Don't stop the music: DJ hosts 10-hour Instagram dance party

Just because there's a pandemic going on, doesn't mean the party has to stop. And one DJ has kept it going – for 10 hours at a time.

The coronavirus has upended daily lives, with thousands of deaths around the world. Many people are staying at home in an effort to stem the rapid-fire spread.

Celebrity DJ D-Nice has begun hosting virtual dance parties on his Instagram Live channel in an effort to lift spirits as people self-isolate over coronavirus concerns.

Many of his A-list friends – including Rihanna, Common and John Legend – have made guest appearances thanks to Instagram Live's split feature, which lets two people appear in a split-screen.

On March 18, D-Nice posted on Instagram that he would be hosting "Home School", a "social distancing dance party".

He set up his turntables in his kitchen and invited his 950,000 followers to tune in and dance along.

What followed was a nine-hour long party that featured guest appearances from celebrities such as LL Cool J, Mary J Blige, Naomi Campbell and Lena Waithe.

"I can't believe that I started the Home School social distancing dance party just four days ago and it's become a place for us to virtually dance together and stay connected," D-Nice wrote in an Instagram post March 19.

"From my kitchen, I'm able to send positive vibrations to each of you."

D-Nice, who first entered the music scene in the 1980s as a member of the Bronx hip-hop group BDP, has begun hosting nightly dance parties in his kitchen, officially dubbed "Club Quarantine".

More than 100,000 people tuned in for his March 21 celebration, which lasted for 10 hours and had appearances from former first lady Michelle Obama, presidential hopefuls Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, and musician Diddy – who also sent the DJ a bottle of Ciroc vodka, in which Diddy owns a stake, during the set.

The party also included a shoutout to healthcare workers battling the coronavirus.

"Homeschool is a thing!" D-Nice said in a March 21 post. "This has been a great way to keep our spirits high."

Chasten Buttigieg, who is married to former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, agreed.

"Thanks for the dance party last night @djdnice," Chasten tweeted on the morning of March 22.

"Pajamas acceptable, nobody to judge my dance moves, all the snacks I preferred – honestly we should do this more often."

D-Nice seems only too happy to oblige: class resumes Sunday night. – AFP Relaxnews

FTC may try to block Facebook from integrating apps

SAN FRANCISCO  — Facebook’s stock dropped almost 3% in regular trading after news reports suggested that the FTC may take antitrust action to prevent Facebook from integrating its disparate messaging apps.

The reports said the Federal Trade Commission may seek a court injunction that would block Facebook’s “interoperability” plans for Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, which involves revising them to use the same underlying software.


Both the FTC and Facebook declined to comment on the reports.

Facebook has been planning to integrate the apps since early 2019. Federal regulators are concerned that Facebook’s plan could make it hard to break up the company should the FTC find that necessary. The news was first published by The Wall Street Journal.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Facebook’s outage reveals how company’s AI tags photos

MANILA, Philippines — On Wednesday, an outage hit Facebook services worldwide as Facebook and Instagram experienced severe server issues.

In a report by THE VERGE, the outage enabled users of the social network to see the image tags their photos had been assigned to by the company’s machine vision systems.

During the outage, when browsing through uploaded photos, users will not see the actual photos but texts saying “image may contain: one or more people, child, close up and indoor” or just “image may contain: 1 person,  beard.”

The Verge said the same image tags showed up on Instagram. In addition to detailing general scene and object descriptions, the tags also suggest who is in a photo based on Facebook’s facial recognition.

Facebook has been using machine learning to “read” images in this way since at least April 2016, and the project is a big part of the company’s accessibility efforts. Such tags are used to describe photos and videos to users with sight impairments. (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)

source: technology.inquirer.net

Is Facebook Down? Users Told Site Is ‘Down for Maintenance’

Los Angeles – Many of Facebook’s users are asking the same question, Is Facebook down? All social media “Facebook” users across the internet are reporting issues ranging from not being able to login to content simply not loading. “Yes, Facebook is down for many users” based on what’s trending on twitter and google trend.

