Signal now lets you choose disappearing messages by default for new chats

The encrypted chat app Signal is adding a few new options for users looking to lock down their messages. The app will now allow anyone to turn on a default timer for disappearing messages, automatically applying the settings to any newly initiated conversations. Signal’s disappearing messages option deletes chats for both the sender and receiver […]

Instagram tests ads in its Shop tab

Instagram is further investing in its e-commerce business, Instagram Shops, with the launch of a new advertising product, Ads in Instagram Shop. The company says it’s currently testing the new format, which includes both single images and the option for an image carousel, with select U.S.-based advertisers ahead of an expansion to other markets in […]

Senators press Facebook for answers about why it cut off misinformation researchers

Facebook’s decision to close accounts connected to a misinformation research project last week prompted a broad outcry from the company’s critics — and now Congress is getting involved. A handful of lawmakers criticized the decision at the time, slamming Facebook for being hostile toward efforts to make the platform’s opaque algorithms and ad targeting methods […]

チャットアプリ「Discord」は、ユーザーによる“非公式”な改変でも進化している

ゲーマーたちの間から人気が広がったチャットアプリ「Discord」は、いまやユーザー数が3億人を超えるまでに規模が拡大した。幅広いジャンルを扱う「みんなのもの」へと変わりつつあるDiscordは、実は非公式なかたちで機能を追加するなどの進化を遂げている。この“改変”を支えているのは、Discordユーザーでもあるヴォランティア開発者たちだ。

Cent, the platform that Jack Dorsey used to sell his first tweet as an NFT, raises $3M

Cent was founded in 2017 as an ad-free creator network that allows users to offer each other crypto rewards for good posts and comments — it’s like gifting awards on Reddit, but with Ethereum. But in late 2020, Cent’s small, San Fransisco-based team created Valuables, an NFT market for tweets, and by March, the small […]