minimizing them. If you disagree with media portrayals, explain why so your teens can separate the mediums through which they absorb news from the messages conveyed.
Additional resources
For more information on how to talk to your kids about a recent tragedy, please visit the National Association of School Psychologists or the American Psychological Association. For news about kids, check out Common Sense News.
Marie-Louise Mares, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, contributed to this article.
vendredi 4 août 2017
The Internet Called Out Fox News For Once Again Failing to Address News
The investigation into whether or not Russia interfered with the 2016 election took a serious turn on Aug. 3 when Special Counsel Robert Mueller called for a grand jury. According to the Wall Street Journal, the grand jury recently started its work and the call indicates that the investigation is broadening even further in scope. While major TV networks halted programming to hone in on this recent development, Fox News continued its longstanding trend of ignoring major negative news about President Donald Trump. The internet finally had enough and turned Fox News into a meme.
The meme presents the conservative news outlet as willing to cover any other news that doesn't portray Trump terribly - or tell its viewers the truth.
CNN: Grand Jury
MSNBC: Grand Jury
Fox News: This one registered Democrat in Scottsdale, AZ may not have filed his taxes properly.- Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) August 3, 2017
CNN: Grand Jury
MSNBC: Grand Jury
Fox News: Chelsea Clinton rode a horse last weekend- Rob Tannenbaum (@tannenbaumr) August 3, 2017
CNN: Grand Jury
MSNBC: Grand Jury
Fox News: Is zebras a kind of horse?- Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) August 3, 2017
CNN: Grand Jury
MSNBC: Grand Jury
Fox News: Video of a time Obama used a salad fork to eat his entree.- Maggie Serota 🚽 (@maggieserota) August 3, 2017
CNN: Grand Jury
MSNBC: Grand Jury
FOXNEWS: An interview with Graham Jurry, Best Buy employee, who thinks he met Seth Rich once.- Geoff LaTulippe (@DrGMLaTulippe) August 3, 2017
CNN: Grand Jury
MSNBC: Grand Jury
Fox News: Hide your wife hide your kids TRANS PEOPLE WILL TAKE THEM FROM YOU- Patrick Karlsson (@Patrickesque) August 3, 2017
Some even used Trump's recent comments on immigration to make a point.
CNN: Grand Jury
MSNBC: Grand Jury
Fox News: Pluto Would Still Be Considered a Planet If It Bothered To Learn to Speak English- Lindsay Goldwert (@lindsaygoldwert) August 3, 2017
Others just resorted to classic internet jokes.
CNN: Grand Jury
MSNBC: Grand Jury
FOX NEWS: Can I has a cheezburger?- Jonathan Sadowski (@sadowski23) August 3, 2017
cnn: grand jury
msnbc: grand jury
fox: are hotdogs tacos?- Friedrice Nietzsche (@tinynietzsche) August 3, 2017
And one person used it to show what Fox News would rather report on.
WSJ: Grand Jury Empaneled
Reuters: Subpoenas issued in connection to 2016 Trump Jr. Russia meeting
CNN: Mueller investigating Trump finances- Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) August 3, 2017
It's not entirely surprising that Fox News would continue to ignore such developments considering the company dropped its "Fair and Balanced" slogan in 2016.
jeudi 15 juin 2017
It Was Bound to Happen: Fox News Is No Longer "Fair and Balanced"
Update: A FOX News spokesperson confirmed to POPSUGAR that the network "hasn't used the slogan in external marketing or on-air promotions since August 2016" and stressed that "the shift has nothing to do with programming or editorial decisions."
Original story: Fox News has reportedly ditched its longstanding "Fair & Balanced" marketing slogan, according to NY Magazine. An insider told the publication that the embattled news channel wanted a fresh slate after being "mocked" for the slogan, which originated in 1996 under the start of the Roger Ailes era.
The slogan news comes after a year of shakeups and scandals that have plagued Fox News network, including Roger Ailes resigning as the chairman in July of 2016 following sexual harassment allegations against him. Earlier this year, Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly also faced a similar fate when his 20-year talk-show, The O'Reilly Factor, was canceled over sexual abuse allegations.
So what will the new tagline be? "Most Watched. Most Trusted." The irony of it all was not lost on the internet. Twitter users immediately shared their own ideas for slogans that might better suit the news channel. See some of the witty responses to the "Fair & Balanced" news ahead.
I can't count the levels of irony here. And yeah I think this counts as actual irony.
- Josh Levs (@JoshLevs) June 14, 2017
New slogan.. "Fox News - We have the best words"
- Joe Burke (@joker5339) June 14, 2017
Maybe they did some self reflection?
- I am not an animal! (@ayellowbeard) June 14, 2017
Yes, this sounds more appropriate! http://pic.twitter.com/qw8cnvJabD
- Esther Eli (@EliEstherVizio) June 14, 2017
mardi 23 janvier 2018
Using a "Bitmoji on Steroids," Genies Is Revolutionizing How We Interact With Trending News
When I spoke to Genies cofounder and CEO Akash Nigam in mid-January, he wasn't shy about his company's aspirations.
"We want to be the next Buzzfeed for the Snapchat generation," he told me. "We're introducing a new medium of infotainment where you're subconsciously retaining everything that's going around you in the world that day through the lens of your little Genie . . . Blue sky, we would roll out Genies for every single community in the entire world, fully customized for all. For now, it's essentially targeting millennials - we want to be able to invite only the people that we know fit the mold, pretty much almost the trickiest audience to nail in the world. So that's kind of what we're after. If we can prove it to you guys, then we know we can prove it elsewhere."
If you've heard of Genies, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If not, here's the quick rundown of what Genies is: backed by celebrities like Shawn Mendes and The Chainsmokers, the app delivers the most buzzworthy stories of the day alongside an animation that shows "you" doing something in line with the news. Like Bitmoji before it, Genies allows you to fully customize your personal avatar - and drop that mirror image into a story alongside your in-app friends and select celebrities. The app also lets you instantly share the resulting animation in iMessage, Snapchat, or Instagram. In short, the founders saw the juggernaut-like rise of social news and personalized, AI-based avatars and combined them in one easy-to-use app.
