Instagram is testing several new anti-bullying features

Instagram is fighting back against online bullying, one comment at a time.

At its annual F8 developer conference on Tuesday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri discussed how the company plans to tackle safety and well-being in the  future. Mosseri outlined a wide array of new features currently being tested on the app — emphasizing that Instagram is putting a strong focus on anti-bullying measures.

One of the more interesting anti-bullying measures that Instagram is experimenting with aims to stop harassment before it even starts.

In some test cases, if the platform notices a user is about to leave a negative comment, the app will “nudge” that user, giving them a warning before they're able to post.  Read more...

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Unprotected server exposed data on 80 million US households

A cloud server operated by Microsoft has been leaking the personal data of 80 million U.S. households including people's full names, physical addresses, and dates of birth.

A pair of Israeli security researchers say they discovered the unprotected database while working on a web mapping project with VPN review site vpnMentor. In addition to names and addresses, the 24GB database also stored coded information on people's gender, marital status, income levels, and whether they've been a homeowner.

Who owns the data on the server isn't known. However, the mysterious party decided to itemize all the information by household, instead of individuals. Each record was also accompanied by a "member_code" and "score" entry. Read more...

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Mark Zuckerberg's cringey laugh was a slap in the face of Facebook's victims

Most awkward Zuck moments revolve around the CEO's inability to exhibit human emotion. This one comes with a serving of insult, added to injury.

Mark Zuckerberg opened Facebook's annual F8 developer conference on Tuesday with a manifesto-ish address about how the future of Facebook is focused on privacy. 

SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg says 'a private social platform' is the future at F8

Through encrypting messaging, focusing on ephemerality, and other measures, the company that invented putting your life online says it is fundamentally changing the company to ensure that its users' private lives, opinions, and interactions stay private. Read more...

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Everything Facebook announced at F8 2019

Facebook wants you to forget about its Clear History feature

This time, we really should know better. 

Mark Zuckerberg teed up his F8 keynote on Tuesday with a promise that Facebook has, finally, got the message. "The future is private," he told the crowd gathered at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. Going forward he insisted his company would work hard to build "a privacy-focused social platform." If only we hadn't heard it all before. 

Cast your mind back to May 1, 2018. The annual Facebook F8 developer conference was once again in full swing, the Cambridge Analytica scandal showed no sign of abating, and Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan promised that a new tool called Clear History would be built in a "few months." It's no spoiler to say that we're still waiting.   Read more...

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Why Amazon's huge investment in one-day shipping is money well-spent

Amazon Prime’s move from two-day to one-day shipping this year is a prudent move, even if it comes at a significant cost for the Seattle tech giant, say analysts.

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Lyft program aims to combat 'food deserts'

In their latest push into healthcare, Lyft has expanded their grocery access program to 13 cities across the United States. The ridesharing company first launched the program in 2018 in Washington, D.C. for a six-month pilot period. Read more...

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Facebook Dating is coming to the U.S. in 2019

Nothing says love like a like button!

Facebook launched its "anti-Tinder" dating service, Facebook Dating, in 2018. Five countries, including Canada, were the first to get their hands on the Facebook love connection.

Now, Facebook has announced that Facebook Dating will be coming to the U.S. by the end of the year. At its annual developer conference, F8, on Tuesday, Facebook shared that Facebook Dating was expanding to 14 additional countries beyond the original five. It also made a surprise announcement that U.S. users would get the service  soon!

SEE ALSO: Facebook Dating wants to be the anti-Tinder Read more...

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Facebook uses Mark Zuckerberg's privacy talk as a chance to gather data on its users

YouTube will stream 13 MLB games this season

YouTube just landed a major deal with one of America's most popular sports leagues.

The video streaming service announced today a new deal with Major League Baseball to exclusively livestream 13 games for the 2019 season, according to Variety. 

The games will be broadcast live on YouTube at the MLB’s official channel page and will be free to watchYouTube TV subscribers will also be able to watch the games on that platform as well. 

MLB will produce the 13 exclusive games specifically for the YouTube audience. The games will feature pre-game and post-game shows and will include appearances from YouTube creators. Read more...

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Mark Zuckerberg says 'a private social platform' is the future at F8

Mark Zuckerberg knows he screwed up. 

The Facebook CEO took the stage at this year's F8 developer conference in San Jose, Calif. and wasted no time diving headfirst into the issue he told the crowd is the future: privacy. The question as to whether any of us should believe him, however, remained unanswered.

SEE ALSO: Canadian officials: Facebook broke the law and won’t accept responsibility

"Today we're going to talk about building a privacy-focused social platform," he told the cheering crowd of Facebook employees seated up front. "Privacy gives us the freedom to be ourselves," Zuckerberg continued, and "that's why I believe that the future is private." Read more...

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Oculus Quest review: A new milestone for VR

Every product here is independently selected by Mashable journalists. If you buy something featured, we may earn an affiliate commission which helps support our work.

I wouldn't blame you if you had absolutely no interest in checking out the Oculus Quest. VR's reputation isn't exactly great, after all.

The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, which require powerful PCs, can be too cumbersome. Mobile VR doesn’t offer the same immersive experience. VR is far from dead, but it's nowhere near mainstream, either. What VR needs is a hero.

After spending a week with Facebook's latest VR headset, the Oculus Quest, I really think it could be VR's knight in shining armor. Read more...

