Facebook lessens the role editors play in its Trending Topics feature

Facebook is tweaking the way its Trending Topics feature is curated. After coming under fire for supposed bias of certain political stories from the US, the social media company has opted to not let their editors write headlines or summaries for the articles that make the list. While editors still vet the list, Facebook will rely heavily on the algorithm that culls the articles, which is based on how often users post or share certain stories. What you’ll be seeing this time is comments from the users and excerpt from the actual article.

Facebook’s post on these changes also shows their reaction regarding the alleged bias the company has: “Earlier this year, we shared more information about Trending in response to questions about alleged political bias in the product. We looked into these claims and found no evidence of systematic bias. Still, making these changes to the product allows our team to make fewer individual decisions about topics. Facebook is a platform for all ideas, and we’re committed to maintaining Trending as a way for people to access a breadth of ideas and commentary about a variety of topics.”

WhatsApp to share user data with Facebook

While we would’ve thought WhatsApp was the more privacy conscious alternative to Facebook Messenger, it looks like that has changed. WhatsApp will now be sharing user data with its mother company, Facebook. And yes, this information will be used to sell more ads. While they won’t be seeing your messages as WhatsApp employs end-to-end encryption, what Facebook will be seeing is your metadata, or the data about your messages. So yes, they might be able to see your phone number and from that bit of information find out where you live and target more ads to you.

We already know Facebook collects as much data as it can from us, so it really was bound to happen that WhatsApp, which the social network bought for US$16 billion in 2014. Aside from phone number, though, both companies are pretty vague on what information WhatsApp will be sharing. But if you see the data points Facebook collects, you sort of get an idea what they might get from WhatsApp.

Source: Gizmodo

Facebook tries to take on Snapchat with new teens-only app Lifestage

If you follow a logical line of thought Facebook really is trying to win back the teens they’ve lost to the likes of Snapchat. Now, the company is trying out a new teens-only iOS app developed by one of its younger product managers, 19-year-old Michael Sayman. Called Lifestage, it sort of harks back to the days of slam books but focuses more on your interests. It’s also like a video diary of sorts as you get asked questions about yourself but instead of typing things out you, you record small clips to answer and when you answer a new question, your friends will be able to see what’s new with you.

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Facebook for iOS finally lets you switch between accounts

Managing multiple Facebook accounts is now easier for iOS users, too. Facebook has enabled account switching within Facebook’s family of apps (FB, Messenger, and Instagram, to be specific). So, if you manage multiple accounts, such as those for your business, you can just add the extra account you handle. You’ll be able to see the option under Profile > Switch Account > plus sign to add the new account.

Source: The Next Web