In previous incidents, Facebook says they do not do maintenance for all accounts within the same time frame as to avoid locking out all of its users at the same time. Facebook says it does server maintenance in blocks so users are only experience outages in blocks, never all at the same time. It seems they broke code of conduct today.


Here is the message we have received from Facebook.com which says “Facebook will be back soon”

The reports are verified through downdetector.com which shows the live outage of areas that Facebook.com is down.

Facebook outage map

There are reports on Twitter this morning many users are unable to login to their Facebook account.

When #FacebookDown but we still got old faithful Twitter.pic.twitter.com/RgCtDxp8XK

— Complex (@Complex) March 13, 2019

If you're having an issue with Facebook and Instagram – you are not alone! Check back here for updates as we wait for the issue to be resolved. #facebookdown https://t.co/2YkaWNYJJ6

 — USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 13, 2019

We will be monitoring and updating you about Facebook’s bugs and downtime today.

source: usa.inquirer.net

Facebook getting its messaging apps connected

SAN FRANCISCO–Facebook said Friday it is trying to get its messaging apps to be friends, allowing encrypted missives be exchanged no matter which of its services are used.

The leading social network is behind free, stand-alone smartphone apps Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.


Each service is popular, but users have to be in the same application to exchange to connect.


“We’re working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in reply to an AFP inquiry regarding a New York Times report about the effort.

“As you would expect, there is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work.”

Facebook hoped to get the messaging apps communicating with one another, while remaining separate services, by the end of this year or early next year, according to the Times report.

Each of the Facebook-owned messaging services boasts more than a billion users. End-to-end encryption would mean messages exchanged between the services would be scrambled to hide contents from snooping.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Instagram now lets you play music in ‘Stories’

Ever wanted to include music in your “Stories” but you couldn’t? Instagram has finally granted your wish.

The photo- and video-sharing app announced on Thursday that it has now included music in its “Stories.”

The feature may be seen when you tap to add a sticker in either your photo or video story. A music icon is included, which is home to a library of thousands of songs courtesy of Instagram. Users may search a specific song or browse by mood or genre.

The song may be previewed by tapping the play button. The specific track may either be fast-forwarded or rewinded to choose an exact part to play.

Users can also choose a song before taking a video. By opening the camera, swipe to the new “Music” option. You may search a song, and record a video as the song plays in the background.

The music sticker has been rolled out on Instagram’s latest update in select countries. Meanwhile, the “Music” option is currently available on iOS as of now. Android users will also enjoy the update soon.  /ra

source: technology.inquirer.net

As Facebook ages, teens look elsewhere to connect

SAN FRANCISCO, United States – Manon, 17, has a Facebook account but to connect with her friends she turns to other social networks like Instagram or Snapchat.

“I don’t use it to post status updates or personal information,” the San Francisco teen says.

Manon maintains her Facebook account to be able to stay in touch with the large number of users on the huge social network and as a “gateway” to log into other apps.



“But to communicate with my friends, it’s Snapchat,” the high schooler said.

“Everyone says Facebook is out of date. I think it’s because all the parents are on Facebook.”

As Facebook has grown into a network of more than two billion people globally it has lost its luster for younger users who made up a core base.

While Facebook has become one of the world’s most valuable and powerful companies, it’s no longer seen as a cool destination for teens, who are turning to Snapchat and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

According to a Pew Research Center survey this year, 51 percent of US teens ages 13 to 17 use Facebook, compared with 72 percent for Instagram and 69 percent who are on Snapchat. The survey found 85 percent used the Google video sharing service YouTube.

The landscape has shifted since a 2014-15 Pew survey which found Facebook leading other social networks with 71 percent of the teen segment.

“The social media environment among teens is quite different from what it was just three years ago,” said Pew researcher Monica Anderson.

“Back then, teens’ social media use mostly revolved around Facebook. Today, their habits revolve less around a single platform.”