"Our goal is to be the number one media company in the world," Nigam told me. "I think we step forward with that. I mean, we're all 24 years old, essentially - at least, our founding team is. We know that the best shot that you have at building that kind of elusive billion-dollar consumer company is when you're still young . . . for us, it was mostly just looking at how we, ourselves, consume news nowadays. With news being such a prevalent topic of today's world, we studied how Gen Z and millennials consume news through Snapchat and Instagram and so forth. And when you look at Snapchat and you go through the Discover page, it doesn't really feel like news, right? It feels like a television show. It's all so visual, and it's almost serving a new medium. So we want to serve that new medium of infotainment as well, combining a Bitmoji on steroids with popular news."
Nigam says that it took a year to build the AI system that powers each user's Genie, and it's no small lift to keep the app constantly updating around the clock. And remember, Genies is still subject to the same level of scrutiny that any news-delivery platform is in 2018, so that means there's a whole lot of manpower and computing going on behind each and every story they push out to the app.
"We have something called the viral throttler (it's a piece of AI that we've created) and what it does is that it's hooked up to hundreds of thousands of websites all across the world. So for all intents and purposes, it's every single big one. And it can detect viral content before it goes viral, just by looking at a number of indicators including the velocity of shares, the velocity of "likes," the velocity of retweets, the velocity of reads, and so forth," Nigam explained, noting that they don't have any publisher partners, but the team does monitor specific sources who tend to be the first to jump on a story. "We source any viral previral content, the best content, before it goes viral so that we can start reacting to it immediately and then send it out to the users so it's timely and prompt."
Once the news item has been sourced, it's then time to create a story out of it - and that, too, is partially based on an AI engine. To explain how it all goes down, Nigam pointed to a recent news story about South Korea accepting North Korean athletes for the 2018 Olympics.
"Our system would've automatically read keywords, entity keywords, and then the emotion score of the headline, as well as the main article substance. So South Korea, North Korea, Olympics - and the emotion score, it was positive and joyful," he explained. "We have two libraries internally - the animation library and the illustration library - where we've created millions of predesigned assets with different props, different designs, and so forth, like skiers or the Olympics symbol or South Korean and North Korean symbols."
"Our animation system and illustration system, based on keywords and motion scores, suggests a bunch of predesigned images to a full-time [human] illustration and animation team. Instead of them having to start from scratch (which could take them all day or multiple days to be able to do custom), they can just assemble these pieces that are automatically suggested to them in real time. We also have comedic writers that are standing by as well who help play up the story itself and assist with what types of stories to tell. So in this case, they may have suggested the skis and the country symbols - or the landscape in the background - and then the comedic writer would've come up with text using those props and, within 10 minutes, drawn up the game plan for what the scene should exhibit. And then our illustration and animations team would go ahead and put the final touches on it, and we'd send it out."
As a result, there are a lot of moving pieces - and a lot of deadlines to meet - so the staff is strategically placed around the world to better make that process work. "We have over 40 people [on staff]; we have offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and also in Bucharest, Romania," Nigam added. "A predominant amount of our team is animation, illustration, and engineering . . . but the reason we even have an office [in Bucharest], in a completely different time zone, is so that we can be reacting to international news overnight and when the US wakes up, that international news is already in their feed before they even realize it.
Beyond the basic concept, though, Nigam and his team launched the app in somewhat of a public beta, only allowing a certain level of social influencers into the app itself, and that's served to make it feel like an exclusive, special thing. "The majority [of users] are definitely waitlisted," Nigam said. "We haven't done any marketing, but you'll see us being aggressive this quarter. We have over a hundred thousand people just sitting on the waitlist, and we approve a few thousand a day. We do it based on a number of factors, including a social graph . . . but the more friends you have on the app, the higher likelihood you're going to be able to get access to it as well."
And while that may sound like a high bar to set straight off the bat, it's working for Genies - Nigam says that the reaction (and subsequent engagement within the app itself) is through the roof. "Our biggest success, I'd say, is engagement - and also the anecdotal positivity that we're receiving from the user base unprompted is pretty phenomenal," he said. "People spend close to 20 minutes just creating their Genie alone, and then they're spending close to 10 minutes within the app once they get off the waitlist and so forth. And then looking at retention - the retention numbers show more than 50 percent of users coming back for more, and that's really, really big for this industry."
Ultimately, it's well worth getting yourself on the Genies waitlist to check the platform out for yourself. And while it won't be the most well-rounded news experience (at least, not yet anyway), we can guarantee that if you're looking for a fun app that will give you a broad world update, make you laugh a little, and produce a great little icebreaker to share with your friends, well, there's nothing on the market right now that will do that quite the way that Genies does.
mercredi 24 janvier 2018
Using a "Bitmoji on Steroids," Genies Is Revolutionizing How We Interact With Trending News
When I spoke to Genies cofounder and CEO Akash Nigam in mid-January, he wasn't shy about his company's aspirations.
"We want to be the next Buzzfeed for the Snapchat generation," he told me. "We're introducing a new medium of infotainment where you're subconsciously retaining everything that's going around you in the world that day through the lens of your little Genie . . . Blue sky, we would roll out Genies for every single community in the entire world, fully customized for all. For now, it's essentially targeting millennials - we want to be able to invite only the people that we know fit the mold, pretty much almost the trickiest audience to nail in the world. So that's kind of what we're after. If we can prove it to you guys, then we know we can prove it elsewhere."
If you've heard of Genies, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If not, here's the quick rundown of what Genies is: backed by celebrities like Shawn Mendes and The Chainsmokers, the app delivers the most buzzworthy stories of the day alongside an animation that shows "you" doing something in line with the news. Like Bitmoji before it, Genies allows you to fully customize your personal avatar - and drop that mirror image into a story alongside your in-app friends and select celebrities. The app also lets you instantly share the resulting animation in iMessage, Snapchat, or Instagram. In short, the founders saw the juggernaut-like rise of social news and personalized, AI-based avatars and combined them in one easy-to-use app.
