Twitter shareholders sue Elon Musk over delay in disclosing stakeIn a proposed class action filed in Manhattan federal court, the shareholders said Elon Musk made "materially false and misleading statements and omissions" by failing to reveal he had invested in Twitter by March 24 as required under federal law. Twitter shares rose 27% on April 4, to $49.97 from $39.31, after Musk disclosed his stake, which investors viewed as a vote of confidence from the world's richest person in San Francisco-based Twitter.
Meta to start testing money-making tools: What users can buy, sell and moreThe tools will be available initially to a handpicked set of users who are creating virtual classes, games and fashion accessories within the company's immersive platform, which is accessible via VR headsets, Meta said in a statement. Using one tool, those select users will be able to sell their accessories or offer paid access to specialized digital spaces they have built, the company said.
TikTok's rise a concern for Meta, set to overtake ad share of Twitter, SnapchatMoreover, TikTok is predicted to catch up with Google-owned YouTube by clocking $23.6 billion in ad revenue by 2024, reports The Guardian. "Last year, it overtook the global ad take of Snapchat," the report said on Saturday. TikTok, which was banned in India in June 2020 along with several Chinese apps in the first lot, is likely to triple its global worldwide ad revenues $11.6 billion this year - more than $10.44 billion for Snapchat and Twitter combined.
Sri Lanka restores social media platforms after 15 hours amid the country's worst economic crisisThe services of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TokTok, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger were restored after 15 hours, according to an official. The services had been fully or partially blocked. The move was aimed at preventing masses from gathering in Colombo to protest the government's failure to provide relief to the public suffering from shortages of food, essentials, fuel and medicine amidst hours-long power cuts, the Colombo Page newspaper reported.
Clubhouse’s new protected profiles option will keep users safe in Ukraine and RussiaUsers need to go to the app’s settings to enable the protected profile feature which will then allow them to approve their followers. The company also mentions that only the followers whom you approve will be able to see the rooms, clubs and replays on your profile. Users who are not approved as followers won’t be able to see your online status and Clubhouse won’t even recommend unknown people to follow you.
Twitter may soon allow users to co-author tweets with other accountsThe feature will allow two accounts to collaborate on a particular tweet. But, there is a catch, as users have to send an invitation to the co-author — who must follow them and have a public Twitter account. The tweet will get posted on the timelines of both accounts and for both sets of followers to see the tweet after the invitation has been accepted.
Messenger app gets new shortcuts: Allow users to send silent messages, notify everyone and moreMeta-owned Facebook has added several new features and shortcuts to its Messenger app. Available for both iOS and Android users, Messenger users can use new shortcuts to perform different tasks like notifying all users in a group about a new message, sending silent messages, GIFs and more.
Twitter tests a cricket tab on Android designed specifically for IndiaCommenting on the development, Shirish Andhare, Director of Product for Twitter India said: "Through our new cricket experiment offering an immersive experience, we want to make it easier for India's cricket fans to find relevant and engaging content as well as encourage conversations and find latest updates including the score all in one place."
Instagram tests new feature to help users support social causesThe company mentioned the new feature will also make it easier to raise awareness for these causes through a “Create a Fundraiser” button This tool can be used to start raising money on behalf of a cause. You can also use the “Spread the Word” button to share the hashtag page with your friends through a DM.
These WhatsApp users are getting message reactions featureWhatsApp message reactions are similar to the message reaction feature on Facebook and Instagram. Users on these platforms can react to a specific message with emojis. WhatsApp’s message reactions feature was reported seven months ago in August 2021.
Russia opens criminal investigation of Meta over death calls on FacebookRussia opened a criminal case against Facebook's parent Meta Platforms on Friday and moved to designate it as an "extremist organisation" after the social network changed its hate speech rules to allow users to call for violence against Russians in the context of the war with Ukraine.
Twitter no longer allows users to access chronological timeline by defaultTwitter was earlier criticised by several users when it switched from its chronological timeline to a new system that showed suggested tweets instead. Later, however, the social media platform added an option, which when activated, allowed users to see recent tweets by default.
How Twitter avoided Russia’s attempt to block its siteEarlier, both the social media platforms said that they were trying to restore access to people inside Russia as they blocked the country’s state-owned media from their respective services. Users can access this version of Twitter by downloading the Tor browser, which is also known as the “onion” service. This browser will allow people to access sites that will carry a .onion suffix instead of .com.
Facebook using a new set of group tools to fight misinformationThe Meta-owned social media platform announced that these new tools are another step against false information, as the company tries to prevent misinformation from spreading. These features will not just help in identifying fake information, but also help in reducing the workload of the group admins and will eventually make them more efficient at managing the groups.
WhatsApp may soon get this Facebook chat featureWhatsApp is reportedly working on a feature that will allow users to create polls in group chats. According to a report by WaBetaInfo, WhatsApp has submitted a new beta update for its iOS app, bringing the version up to 22.6.0.70. The beta update reveals that the Meta-owned messaging platform is developing a group polls feature.