One of the most popular anime and manga series is coming to an end! Shingeki no Kyojin, better known as Attack on Titan, closes its more than a decade run as a manga and anime. To commemorate the closing of an adventure, TikTok is bringing exclusive Attack on Titan features to their app.
The features come as part of a new hashtag challenge. With the current season of the popular anime having ended on a gripping cliffhanger, TikTok is encouraging fans to share their love of the series through new, creative, short-form content using a slew of new effects which are available starting on April 16, 2021.
Of course, don’t forget to tag your creations with the hashtag #AttackonTitan. If you do, you’ll be taking part in TikTok’s latest hashtag challenge and will be in the running to win some exclusive Attack on Titan merchandise. These include a limited edition Survey Corps cloak, a diary-type smartphone case and official tote bags. The challenge kicked off on 16th April and will end on 31st May.
New effects include Titan Roulette which allows fans to find out which of the 9 key types of titans they are from the Attack on Titan. Since you’ve found out what Titan you are, why not terrorise the Shiganshina District with the Colossal Titan Green Screen. If being a Titan isn’t enough, you’ll be able to recreate some of the most iconic moments from your favourite characters in the series by mimicking their expressions.
If you haven’t heard of Attack on Titan – WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME?! Just kidding. You’ll be able to get in on the much-loved anime on Netflix if you’re in Malaysia. Otherwise, you can follow the adventures of Eren Yeager as he joins the elite Survey Corps to get revenge on the Titans which have driven humanity to the brink of extinction on platforms like Crunchyroll.
It seems like this week is becoming a very worrying week for social media. Earlier this week, news broke of 533 million Facebook users having their data compromised after a data breach. The latest social media network to join the club? LinkedIn.
It looks like LinkedIn has suffered a breach similar to that of Facebook with the data of over 500 million users being compromised. The breach was first reported by CyberNews who has apparently verified the data. However, it is unclear if the data is fresh or aggregated from a breach that occurred back in 2016.
While the date of the data may be uncertain, the leaked data is a cause for concern as, similar to the Facebook data breach, the phone numbers, emails and full names were leaked. It also looks like LinkedIn IDs, links to the social media profiles, work related data and gender information was leaked.
LinkedIn has acknowledged the data leak. In a public statement, the company has said, “We have investigated an alleged set of LinkedIn data that has been posted for sale and have determined that it is actually an aggregation of data from a number of websites and companies. It does include publicly viewable member profile data that appears to have been scraped from LinkedIn. This was not a LinkedIn data breach, and no private member account data from LinkedIn was included in what we’ve been able to review.”
The news of the data breach is surfacing after a warning of possible scams involving job hunters on the social media was issued by cybersecurity experts. The scam involved fraudsters posing as potential employers who would send .ZIP files to victims purportedly containing application files. Instead, the archive contains a fileless backdoor which allowed bad actors to stealthily install malware into the PC.
LinkedIn has not indicated whether they will be contacting individuals who have been affected. However, keep in mind, that Facebook has opted not to do this. It is very likely that LinkedIn will do the same to avoid a potentially messy situation. We’ve outlined how you can check if you’ve been affected by the breach. We also advise some prudence in dealing with your data online.
Facebook has suffered one of the largest data breaches in recent years. A total of about 533 million users across 106 countries have had their private data which includes emails and phone numbers compromised. In recent reports, it seems like Mark Zuckerberg himself is affected by the breach.
However, in a statement to Reuters, Facebook has clarified that it has no plans to inform the users affected by the breach. In fact, the company states that it isn’t confident that it has complete visibility of the data that has been leaked. The spokesperson also noted that users will still be unable to take action even if they are informed.
So what can you do to check if you’ve been affected by the breach? The easiest way to check is to use the website haveibeenpwned.com. The website is able to check whether your information has been involved in breaches across the internet. Sites as old as myspace and Neopets have had breaches to their data. U.S. Residents also have the option of using The News Each Day.
Once on the website, enter the data you want to check – it can be your email, password or even phone number. If you’re checking for a phone number, be sure to include your country code. So, if you’re checking for a Malaysian mobile number, type in the “6” before your operator prefix. Then simply click the “pwned?” button. It will check all the available breaches for the data and return an answer. You’ll get one of two possible results: “Oh no – pwned!” or “Good news – no pwnage found”.
So what should you do if your data has been involved in a breach? The first thing you should do is to change your passwords – particularly if you are fond of using the same password for multiple services. The next thing you should do is activate 2-factor authentication (2FA) for all your services. It may be a little bit inconvenient but it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run. Be sure that you have a secure password moving forward and make sure to keep your passwords for every service unique.
