Death captured on Facebook Live shows dark side of livestreaming

The thing with capturing events as they happen means we can’t filter out the bad and horrible stuff happening around us. One such incident is the shooting of Chicago man Antonio Perkins, which was caught on camera because he was using Facebook Live while the incident happened. It’s unfortunate that his case isn’t a unique one as other violent incidents have been caught on live video before. And unlike live TV, there isn’t a way to cut away from a scene when things get gory.

Facebook didn’t take down Perkins’s video but put a “graphic video” warning on it. The social network removes clips that sensationalize violence but leaves this footage and a few others to help boost awareness about violence and its consequences. We doubt incidents like this will prevent Facebook from continuing one with livestream but it is a tragic reminder that it won’t be without terrible incidents like this.

Source: Engadget

Facebook: Use Moments or get synced photos deleted

It’s not entirely surprising that Facebook is yet again forcing the hand of its users to use another one of its apps. This time, it’s their photo-sharing app Moments. What’s the consequence if you don’t adopt the app? You’ll lose synced photos you didn’t know you had. You may or may not be aware that Facebook has an option to sync photos from your phone into a private album on the app. But if you don’t install Moments by July 7^th to get them back, then you’ll use them forever. Of course, if those photos are still on your phone, you’ll still have them. Forcing users to download apps seems to be working for Facebook but that doesn’t mean users are happy about it.

Source: The Next Web

Facebook now lets you respond with video comments

Facebook is bringing in another way to respond to comments: video. The idea was prototyped early this year at Facebook’s 50^th Hackathon but has been refined by the Facebook team afterwards to become an official feature. Being able to make video responses is available to all users around the world. You can post them as replies to posts by people and pages and also within groups and events. It works on desktop web, iOS, and Android. Just tap on the camera icon next to the comment field and share your video comment.

Source: Facebook

Facebook pushing mobile web users to download Messenger app

Facebook has done it once before and it seems they’re doing it again. Some users of the mobile web version of Facebook are having a hard time accessing their instant messages on the mobile browser. According to Android Authority, these users have been getting a “Your conversations are moving to Messenger” and while it seems like just a friendly reminder, what that almost does is redirect you to the Google Play download page of Messenger. You can keep pressing back and try to get to your messages but it’s clear Facebook will keep nagging you to download the app.

If you don’t like the path of least resistance and keep wondering why Facebook is doing this, well the simple reason is Facebook has been putting in a lot of work into Messenger and they want you to use it. Plus, there have been rumours that ads are heading that way, too. Of course, you can hold out for as long as you can… or at least until you still have the option to.

Source: Android Authority