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Oculus Quest and Rift S VR headsets launch on May 21

Get your credit cards ready because Oculus is celebrating Christmas in May.

At Facebook's annual F8 developer conference, Oculus announced its standalone and wireless Quest and second-generation Rift S VR headsets will launch on May 21. Pre-orders for both headsets begin immediately.

SEE ALSO: Oculus Quest is the savior VR needs

Both headsets are priced at $399, and while the two headsets share some similarities, there are plenty of differences.

Whereas the new Rift S is a direct successor to the Oculus Rift, meaning it needs to connect to a PC with a powerful graphics card to operate, the Oculus Quest is powered by a mobile chip and completely standalone and wireless. Read more...

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Instagram will hide like counts in some posts

Ever feel like Instagram is too much of a popularity contest? A new feature could help alleviate some of that stress.

Instagram is experimenting with a new feature that removes exact like counts from posts, the company announced onstage at Facebook's F8 developer conference today. The feature, which begins testing in Canada beginning this week, removes publicly viewable like counts from individual posts in feed, profiles, and permalinks.

Screenshots of the feature appeared last week when researcher Jane Manchun Wong uncovered it in Instagram's Android app. Instead of a numerical like count, the images showed that a few users "and others" had liked a particular post. Account owners will still be able to view exact like counts in a separate page only they can see. Read more...

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Instagram is becoming more like Facebook

If you've spent any time watching Instagram Stories over the last year, you've probably noticed a trend: Posts that don't have any photos or videos at all. With polls, quizzes, text updates, and AMA-style question and answer sessions, Instagram Stories are moving beyond their photographic roots.

Now Instagram is redesigning its in-app camera to make it easier to create non-image Stories posts using Instagram's "creative" tools, like polls, questions, and GIFs.

It may seem like a relatively minor change for Instagram, which has been steadily adding features to Stories for some time. But it highlights just how crucial Stories has become to Instagram's engagement, and how the format has evolved. Read more...

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Facebook redesigns app and website around groups and IRL connections

Facebook is introducing a new design to its app and website, and it's all about groups. Today at F8, the company unveiled an updated version of its app and website that crams groups into about as many places as possible. 

The redesigned version of the app is starting to roll out now, and the desktop changes will be coming later this year.

The biggest change is, well, everything. Both Facebook's app and website look completely different (and, like new Twitter, very very white). Seriously, if you thought Facebook's last major redesign came with a lot of extra white space, you'll probably find the newest look even more jarring.  Read more...

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You can now donate through stickers in Instagram Stories

Those Facebook birthday fundraisers are a common sight on the social media platform, and now there's a similar call to donate to a chosen organization or cause on Instagram through Stories.

Now, while making a Story post, you can select a donation sticker from the menu of add-ons. The sticker will ask for a donation to your chosen organization, so viewers can click directly from the post to make a contribution. Followers don't have to leave your Story to make a donation, and once they give, the sticker updates to "donated."

Instagram assures that100 percent of all money brought in through the sticker goes to the nonprofit. A long list of organizations have donation stickers, including Black Girls Code, JED Foundation, No Kid Hungry, Boys and Girls Club of America, ASPCA, Malala Fund, GLAAD, and The Nature Conservancy. Read more...

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Facebook Messenger to be even faster and lighter, with new video features

Just in time for Facebook's big F8 developer conference, Messenger is getting a swag of new features.

The messaging app is going to become even faster and lighter, where the company claims the app's launch time will be trimmed to under two seconds, and its size a fraction of what it once was. 

SEE ALSO: New York launches new investigation into Facebook

Internally, the project is called LightSpeed, and the size of the app will be less than 30MB — that's 70MB less than the current version of Messenger.

Currently testing and expected to fully roll out later this year, the company's also bringing the co-watching feature that's already available on Facebook to Messenger. It'll allow you to watch a video together with your friends inside the app.  Read more...

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Influencers can use Instagram's new shopping features to sell products

It was only a matter of time: Instagram is handing over some of its new shopping features to influencers. 

Beginning next week, a few dozen influencers and publishers can start tagging specific products, which can be purchased through the Instagram app, in their posts.

This move doesn't let influencers hawk their own products, but it does allow them to add Instagram's shoppable tags to their posts. When they tag a brand's product, their followers will be able to buy the item with Instagram's new checkout feature.

Previously, only a handful of brands could use shoppable tags, and only in their own posts. But with this change, a group of high profile accounts will also be able to use the tags. The initial group includes celebs (Kylie Jenner, Gigi Hadid), publishers (Elle, GQ), and a handful of fashion and beauty influencers.  Read more...

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Facebook 'Secret Crush' is here to enable your creepiest nightmares

Ever wanted to let Facebook know even more about the intimate details of your life? Now you can!

At Facebook's developer conference, F8, the company is making a few announcements about the dating platform it launched in September 2018, Facebook Dating. Now, Facebook Dating is expanding into several new countries (but still not the United States) with the addition of one potentially creepy new feature. 

Meet Facebook Dating's "Secret Crush": a new feature that lets Facebook Dating users send a signal to a friend that you have a crush on them. If you decide to opt in, you can choose up to nine of your friends as "Secret Crushes," as a way to indicate that you're interested in them. If any of those friends have also been holding a secret candle for you and designates you as their Secret Crush, Facebook will notify both parties. Love connection: made! Romance: disrupted! Read more...

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