The breakup of teens and Facebook was occurring before the latest scandals which have hit Facebook over hijacked user data and propagation of misinformation.

According to a Forrester Research survey 34 percent of US online youth view Facebook “as a website for old people and parents.”

“US online youth regard Facebook as utility, while other networks that deliver niche value steal attention from Facebook’s broad platform,” said Forrester’s Anjali Lai in a research note.

“Established social networks face an image problem.”

A separate report by the research firm eMarketer came to a similar conclusion, estimating that Facebook would lose some two million US users under age 24 this year.

Still king globally

Facebook remains king of the social media space and is still growing, though more slowly than in past years.

Its profit in the first quarter of 2018 jumped 63 percent from a year ago to $5 billion, and total revenues increased 49 percent to $11.97 billion.

And the California company has been moving to become more diversified, with its “family” of apps that include Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, and virtual reality gear from its Oculus division.

To connect with younger audiences, Facebook has launched a parentally controlled Messenger Kids app for those too young to have their own Facebook account, and recently expanded that to Peru and Canada.

Facebook is also moving to challenge YouTube, and potentially other services like Netflix, with original video on its own platform and on Instagram, which now has one billion users.

With 2.2 billion users, Facebook still has a big lead over Snapchat, with 191 million users at the end of March, and Twitter with 336 million.

“Snapchat has a lot of growing to do before it can really be a huge challenger to Facebook,” said Debra Williamson, social media analyst at eMarketer.

But the trends show services like Instagram and Snapchat — which has grown beyond its original offering of disappearing messages — have become the new, cool place for young smartphone users.

With Snapchat, “you can add animation, special effects, that’s what’s interesting for my generation,” said 16-year-old Charlotte, another San Francisco high school student.

Manon said she also likes Instagram because it is “more about creativity, people who make music or photography can post what they do.”

Agence France-Press

Instagram unveils new video service in challenge to YouTube

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook’s Instagram service is loosening its restraints on video in an attempt to lure younger viewers away from YouTube when they are looking for something to watch on their smartphones.

The expansion announced on Wednesday, dubbed IGTV, will increase Instagram’s video time limit from one minute to 10 minutes for most users. Accounts with large audiences will be able to go as long as an hour.

The video will be available through Instagram or a new app called IGTV. The video will eventually give Facebook more opportunities to sell advertising.

It was the latest instance in which Instagram has ripped a page from a rival’s playbook in an effort to preserve its status as a cool place for young people to share and view content. In this case, Instagram is mimicking Google’s YouTube.

Before, Facebook and Instagram have copied Snapchat — another magnet for teens and young adults.

Instagram, now nearly 8 years old, is moving further from its roots as a photo-sharing service as it dives headlong into the longer-form video.

The initiative comes as parent company Facebook struggles to attract teens, while also dealing with a scandal that exposed its leaky controls for protecting users’ personal information.

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom told The Associated Press that he hopes IGTV will emerge as a hub of creativity for relative unknowns who turn into internet sensations with fervent followings among teens and young adults.

That was what has already been happening on YouTube, which has become the world’s most popular video outlet since Google bought it for $1.76 billion nearly 12 years ago. YouTube now boasts of 1.8 billion users.

Instagram, which Facebook bought for $1 billion six years ago, now has 1 billion users, up from 800 million nine months ago.

More importantly, 72 percent of American kids ranging from 13 to 17 years old use Instagram, second to YouTube at 85 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. Only 51 percent of people in that group now use Facebook, down from 71 percent from a similar Pew survey in 2014-2015.



That trend appears to be one of the reasons that Facebook is “hedging its bets” by opening Instagram to the longer-form videos typically found on YouTube, said analyst Paul Verna of the research firm eMarketer.

Besides giving Instagram another potential drawing card, longer clips are more conducive to video ads lasting from 30 seconds to one minute. Instagram does not currently allow video ads but Systrom said it eventually will. When the ads come, Instagram intends to share revenue with the videos’ creators — just as YouTube already does.