"Our goal is to be the number one media company in the world," Nigam told me. "I think we step forward with that. I mean, we're all 24 years old, essentially - at least, our founding team is. We know that the best shot that you have at building that kind of elusive billion-dollar consumer company is when you're still young . . . for us, it was mostly just looking at how we, ourselves, consume news nowadays. With news being such a prevalent topic of today's world, we studied how Gen Z and millennials consume news through Snapchat and Instagram and so forth. And when you look at Snapchat and you go through the Discover page, it doesn't really feel like news, right? It feels like a television show. It's all so visual, and it's almost serving a new medium. So we want to serve that new medium of infotainment as well, combining a Bitmoji on steroids with popular news."
Nigam says that it took a year to build the AI system that powers each user's Genie, and it's no small lift to keep the app constantly updating around the clock. And remember, Genies is still subject to the same level of scrutiny that any news-delivery platform is in 2018, so that means there's a whole lot of manpower and computing going on behind each and every story they push out to the app.
"We have something called the viral throttler (it's a piece of AI that we've created) and what it does is that it's hooked up to hundreds of thousands of websites all across the world. So for all intents and purposes, it's every single big one. And it can detect viral content before it goes viral, just by looking at a number of indicators including the velocity of shares, the velocity of "likes," the velocity of retweets, the velocity of reads, and so forth," Nigam explained, noting that they don't have any publisher partners, but the team does monitor specific sources who tend to be the first to jump on a story. "We source any viral previral content, the best content, before it goes viral so that we can start reacting to it immediately and then send it out to the users so it's timely and prompt."
Once the news item has been sourced, it's then time to create a story out of it - and that, too, is partially based on an AI engine. To explain how it all goes down, Nigam pointed to a recent news story about South Korea accepting North Korean athletes for the 2018 Olympics.
"Our system would've automatically read keywords, entity keywords, and then the emotion score of the headline, as well as the main article substance. So South Korea, North Korea, Olympics - and the emotion score, it was positive and joyful," he explained. "We have two libraries internally - the animation library and the illustration library - where we've created millions of predesigned assets with different props, different designs, and so forth, like skiers or the Olympics symbol or South Korean and North Korean symbols."
"Our animation system and illustration system, based on keywords and motion scores, suggests a bunch of predesigned images to a full-time [human] illustration and animation team. Instead of them having to start from scratch (which could take them all day or multiple days to be able to do custom), they can just assemble these pieces that are automatically suggested to them in real time. We also have comedic writers that are standing by as well who help play up the story itself and assist with what types of stories to tell. So in this case, they may have suggested the skis and the country symbols - or the landscape in the background - and then the comedic writer would've come up with text using those props and, within 10 minutes, drawn up the game plan for what the scene should exhibit. And then our illustration and animations team would go ahead and put the final touches on it, and we'd send it out."
As a result, there are a lot of moving pieces - and a lot of deadlines to meet - so the staff is strategically placed around the world to better make that process work. "We have over 40 people [on staff]; we have offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and also in Bucharest, Romania," Nigam added. "A predominant amount of our team is animation, illustration, and engineering . . . but the reason we even have an office [in Bucharest], in a completely different time zone, is so that we can be reacting to international news overnight and when the US wakes up, that international news is already in their feed before they even realize it.
Beyond the basic concept, though, Nigam and his team launched the app in somewhat of a public beta, only allowing a certain level of social influencers into the app itself, and that's served to make it feel like an exclusive, special thing. "The majority [of users] are definitely waitlisted," Nigam said. "We haven't done any marketing, but you'll see us being aggressive this quarter. We have over a hundred thousand people just sitting on the waitlist, and we approve a few thousand a day. We do it based on a number of factors, including a social graph . . . but the more friends you have on the app, the higher likelihood you're going to be able to get access to it as well."
And while that may sound like a high bar to set straight off the bat, it's working for Genies - Nigam says that the reaction (and subsequent engagement within the app itself) is through the roof. "Our biggest success, I'd say, is engagement - and also the anecdotal positivity that we're receiving from the user base unprompted is pretty phenomenal," he said. "People spend close to 20 minutes just creating their Genie alone, and then they're spending close to 10 minutes within the app once they get off the waitlist and so forth. And then looking at retention - the retention numbers show more than 50 percent of users coming back for more, and that's really, really big for this industry."
Ultimately, it's well worth getting yourself on the Genies waitlist to check the platform out for yourself. And while it won't be the most well-rounded news experience (at least, not yet anyway), we can guarantee that if you're looking for a fun app that will give you a broad world update, make you laugh a little, and produce a great little icebreaker to share with your friends, well, there's nothing on the market right now that will do that quite the way that Genies does.
mercredi 14 juin 2017
It Was Bound to Happen: Fox News Is No Longer "Fair and Balanced"
Fox News has reportedly ditched its longstanding "Fair & Balanced" marketing slogan, according to NY Magazine. An insider told the publication that the embattled news channel wanted a fresh slate after being "mocked" for the slogan, which originated in 1996 under the start of the Roger Ailes era.
The slogan news comes after a year of shakeups and scandals that have plagued Fox News network, including Roger Ailes resigning as the chairman in July of 2016 following sexual harassment allegations against him. Earlier this year, Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly also faced a similar fate when his 20-year talk-show, The O'Reilly Factor, was canceled over sexual abuse allegations.
So what will the new tagline be? "Most Watched. Most Trusted." The irony of it all was not lost on the internet. Twitter users immediately shared their own ideas for slogans that might better suit the news channel. See some of the witty responses to the "Fair & Balanced" news ahead.
I can't count the levels of irony here. And yeah I think this counts as actual irony.