Beyond this, you really don’t have much that you can do. Moving forward you just have to be a little bit more prudent about the information you share online. Where possible, try not to link sensitive data such as your phone number to online accounts. Since there was a significant number of phone numbers in this breach, you may want to be alert when it comes to dealing with unknown callers.
However, it’s no reason to be panicky. Once you’ve secured your accounts, your data should be secured for the foreseeable future.
Clubhouse is arguably the largest buzz word in social media right now. The audio only social media app has been in the news thanks to technopreneurs like Elon Musk. That said, the platform has gained momentum due to its ability of bringing like-minded people together to speak and interact. The platform has become somewhat of a sanctuary for those looking for fun conversations, support and even escape – the three things that people are sorely lacking during the pandemic.
Thanks to the popularity of Clubhouse, we’ve seen a slew of other platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram come up with their own takes on the concept. The most recent was the launch of Instagram’s Live Rooms and Twitters Spaces. The latter launched earlier this month. Twitter’s Space rolled out to iOS and a limited number of Android users when it was initially discovered; many of whom were unable to host their own Spaces. However, it looks like more of us will be able to host Spaces and soon.
Source: Discord
If Twitter isn’t your groove, it looks like Discord has rolled out a new feature called Stage Channels which bring the same features to the forefront of the platform. The new Stage Channels allow users to have and sit in on live, moderated conversations. Unlike its normal channels, Stage Channels highlight the speakers while others join in the conversation as part of the audience. Audience members will have access to a raise hand button which allows them to indicate to the moderators that they wish to speak. Moderators will also be able to invite audience members to speak. Yep – that’s pretty much Clubhouse on Discord. However, the biggest difference between what Discord is doing is that the Stage Channels feature is available across all versions of their app now.
Spotify, on the other hand, isn’t reinventing the wheel. Instead, the company has acquired Betty Labs, the company behind the live sports audio app, Locker Room. The app is already available on iOS and will be making its way to Android in the near future. It will also serve a wider range of audiences with the topic focus expanding from only sports talk. The company sees the app as a natural complement to the Spotify app allowing creators to interact directly and in real-time with their audiences.
According to a statement from Gustav Söderström to The Verge, Chief R&D Officer at Spotify, the app will remain separate from the main Spotify app. However, it will be rebranded in the near future. The app will also allow all users to host their own session – not just approved users. With users already uploading recordings of their sessions on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces to Anchor, Spotify’s podcast publishing tool. It looks like the app will streamline the process allowing users a more unified experience and feed the growing podcast ecosystem on Spotify.
Source: LinkedIn
While both Spotify, Twitter and Discord are looking at creating a platform for a wide, diverse range of content, LinkedIn is looking enhancing your professional profile. The company is introducing a “Creator” mode that allows you to get followers on your profile. The new profile will allow users to be followed in a similar way to the pages on Facebook. However, in addition to this, LinkedIn seems to be working on a similar Clubhouse-like approach to live audio content that it believes will be a good complement to a professional profile.
So, with more and more companies releasing their own versions of Clubhouse – where do you, our reader fall with the rise of live audio? Are you going to be taking part in the conversation? Which platform will you be using?
First came Facebook Lite, now the Lite comes to Instagram. Instagram is getting a new app targeted at emerging markets. Similar to its sister app, Facebook Lite, Instagram Lite brings the platform’s core features in a package that is less than 2MB in size; a far cry from the 30MB of the original Instagram app.
The new Lite version of Instagram was developed by Facebook’s development team based in Tel Aviv – the same team that worked on Facebook Lite. The team studied and honed into what users wanted as their core Instagram experience even with limited data. For Instagram users, these were mainly their messaging and video features.
Of course, this doesn’t steer away from the image-centric features of Instagram. The team built the app keeping in mind that the core experience on the platform still relies on images. Hence, when you go into the Lite application, you will notice that animation and data rich features such as filters may be missing. That said, features such as stickers and GIFs still make it into the new Lite App. The app also sees a simplification of icons like the trash icon being replaced by an “X”.
The new Instagram Lite app is available in 170 countries as of now. Most of the countries in the list are emerging markets where people have limited access to data.
Auto Captions Arrive While Reels Crosses Over to Facebook
In addition to the rollout of Instagram Lite, a select group of people have also gotten access to new features in the regular app. Notably, a new Auto Captions sticker called “CC Captions” has been appearing for a small number of users. The sticker transcribes spoken audio when added to an Instastory. The feature was first reported by Matt Navarra, a Social media consultant on Twitter. In a statement to Engadget, Instagram has clarified that the feature is not yet publicly available.
