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 Ashleigh.
1. Facebook’s no longer as popular with UK children
A report from Ofcom shows that fewer 12-15 year olds were using Facebook in 2018 when compared to 2017. The percentage of children within this age group using the social media platform has dropped from 74% to 72%, year on year.
On the other hand, the other platforms have increased; Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp and YouTube.
In 2018, 23% of 12-15 year olds named Instagram as their main social network, which has increased from just 14% in 2017.
Most of the social networks don’t actually allow under 13s to set up a personal profile, however a report showed that 18% of 8-11 year olds have actually signed up.
2. Sir Nick Clegg pledges to make Facebook safer for kids
Taking into consider the figures above, and the fact that 18% of 8-11 year olds have a social media account (despite not strictly being allowed one) it’s even more important that they make Facebook safer for children!
There’s been loads in the news this week about the tragic story of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who sadly committed suicide after looking at self-harm imagery on Instagram.
Sir Nick Clegg, new Vice President, at Facebook said: “I can tell you firstly we’re going to look at this from top to bottom, change everything we’re doing if necessary, to get it right.
“We’re already taking steps soon to blur images, block a number of hashtags that have come to light, and thirdly to continue to work… with the Samaritans and other organisations.”
He went on to say that the experts at these organisations do not advise banning the content altogether, suggesting that “in some instances it’s better to keep some of the distressing images up if that helps people make a cry for help and then get the support they need”.
3. Apple’s ‘eavesdropping’ bug
Apple is disabling its group calling function in its FaceTime software as it’s been discovered that it was allowing callers to hear the other end of a recipient’s call, even if they hadn’t picked up.
The bug manages to trick the phone being called into thinking a group call is already happening and turns on their microphone without them accepting the call.
Also if the volume or power buttons are touched on the recipient’s handset in an attempt to silence/dismiss the call, their camera turns on as well. So the phone’s display still shows that someone is trying to call, but their microphone/camera continues streaming.
Weird, eh? More information is available at techcrunch.com.
4. BuzzFeed is cutting jobs across the world
It has been announced that BuzzFeed is making some major cutbacks to its workforce, including 25% of its staff in Australia – around 200 members of staff have been made redundant in total.
In light of this news, BuzzFeed’s own tool has been used with great irony to make a quiz named, “Do you still have a job at BuzzFeed?”.
This has obviously got everyone talking on Twitter, and rightly so:
h-h-hoooooly shit https://t.co/p0TMvyeSaT
— Tyler McCall (@eiffeltyler) January 28, 2019
5. Snow dogs!
Have you seen any of the old white stuff this week? We’ve seen a little here at Browser Media so what’s better than seeing our four-legged friends enjoying it too:
Is there something on my face ? #ShareYourWeather #ONstorm pic.twitter.com/YG5D4Bim7R
— Rachel Schoutsen TWN (@RachelSchoutsen) January 27, 2019
https://t.co/0Pyn0kO3RY Dashing Through the Snow! Autumn and Daisy having a blast at the tree farm! #ShareYourWeather pic.twitter.com/NbSVHs9PyF
— Catherine Middleton (@cmiddleton_15) January 16, 2019
Snow dogs ?? Are YOU this happy to see the flying flurries?
Upload your wintry scene to our gallery: https://t.co/PHcsJ8mIQ6 #ShareYourWeather pic.twitter.com/MSfxbFcZMK
— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) January 19, 2019