- Josh Levs (@JoshLevs) June 14, 2017
New slogan.. "Fox News - We have the best words"
- Joe Burke (@joker5339) June 14, 2017
Maybe they did some self reflection?
- I am not an animal! (@ayellowbeard) June 14, 2017
Yes, this sounds more appropriate! http://pic.twitter.com/qw8cnvJabD
- Esther Eli (@EliEstherVizio) June 14, 2017
It Was Bound to Happen: Fox News Is No Longer "Fair and Balanced"
Fox News has reportedly ditched its longstanding "Fair & Balanced" marketing slogan, according to NY Magazine. An insider told the publication that the embattled news channel wanted a fresh slate after being "mocked" for the slogan, which originated in 1996 under the start of the Roger Ailes era.
The slogan news comes after a year of shakeups and scandals that have plagued Fox News network, including Roger Ailes resigning as the chairman in July of 2016 following sexual harassment allegations against him. Earlier this year, Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly also faced a similar fate when his 20-year talk-show, The O'Reilly Factor, was canceled over sexual abuse allegations.
So what will the new tagline be? "Most Watched. Most Trusted." The irony of it all was not lost on the internet. Twitter users immediately shared their own ideas for slogans that might better suit the news channel. See some of the witty responses to the "Fair & Balanced" news ahead.
I can't count the levels of irony here. And yeah I think this counts as actual irony.
- Josh Levs (@JoshLevs) June 14, 2017
New slogan.. "Fox News - We have the best words"
- Joe Burke (@joker5339) June 14, 2017
Maybe they did some self reflection?
- I am not an animal! (@ayellowbeard) June 14, 2017
Yes, this sounds more appropriate! http://pic.twitter.com/qw8cnvJabD
- Esther Eli (@EliEstherVizio) June 14, 2017
jeudi 15 février 2018
I Won a Fake News Award From President Trump, and I'm Scared For Our Country
I can definitively report that I was not expecting to receive a personal notification from Donald Trump on Wednesday night.
In fact, I had just muted @realDonaldTrump a few days prior. I used to receive push alerts on my phone every time the president fired off another angry rant to his millions of real followers (and nearly the equivalent number of bots and fake accounts). A short vacation from the madness was well overdue, and I figured that, just like everyone else, somehow, some way I would manage to remain aware of Trump's latest tweets every day of my life - since, after all, this is our society's collective new reality.
Turns out, I was right. But on this Wednesday - Jan. 17, to be specific - my phone was on fire by about 10 p.m., the approximate moment when the Republican Party's website stopped crashing long enough to actually debut the president's long-awaited "Fake News Awards." Let's be honest, when your phone is buzzing relentlessly late on a weeknight, it's generally a good indicator that proverbial sh*t is hitting the fan. But when you're a journalist, it's 2018, and those notifications are arriving predominantly from Twitter - well, there's always the minuscule chance you were just attacked by the President of the United States.
"What did you do?" A concerned relative wrote. "You won!" a former editor tweeted. Messages of support were scattered throughout my inbox. My heart nearly skipped a beat. "Holy sh*t," I thought. "Did I just win the president's fake news awards?"
And the FAKE NEWS winners are...https://t.co/59G6x2f7fD
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018
I hate to admit this, but like many others in my industry, there was a sick part of me that had been looking forward to Trump's Fake News Awards ever since he announced his social media brainchild in early January. The president was planning an old-fashioned, WWE-style smackdown of his least favorite media outlets and, if I was lucky enough, I might just be one of those reporters included in the phenomenon. Surely, the president would create an awards program centered around his favorite term that was so outlandish and extravagant, it would be an unmissable event. Had Stephen Miller kept a naughty list of his least favorite reporters throughout the year and was planning on using the president's platform to exact his revenge? Was Trump going to place a caricature of Maggie Haberman's face on top of gold-plated trophies for award recipients? Would Jake Tapper be hosting the red carpet?
As the president and his party bungled the rollout for the awards, I quickly realized the event would be much less of a spectacle than I had hoped for.
"The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!" Trump boasted in his typical used-car-salesman-style pitch, hyping the awards while simultaneously acknowledging he would miss his own deadline. But then again, as we all quickly learned once the list of recipients was actually released, the whole thing appeared to have been a rushed and disorganized nothingburger - clearly written 10 minutes before it was released.
And then there's the fact that the GOP website, graciously hosting the president's Fake News Awards (and ostensibly attempting to rescue the president from the inevitable ethics investigation that would ensue as a result of publishing this list on a government website) was utterly unprepared for the onslaught of Americans who had been driven to the site as a result of a tweet from Trump, as countless users posted screenshots of their failed attempts to access the page.
The recipients of the Fake News Awards were mostly stories from national news outlets, stories with mistakes that were corrected the same day they were released online. One was a Washington Post report saying Trump's crowd size in Florida was less than YUGE. Another was an op-ed - which, for the record, isn't considered news in the first place - but then, there it was, my pièce de résistance. A post I wrote on an awkward handshake Trump shared with the Polish President Andrzej Duda's wife, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, was featured as No. 8 on the list.
By way of background, here's what the story was about: initial videos shared online from Trump's encounter with the Polish president showed him reaching out his hand to greet Kornhauser-Duda as she swept past him to say hello to Melania Trump. The president had been entrenched in one of the least important - but arguably most hilarious - scandals from his first year in office: not having any idea how to physically conduct himself around other world leaders during political events. He refused to shake German Chancellor Angela Merkel's hand prior to his trip to Poland and had several controversial handshakes with French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese President Shinzo Abe, Vice President Mike Pence, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. As psychologists were writing think pieces about Trump's handshakes, the world was watching in real time to see whether he'd have another awkward encounter in Poland.
My story on the botched handshake was published almost instantly after the exchange occurred. It was also updated that same day, once I received extended footage from the event that showed Trump eventually receiving a handshake from Kornhauser-Duda. Other outlets corrected their own reports the same day as well. To this day, the clip of Kornhauser-Duda seemingly passing over Trump as he looks her up and down remains just as hilarious as when it happened in July and can still be interpreted as a slight toward the president - even if the two did, eventually, shake hands.
