Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Will.
1. Facebook cracks down on fake news
Facebook is due to introduce a new tool in Germany that will crack down on the volume of fake news stories circulating the social media platform. The tool will allow users to flag news stories they believe are misleading or incorrect in order to warn other users that the information in these stories may be false. Once a news story has been flagged, an independent organisation will assess the content for inaccurate information. If the story in question is subsequently found to be incorrect, it will be marked “disputed” with an explanation as to why, users will be warned before sharing flagged information and these articles will not be promoted in Facebook’s algorithm. Germany is to be the second country with this tool, following the US, in attempt to reduce the number of potential fake news articles being posted in the run up to its federal election later this year.
2. Trump’s Inauguration: The beginning of the end
Sunday Herald reviewer, Damien Love, has sparked a huge reaction from readers across the world for his piece on the upcoming inauguration of Donald Trump. His synopsis, ‘President Trump: The Inauguration’ sets the scene in a “nightmarish version of 2017 in which huge sections of the US electorate have somehow been duped into voting to make Donald Trump president.” The full rundown adds a comedic spin the whole situation, and it has caused a great reaction across social media, being described as a “true masterpiece” and “the best TV listing ever” – to be honest, I have to agree.
3. Official death of Vine
#RIPVine was one of the stars of My Five #207 as Twitter announced it would be shutting down the six second video app towards the end of last year. This week marked the end of an era, and the official death of Vine, as the app transformed into the new Vine Camera. The ‘new’ app still allows users to create 6 second clips, however they can only be shared via Twitter or saved to your phone’s camera roll. I am one of the few people who are sad to see the app close down, as although I never made any Vines myself, they did provide many (potentially wasted) hours of entertainment.
Let’s take this opportunity to look back at some of the best moments in Vine’s relatively short history and for one last time pay our respects. #RIPVine
4. Britain’s most complained about adverts
What links footballers kicking cats, twerking businessmen, and singing Scots? – They all feature in some of the most complained about adverts of 2016. Earlier this week, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) revealed Britain’s most complained about adverts of 2016, with the contenders receiving thousands of complaints from the British public.
Moneysupermarket.com was the outright winner as it featured 3 times in the top 10, more specifically, 3 of the top 4 adverts were from the price comparison website, which received nearly 2,500 complaints in total. All of these adverts received a large number of complaints however none of them were banned by the ASA. Guy Parker, chief executive of the ASA, explained how these adverts toed the line between bad taste and serious offence, with the majority using clever scheduling to their advantage, meaning there was no need to ban the adverts.
5. #CourgetteCrisis
For most people, the start of a new year marks the start of a new health regime that will usually last no more than a few months. However, this year the British public’s New Year’s Resolutions to eat healthily may be cut short due to a lack of vegetables – courgettes to be specific.
The recent cold weather across the continent has lead to a short supply of vegetables. A combination of flooding, cold weather, and poor light during the winter months has resulted in only 30% of fields in certain regions of Spain being suitable for growing the vegetables. Like most small ‘crises’, the public took to social media to vent their anger at the lack of courgettes, leading to the creation of one of my favourite hashtags – #CourgetteCrisis.
Personally, I think a lack of courgettes isn’t the worst thing that could happen, but it has caused some serious issues across the country, with certain retailers taking extra precautions.
https://twitter.com/totalbristol/status/821647682963902464