NEW! @Instagram has added a ‘Captions’ sticker for Stories
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) March 9, 2021
Facebook also seems to be testing the waters with Reels. The company has been experimenting with allowing select creators in India to share their Instagram Reels over to Facebook. Creators who opt-in to the feature are able to share Reels directly to Facebook. One caveat is that their content appears to be appearing with their Instagram handles. Reels itself seems to be making its way to Facebook as the is getting updated to allow users to create and post Reels from the app.
Twitter seems to be on a diversifying binge with the acquisition of podcasting platform, Breaker, earlier this year and now the acquisition of Dutch newsletter startup, Revue. The company looked to the acquisition of Breaker as a strategic move to help develop their Twitter Spaces feature. With their acquisition of Revue, they are looking to make the platform more interactive and profitable for content publishers.
The acquisition of Revue doesn’t change anything when it comes to the platform. It will continue to function as an independent service and app under Twitter. However, the company will be leveraging on the know-how and experience of the Revue team to develop and enhance their social media platform when it comes to discoverability and content. To this end, Twitter has decided to expand the team further, hiring for key roles such as engineering, design, data science, and others to produce more features. The move to acquire Revue comes as a boon to Twitter as it acquires crucial insights and talent when it comes to empowering publishers on the social platform.
With this move, the company looks to increase the exposure of the content publishers to a more wide-reaching network and global audience. In addition, the Revue acquisition will allow Twitter to enable a more interactive relationship between publishers and their audiences. As Twitter grows into a channel for publishers to build their audiences, the company is also looking to provide users with more creative and meaningful content.
As we begin the new year and look back on 2020, it is undeniable that technology has played a crucial role in helping everyone, young or old, to stay connected with our loved ones as we experienced variations of lockdowns in the past year. However, are you aware that there are stark differences in people’s usage behaviours on social platforms, even between those who were born just a few years apart, such as millennials (currently aged 25 to 40 years old) and Gen Z (currently aged 24 or younger)?
Most millenials are digital immigrants, meaning we remember a time before mass technological adoption. This is different from Gen Zs, who are the first generation to be considered true digital natives. They were born into a world of vast technological advances, with the internet as an integral part of their day to day. They don’t know a world without smartphones and broadband internet. Hence, how they think, communicate, use and don’t use the internet is different from the generations before them.
Additionally, as people observe stay at home orders during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they are increasingly turning to indoor activities enabled by the internet; communication, commerce, entertainment, fitness, and learning now take place virtually. This will undoubtedly accelerate digital transformation across many businesses, which will in turn sustain the digital economy.
Gen Z is uniquely well-positioned to continue driving this transformation as they are digital natives familiar and comfortable with new technologies quickly. Digital technology has shaped them, and we should take a page out of the Gen Z book when it comes to some habits and practices.
Value the importance of authenticity
According to Snap Inc. and JWT Intelligence’s “Into Z Future” study, when asked to develop a slogan for their own generation, Gen Z respondents overwhelmingly suggest some variation of “be yourself” – such as “just be you”, “just be yourself”, and “do what makes you happy.” This is a positive mentality to have.
It is important that we value authenticity over ‘perfection,’ which takes courage and confidence. We should not fear judgement or being perceived negatively for being who we are, especially when we are among friends. Honesty is a value that the majority of Malaysians, regardless of their age group, want between themselves and their best friend. The 2019 Friendship Report found that Malaysians want their best friends to be more honest and open about their feelings.
Before we can demand honesty from our friends, we need to first be our true, honest, and authentic self! After all, friendship is a two-way street – Gen Zs seem to have figured that part out.
Not everything is meant to be shared
According to Snap Inc.’s 2019 Friendship Report, millennials come out on top as the most “share happy” of the generations. Millennials are the least likely to say “I wouldn’t share that” across most categories surveyed including their love life, mental health issues, and money concerns. However, oversharing can have negative consequences, such as safety issues, loss of jobs, or risking personal reputation.
As digital natives, Gen Zs are likely to be more private, having learned from the mistakes made by the older generations. Gen Zs’ familiarity with these platforms means that they carefully choose how and where they share. They prefer ephemeral content that disappears, on social messaging platforms such as Snapchat. For example, they prefer to share details about their love life with their best friends over private messages as compared to millennials who would share about it on social media.
Gen Zs understand implicitly that just because we can share something with the world, it doesn’t mean that we should. This is a mindset that we should all adopt.
Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to friendship circle
Gen Zs are adjusting their approach to friendship, which differs from millennials’ desire for a wide network. The former is looking for more closeness and intimacy with a smaller social circle, where they can be their unfiltered, authentic selves. In contrast, millennials are the most likely of any generation to want “as many friends as possible.”
This is the same in Malaysia, where older generations gravitate towards forming friendships with as many people as possible, while Gen Zs (37%) are selective over the people they let into their close circle of friends.
While we all know the positive benefits of having close friends in our lives, a larger pool is not always better. According to friendship experts, a larger group of friends can take a toll on a person because there is greater pressure to open up to many different people and invest in those relationships. It seems that this is a life lesson that Gen Zs have already learned. Based on the above, we can see that there are a lot to be learned from different mindsets, and generation gaps do not just have to be a woeful reminder of “the good old days.” Look at things in a new light and shed your preconceived notions
The Facebook and Instagram unification continues as Facebook’s Messenger App gets a tweaked icon to match the Instagram colours. This preceded a roll out of new functionality and themes for more expanded customization. Now Messenger’s iconic blue colour is becoming a shade similar to Instagram’s logo with shades of pinks and purples thrown in the mix.
The Facebook’s Stan Chudnovsky ,VP of Messenger said that they will begin to roll out new chat themes like love and tie-dye, and custom reactions together with new features where you can include your own photo into stickers which to make your chats more personalized and fun than ever before. Moreover, an exciting upcoming feature is the vanish mode, which makes the chat messages disappear after the recipient has seen it.
Facebook has also announced seamless cross-app messaging with Instagram. Current Messenger users would not need to perform additional set up to access this feature. Furthermore, new features will roll out automatically once they have become available in the user’s country. These features include aforementioned Selfie stickers, watch together functionality of IGTV and Facebook Watch and many more.
There is also speculation that functionality from WhatsApp, which is also owned by Facebook, will be incorporated with Messenger and Instagram in the near future too. It will be interesting to see the encrypted calls and messaging of WhatsApp featured in the Messenger-Instagram ecosystem.
Facebook is arguably one of the largest social media platforms across the world. What started as a small project to keep a class of college mates connected is now a multi billion dollar platform. The platform has become so big that it has an estimated 2.5 billion active users. In fact, in Malaysia, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who isn’t on Facebook.
The platform has come a long way from when it first launched though. Its design has been through many revisions since the days of Vampire Wars and Pokes. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that most users today may not recognise the Facebook of the past. The design we know now is a totally different from the original Facebook.
Facebook is about to get another redesign. Yep. You read that right. The social media platform has started testing out a new design which looks like its ready to make a debut. While it would be a stretch to call it fully refined, the redesign is more content focused and easy to navigate.
The Good: You get YOUR Content in and Dark Mode
The new layout seems to have an increased focus on content; particularly content that you’ve curated yourself through liking and subscribing. It also looks like the News Feed has been redesigned to be more chronological. In my short time with the redesign, I’ve seen more posts from my friends that are more up to date than I have in years! Now this is the best thing to happen to Facebook in recent years, in my opinion. It brings a more organic, personalised feed to the user and you don’t end up commenting on something that happened months ago just cause the algorithm decided it.
Another thing I’ve enjoyed is the accessibility of the new design. Everything is laid out for you to interact with. You don’t have to click endlessly into menus and pages you’ve never been into before. Getting to your privacy settings is also a lot more intuitive than before. It only took two clicks to get to the privacy menu.
Everything is within your view. Your notifications are kept neatly in the top right under the bell icon. You settings in the down facing arrow. Messenger is tucked neatly to the right side and integrates into the overall design. If that isn’t your style you can choose to have it as a pop up over your Facebook. You have you shortcuts and pages tucked neatly on the left.
The highlight for me is dark mode. The darker design to Facebook is a lot neater and easier on the eyes. That could be a bad thing too since it was easier to look at the screen for longer periods of time.
The Bad: Gradients Everywhere!
That said, Facebook feels a lot less refined thanks mainly to the amount of gradients in the design. The design team at Facebook has adopted gradients and a pretty fluorescent colour scheme. You’d have seen this colour scheme in the many Facebook apps on Android and iOS. They’ve now made it to the main page of Facebook.
The gradients and colour scheme is atrocious. It brings a very childish and immature feel to the platform. It also forces me to use dark mode so my eyes don’t bleed as much. I’d prefer it if the colours were a little less in your face and more subtle and easy to look at. Facebook could also afford to hit the brakes on the gradients.
That said, if the changes in the News Feed and the accessibility are staying. Facebook is taking a step in the right direction to being more open and more user centric. That said, not everyone will like the new redesign, but I’m looking forward to seeing the final version.