I no longer find any of this funny, though. Instead, I'm deeply concerned about the state of the union, about our president's vision for the future of this country. Harvard lecturer Yascha Mounk put it best, saying, "The Fake News Awards are the Trump administration in a nutshell: A serious attack on America's founding principles - in this case, the freedom of the press - carried out in such a ludicrously ham-fisted manner that it's deceptively difficult to take it seriously."
In the end, the president's awards are meaningless. The fact that Trump and his staff are forcing a journalist to defend one of the least-consequential posts they've ever published in their entire blog, story, feature, and longform-writing career about a handshake that didn't seem to have happened, and then happened over six months ago - that reflects something much more concerning than humorous. The president is deeply self-conscious; he's more concerned about the American people thinking he's a billionaire with big hands, firm handshakes, and huge crowds than the American people themselves. The time he's spent focusing on his troubling obsession with reporters like me in recent weeks could have been used for so much more: fixing DACA, saving CHIP, preventing a government shutdown, aiding hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, or even building his beloved wall.
That said, perhaps this whole thing was a presidential deflection: as the world has been focused on the "fake news media," the president has unleashed over 2,000 false claims and counting.
vendredi 19 janvier 2018
I Won a Fake News Award From President Trump, and I'm Scared For Our Country
I can definitively report that I was not expecting to receive a personal notification from Donald Trump on Wednesday night.
In fact, I had just muted @realDonaldTrump a few days prior. I used to receive push alerts on my phone every time the president fired off another angry rant to his millions of real followers (and nearly the equivalent number of bots and fake accounts). A short vacation from the madness was well overdue, and I figured that, just like everyone else, somehow, some way I would manage to remain aware of Trump's latest tweets every day of my life - since, after all, this is our society's collective new reality.
Turns out, I was right. But on this Wednesday - Jan. 17, to be specific - my phone was on fire by about 10 p.m., the approximate moment when the Republican Party's website stopped crashing long enough to actually debut the president's long-awaited "Fake News Awards." Let's be honest, when your phone is buzzing relentlessly late on a weeknight, it's generally a good indicator that proverbial sh*t is hitting the fan. But when you're a journalist, it's 2018, and those notifications are arriving predominantly from Twitter - well, there's always the minuscule chance you were just attacked by the President of the United States.
"What did you do?" A concerned relative wrote. "You won!" a former editor tweeted. Messages of support were scattered throughout my inbox. My heart nearly skipped a beat. "Holy sh*t," I thought. "Did I just win the president's fake news awards?"
And the FAKE NEWS winners are...https://t.co/59G6x2f7fD
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018
I hate to admit this, but like many others in my industry, there was a sick part of me that had been looking forward to Trump's Fake News Awards ever since he announced his social media brainchild in early January. The president was planning an old-fashioned, WWE-style smackdown of his least favorite media outlets and, if I was lucky enough, I might just be one of those reporters included in the phenomenon. Surely, the president would create an awards program centered around his favorite term that was so outlandish and extravagant, it would be an unmissable event. Had Stephen Miller kept a naughty list of his least favorite reporters throughout the year and was planning on using the president's platform to exact his revenge? Was Trump going to place a caricature of Maggie Haberman's face on top of gold-plated trophies for award recipients? Would Jake Tapper be hosting the red carpet?
As the president and his party bungled the rollout for the awards, I quickly realized the event would be much less of a spectacle than I had hoped for.
"The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!" Trump boasted in his typical used-car-salesman-style pitch, hyping the awards while simultaneously acknowledging he would miss his own deadline. But then again, as we all quickly learned once the list of recipients was actually released, the whole thing appeared to have been a rushed and disorganized nothingburger - clearly written 10 minutes before it was released.
And then there's the fact that the GOP website, graciously hosting the president's Fake News Awards (and ostensibly attempting to rescue the president from the inevitable ethics investigation that would ensue as a result of publishing this list on a government website) was utterly unprepared for the onslaught of Americans who had been driven to the site as a result of a tweet from Trump, as countless users posted screenshots of their failed attempts to access the page.
The recipients of the Fake News Awards were mostly stories from national news outlets, stories with mistakes that were corrected the same day they were released online. One was a Washington Post report saying Trump's crowd size in Florida was less than YUGE. Another was an op-ed - which, for the record, isn't considered news in the first place - but then, there it was, my pièce de résistance. A post I wrote on an awkward handshake Trump shared with the Polish President Andrzej Duda's wife, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, was featured as No. 8 on the list.
By way of background, here's what the story was about: initial videos shared online from Trump's encounter with the Polish president showed him reaching out his hand to greet Kornhauser-Duda as she swept past him to say hello to Melania Trump. The president had been entrenched in one of the least important - but arguably most hilarious - scandals from his first year in office: not having any idea how to physically conduct himself around other world leaders during political events. He refused to shake German Chancellor Angela Merkel's hand prior to his trip to Poland and had several controversial handshakes with French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese President Shinzo Abe, Vice President Mike Pence, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. As psychologists were writing think pieces about Trump's handshakes, the world was watching in real time to see whether he'd have another awkward encounter in Poland.
My story on the botched handshake was published almost instantly after the exchange occurred. It was also updated that same day, once I received extended footage from the event that showed Trump eventually receiving a handshake from Kornhauser-Duda. Other outlets corrected their own reports the same day as well. To this day, the clip of Kornhauser-Duda seemingly passing over Trump as he looks her up and down remains just as hilarious as when it happened in July and can still be interpreted as a slight toward the president - even if the two did, eventually, shake hands.
I no longer find any of this funny, though. Instead, I'm deeply concerned about the state of the union, about our president's vision for the future of this country. Harvard lecturer Yascha Mounk put it best, saying, "The Fake News Awards are the Trump administration in a nutshell: A serious attack on America's founding principles - in this case, the freedom of the press - carried out in such a ludicrously ham-fisted manner that it's deceptively difficult to take it seriously."
In the end, the president's awards are meaningless. The fact that Trump and his staff are forcing a journalist to defend one of the least-consequential posts they've ever published in their entire blog, story, feature, and longform-writing career about a handshake that didn't seem to have happened, and then happened over six months ago - that reflects something much more concerning than humorous. The president is deeply self-conscious; he's more concerned about the American people thinking he's a billionaire with big hands, firm handshakes, and huge crowds than the American people themselves. The time he's spent focusing on his troubling obsession with reporters like me in recent weeks could have been used for so much more: fixing DACA, saving CHIP, preventing a government shutdown, aiding hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, or even building his beloved wall.
That said, perhaps this whole thing was a presidential deflection: as the world has been focused on the "fake news media," the president has unleashed over 2,000 false claims and counting.
lundi 20 mars 2017
Why It's OK to Care About Celebrity News and "Real Issues" at the Same Time
We've all been there - you scroll through Facebook, you stumble upon an article, and before you can even click in to read and judge it for yourself, you spot it: the inevitable "Who cares?" sitting atop the list of comments like a harbinger of hostility. It's typically followed by an effusive reply: "You, since you took time to comment!," which feels like vindication but really just opens a whole new can of worms. This trifecta of passive aggression is finally rounded out with some variation of "This is news?," "Focus on the real issues!," or "There are more important things going on in the world right now."
This bothers me for a few reasons, none of which involve the fact that it's literally my job to care about and cover those so-called "unimportant" things. It is, of course, entirely possible to care about more than one thing at the same time. Our brains can process, store, and maintain an incredible amount of information; that's why you can walk and chew gum at the same time, or worry about world hunger while also wondering what you're going to eat for lunch that day. But this sentiment also implies that only hard, serious news is "important," and ignores the reality: that it's just really, really exhausting to be focused on the "real issues" all the time.
It implies that only hard, serious news is "important" and ignores the reality: that it's just really, really exhausting to be focused on the "real issues" all the time.
The past two years have been pretty rough, both mentally and emotionally, where the news is concerned: I personally am simultaneously stressed out about everyday life things like succeeding at work, paying bills on time, and maintaining personal relationships while also dealing with the added anxiety of mass shootings, police brutality, rape culture, climate change, and Donald Trump being president. On top of dealing with street harassment and the possibility of being hit by a Muni bus while walking in the city, I also have to consider the chances of my family members being racially profiled by police and my friends traveling abroad being caught in a terrorist attack. There are "real issues" that plague us every day in our families, our friend groups, our romantic relationships, and our neighborhoods. I'm well aware of the "real issues." I'm fully caught up on the "actual news." And like many other people, I'm f*cking drained.
That is precisely why, when a famous couple gets engaged or divorced, a superhot actor goes shirtless on the beach, or Beyoncé announces that she's pregnant with twins, we should let ourselves care about it. We should give ourselves (and each other) the freedom and space to get excited and express enthusiasm about celebrity news, because it offers a respite from all the completely depressing things going on - at least until another completely depressing thing happens.
As Cheryl Strayed once wrote: "There are so many things to be tortured about, sweet pea. So many torturous things in this life." Life isn't easy, and we all need something to help us through it. For some people, it's yoga and meditation; for others it's reading about all the women Leonardo DiCaprio has dated, poring over photos of Prince George, or watching the drama unfold between Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift. The best part is that there's room for all of it; you can support the Black Lives Matter movement while also hoping that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner get back together, and you can follow this trash fire that is a Trump presidency with the same fervor as you follow Chrissy Teigen's Instagram account.
The next time somebody tries to make you feel bad for essentially taking a break from the "more important things going on in the world," calmly remind them that as a living, breathing, human person, you are fully capable of grasping both world news and pop culture headlines. When it comes to what you turn to for self-care (especially in trying times), you just need to do you. At the end of the day: who cares?
dimanche 14 janvier 2018
Here's What You Need to Know About the Big Changes Coming to Your Facebook News Feed
Big changes are coming to your Facebook News Feed, and they're all centered on "bringing people closer together."
On Jan. 11, the social media giant announced a massive algorithm shift that, according to Facebook's Head of News Feed Adam Mosseri, will "prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people" and minimize the onslaught of news stories from brands and publishers. To be clear, you'll still see content from the pages you follow, but "posts from friends and family" will be ranked above "public content."
CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the changes in a Facebook post, noting that the platform had "gotten feedback from our community that public content -- posts from businesses, brands and media -- is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other."
So what exactly do these changes mean for you? According to Facebook, here are four types of posts you can expect to see a whole lot more of in your News Feed going forward.
Major Life Events
You know how you've been seeing a bit more of your friends and family highlighting their most meaningful moments? Those births, engagements, first steps, first pets - all of them are going to make their way back to front and center on the News Feed.
Personal News
Instead of seeing what's going on in the world without any tether to the people you know, you're going to begin to see more of what people are grappling with on a daily basis. Be it brilliant news or the absolute worst, Facebook is aiming to make it easier to provide support to those who need it.
Big Events
Facebook uses Oprah Winfrey's epic Golden Globes speech as a touchpoint for what we'll be seeing in terms of newsy events - basically anything that gets people talking in a productive, meaningful way will be prioritized over "engagement bait" that's merely out for "likes" and comments.
Recommendations and Advice
Facebook prioritized all things local and community-based earlier this year, so it won't come as a surprise that it's going to start surfacing those little boxes that have begun popping up requesting advice and recommendations. To date, these have mainly been used to garner recommendations for a trip or a big move, but expect to start seeing this extend more toward personal advice and how to deal with the everyday issues we face in our lives.
vendredi 29 septembre 2017
San Juan Mayor Tearfully Tells the White House, "This Is Not a Good News Story"
"Dammit, this is not a good news story": San Juan mayor slams acting DHS Secretary Duke's comments about Puerto Rico https://t.co/mWdPEsCSHn
- CNN (@CNN) September 29, 2017
Following the devastating Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico continues to struggle without power, water, and transportation off the island. On Sept. 28 - over a week after the hurricane hit Puerto Rico - the current administration's Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke said she was "satisfied" with the progress being made. Her statement was later shared with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who was shocked.
Speaking with the press, Secretary Duke said, "I am very satisfied . . . I know it is really a good news story in terms of our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths that have taken place in such a devastating hurricane."
In an interview with CNN the following day, Mayor Cruz tearfully reacted to Duke's statement. "Well, maybe from where she's standing it's a good news story. When you're drinking from a creek, it's not a good news story," she said. "When you don't have food for a baby, it's not a good news story. I'm sorry, but that really upsets me and frustrates me. I would ask her to come down here and visit the towns, then make a statement like that, which frankly, is an irresponsible statement."
Cruz continued, "Dammit, this is not a good news story. This is a 'people are dying' story. This is a 'life or death' story." Adding, "This is a story of devastation that continues to worsen because people are not getting food or water . . . Where is there good news here?" Watch her emotional response above.
jeudi 6 juillet 2017
Why It's OK to Care About Celebrity News and "Real Issues" at the Same Time
We've all been there - you scroll through Facebook, you stumble upon an article, and before you can even click in to read and judge it for yourself, you spot it: the inevitable "Who cares?" sitting atop the list of comments like a harbinger of hostility. It's typically followed by an effusive reply: "You, since you took time to comment!," which feels like vindication but really just opens a whole new can of worms. This trifecta of passive aggression is finally rounded out with some variation of "This is news?," "Focus on the real issues!," or "There are more important things going on in the world right now."
This bothers me for a few reasons, none of which involve the fact that it's literally my job to care about and cover those so-called "unimportant" things. It is, of course, entirely possible to care about more than one thing at the same time. Our brains can process, store, and maintain an incredible amount of information; that's why you can walk and chew gum at the same time, or worry about world hunger while also wondering what you're going to eat for lunch that day. But this sentiment also implies that only hard, serious news is "important," and ignores the reality: that it's just really, really exhausting to be focused on the "real issues" all the time.
It implies that only hard, serious news is "important" and ignores the reality: that it's just really, really exhausting to be focused on the "real issues" all the time.
The past two years have been pretty rough, both mentally and emotionally, where the news is concerned: I personally am simultaneously stressed out about everyday life things like succeeding at work, paying bills on time, and maintaining personal relationships while also dealing with the added anxiety of mass shootings, police brutality, rape culture, climate change, and Donald Trump being president. On top of dealing with street harassment and the possibility of being hit by a Muni bus while walking in the city, I also have to consider the chances of my family members being racially profiled by police and my friends traveling abroad being caught in a terrorist attack. There are "real issues" that plague us every day in our families, our friend groups, our romantic relationships, and our neighborhoods. I'm well aware of the "real issues." I'm fully caught up on the "actual news." And like many other people, I'm f*cking drained.
That is precisely why, when a famous couple gets engaged or divorced, a superhot actor goes shirtless on the beach, or Beyoncé gives birth to twins, we should let ourselves care about it. We should give ourselves (and each other) the freedom and space to get excited and express enthusiasm about celebrity news, because it offers a respite from all the completely depressing things going on - at least until another completely depressing thing happens.
As Cheryl Strayed once wrote: "There are so many things to be tortured about, sweet pea. So many torturous things in this life." Life isn't easy, and we all need something to help us through it. For some people, it's yoga and meditation; for others it's reading about all the women Leonardo DiCaprio has dated, poring over photos of Prince George, or watching the drama unfold between Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift. The best part is that there's room for all of it; you can support the Black Lives Matter movement while also hoping that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner get back together, and you can follow this trash fire that is a Trump presidency with the same fervor as you follow Chrissy Teigen's Instagram account.
The next time somebody tries to make you feel bad for essentially taking a break from the "more important things going on in the world," calmly remind them that as a living, breathing, human person, you are fully capable of grasping both world news and pop culture headlines. When it comes to what you turn to for self-care (especially in trying times), you just need to do you. At the end of the day: who cares?
mercredi 26 avril 2017
Google and the Founder of Wikipedia Just Took Major Steps to Combat Fake News
The problem of fake news is one that isn't going away anytime soon. It's led Google to announce a new change to its search engine algorithm to help combat disinformation - and even inspired the founder of Wikipedia to launch a new site to tackle fake news.
Google's search engine was under scrutiny in December 2016 for surfacing Holocaust denial stories when people searched "Did the Holocaust happen?" To fix fake news problems like these, the company is making four key changes. The first change Google is making is to its "Search Quality Rater Guidelines." Those guidelines, used by real people who evaluate Google's search results, will now include information on how to flag hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and "unexpected offensive results." The company is also tweaking its "signals" to "surface more authoritative pages and demote low-quality content."
However, if you spot some fake news, it's even easier to help Google out. Both in autocomplete searches and "featured snippets," which are search results that show a small preview answering your question, you'll find a now-easier-to-locate "Feedback" option. Highlight what's wrong with the search answer and send it away to Google.
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, has a different approach to fake news. According to Wired, the minute he heard Kellyanne Conway say "alternative facts" is the moment he came up with the idea of Wikitribune. Similar to Wikipedia, Wikitribune will also have a team of journalists and volunteers who will edit any content that goes up. The site will be free of ads and the company "will publish its financials regularly" as a means of transparency. However, to make this dream come true, it'll need donations to its initial campaign. At the time of writing, Wikitribune has 4,243 supporters and has "hired" two out of 10 journalists needed to get the project up and running.
While it's unlikely that 10 hardworking journalists will be able to eradicate fake news by themselves, with the help of citizen watchdogs and Google's more focused efforts, we're hopeful they can make a dent.
samedi 7 octobre 2017
Rex Tillerson May or May Not Have Called Trump a Moron, but Trump Once Tweeted It About Obama
President Donald Trump has always been adamant that his Twitter habit is essential to his style of governance, that those individuals who truly want to MAGA are the ones he's successfully reaching with his 140-character messages. Whether or not that's actually true is up for debate, but there is one thing that we can all be certain of: thanks to years upon years of Trump sharing his thoughts with his followers, he's made it so that there's an archive of his real-time feelings about basically everything. Unfortunately for the Trump administration and its attempts at policymaking, those documented opinions don't always match up with what he's now putting forth publicly as President of the United States.
As a result, "there's always a tweet" has become a common refrain among the denizens of Twitter, the weary political media, and anyone looking to put some sense behind a pattern of seemingly illogical actions. Take, for example, the latest White House drama: a series of strange events that kicked off after news that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was unhappy with the current administration, wanted to leave, and thought that the president was a "moron." Spoiler alert: yes, there's a tweet - but let's step back and review the situation first.
On Oct. 4, NBC News published the comprehensive reporting that documented Tillerson's increasing fury with the White House and his desire to make an exit - one that was purportedly only staved off by an intervention from Vice President Mike Pence. For most administrations, this would be a small thing to address in a calm, damage control-related way - but not this one. Instead, a solo press conference was announced, and Trump immediately took to Twitter to lash out at NBC (which, for the record, he's still pissed off at for not supporting him after he gave them "great ratings" with The Apprentice.)
Wow, so many Fake News stories today. No matter what I do or say, they will not write or speak truth. The Fake News Media is out of control!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017
NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017
During the 11 a.m. press conference, Tillerson refuted the implication that he had ever considered leaving the administration. Trump again took to Twitter a mere 18 minutes after his secretary of state approached the podium, ostensibly to ensure that everyone knew that the story was false and that Tillerson had confirmed that fact in a public setting.
The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017
But here's the thing. Semantics are everything when you use Twitter to communicate, and while Tillerson did in fact deny some parts of NBC News's reporting, he quite notably did not deny calling Trump a moron. And that fact wasn't lost on many who witnessed the whole thing as it unfolded throughout the morning - including California Sen. Ted Lieu.
Dear @realDonaldTrump: Many Americans watched press conference of Rex Tillerson. He didn't deny calling you a Moron, as reported by @NBCNews https://t.co/TdNZub9zcW
- Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) October 4, 2017
At this point, it's pretty clear that Tillerson said something - but we'll probably never know his exact words. Instead, we'll likely be treated to several more days of attacks on NBC and the fake news media - and, of course, the knowledge that with regard to the Tillerson-NBC-Trump saga, we can now officially continue on the legacy of there always being a tweet.
Behold: the ultimate proof that what goes around, comes around. We hope you're out there laughing your ass off, Mr. Obama.
An interesting cartoon that is circulating. http://pic.twitter.com/OPG2R2ytkr
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2014
lundi 20 mars 2017
Why It's OK to Care About Celebrity News and "Real Issues" at the Same Time
We've all been there - you scroll through Facebook, you stumble upon an article, and before you can even click in to read and judge it for yourself, you spot it: the inevitable "Who cares?" sitting atop the list of comments like a harbinger of hostility. It's typically followed by an effusive reply: "You, since you took time to comment!," which feels like vindication but really just opens a whole new can of worms. This trifecta of passive aggression is finally rounded out with some variation of "This is news?," "Focus on the real issues!," or "There are more important things going on in the world right now."
This bothers me for a few reasons, none of which involve the fact that it's literally my job to care about and cover those so-called "unimportant" things. It is, of course, entirely possible to care about more than one thing at the same time. Our brains can process, store, and maintain an incredible amount of information; that's why you can walk and chew gum at the same time, or worry about world hunger while also wondering what you're going to eat for lunch that day. But this sentiment also implies that only hard, serious news is "important," and ignores the reality: that it's just really, really exhausting to be focused on the "real issues" all the time.
It implies that only hard, serious news is "important" and ignores the reality: that it's just really, really exhausting to be focused on the "real issues" all the time.
The past two years have been pretty rough, both mentally and emotionally, where the news is concerned: I personally am simultaneously stressed out about everyday life things like succeeding at work, paying bills on time, and maintaining personal relationships while also dealing with the added anxiety of mass shootings, police brutality, rape culture, climate change, and Donald Trump being president. On top of dealing with street harassment and the possibility of being hit by a Muni bus while walking in the city, I also have to consider the chances of my family members being racially profiled by police and my friends traveling abroad being caught in a terrorist attack. There are "real issues" that plague us every day in our families, our friend groups, our romantic relationships, and our neighborhoods. I'm well aware of the "real issues." I'm fully caught up on the "actual news." And like many other people, I'm f*cking drained.
That is precisely why, when a famous couple gets engaged or divorced, a superhot actor goes shirtless on the beach, or Beyoncé announces that she's pregnant with twins, we should let ourselves care about it. We should give ourselves (and each other) the freedom and space to get excited and express enthusiasm about celebrity news, because it offers a respite from all the completely depressing things going on - at least until another completely depressing thing happens.
As Cheryl Strayed once wrote: "There are so many things to be tortured about, sweet pea. So many torturous things in this life." Life isn't easy, and we all need something to help us through it. For some people, it's yoga and meditation; for others it's reading about all the women Leonardo DiCaprio has dated, poring over photos of Prince George, or watching the drama unfold between Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift. The best part is that there's room for all of it; you can support the Black Lives Matter movement while also hoping that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner get back together, and you can follow this trash fire that is a Trump presidency with the same fervor as you follow Chrissy Teigen's Instagram account.
The next time somebody tries to make you feel bad for essentially taking a break from the "more important things going on in the world," calmly remind them that as a living, breathing, human person, you are fully capable of grasping both world news and pop culture headlines. When it comes to what you turn to for self-care (especially in trying times), you just need to do you. At the end of the day: who cares?
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