“We want to make sure they make a living because that is the only way it works in the long run,” Systrom said.

The ads also will help Facebook sustain its revenue growth. Total spending on online video ads in the United States is expected to rise from nearly $18 billion this year to $27 billion in 2021, according to eMarketer.

Lele Pons, a YouTube sensation who also has amassed 25 million followers on Instagram, plans to launch a new cooking show on IGTV in hopes of increasing her audience and eventually generating more revenue.

“It’s like Coca-Cola and Pepsi,” she said. “You will never know what you like better unless you try both.”

IGTV’s programming format will consist exclusively of the vertical video designed to fill the entire screen of smartphones — the devices that are emerging as the main way younger people watch a video. By contrast, most YouTube videos fill only a portion of the screen unless the phone is tilted horizontally.

Snapchat began featuring vertical video before Instagram, another example of its penchant for copying rivals.

But Systrom sees it differently.

“This is acknowledging vertical video is the future and we want the future to come more quickly, so we built IGTV,” Systrom said.      /kga

source: technology.inquirer.net

Instagram Stories can now upload multiple photos, videos

Tired of uploading photos and videos onto your Instagram Story one by one? This new update might benefit you.

Android users of the social media app can now share their “Stories” all at once, Instagram said on Tuesday.

Users may now enjoy this when they click the new icon at the top right of the screen. From there, they can now select up to 10 photos and videos from their gallery. And when tapping the edit screen, users will be able to view the media lined up and customize with texts and GIFs.

The feature is now available for Android, and will soon roll out on iOS users in the following weeks.

Aside from this update on Stories, Instagram has also created the “Data Download” option where it lets users download their account information through a web browser.  /ra

source: technology.inquirer.net

Former NFL player detained by police after Instagram post

LOS ANGELES — Former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin, who has struggled with mental health issues after a 2013 bullying scandal that shook the NFL, was questioned by Los Angeles police after a threatening Instagram post on his account mentioned two former teammates who had harassed him.

Martin was detained by investigators after the post showed a shotgun and referred by name to the private Harvard-Westlake prep school in Los Angeles that he once attended but was not under arrest Friday evening, police spokesman Josh Rubenstein said.

The post also included mentions of the Instagram usernames of former Miami Dolphins players Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey and said suicide and revenge were the only options for a victim of bullying.

The Harvard-Westlake prep school was evacuated earlier Friday after officials were made aware of the post. It was not immediately clear whether Martin posted the photo himself.

Martin left the Miami Dolphins midseason in 2013 after accusing teammates of bullying. An NFL investigation found that Incognito, Pouncey and teammate John Jerry engaged in persistent harassment directed at Martin.

Incognito was suspended for the final eight games and sat out the 2014 season before joining the Buffalo Bills.

The NFL’s investigation also found that teammates threatened to rape Martin’s sister, called him a long list of slurs and bullied him for not being “black enough.” Martin is black and Incognito is white.

Martin, who underwent counseling for emotional issues after the bullying scandal, posted on Facebook in 2015 that difficulties in football led him to attempt suicide multiple times.

Martin, the son of two Harvard graduates, attended Stanford University. After he left the Dolphins, Martin played for the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers. He left the NFL in 2015.

Representatives for the Miami Dolphins and the NFL declined to comment and referred questions to Los Angeles police.

source: sports.inquirer.net

YouTube to launch own version of ‘Stories’

It looks like video sharing site YouTube will be following the move of Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook towards enhancing features on video sharing.

YouTube will be launching its own version of “Stories” by Instagram, through a new feature where users may share glimpses of their daily lives through short snippets of photos and videos.

As announced on Youtube’s official blog, this version will be called “Reels”, and will be separate from the YouTube user’s videos by having its own tab.

TechCrunch reported that unlike Snapchat and Instagram, videos uploaded will not have the 24-hour time span. These videos can also have multiple reels.

These stories can affect the algorithm of the user’s home page, where they can appear as recommendations if always watched. Viewers also have the option to mark Reels videos with a thumbs up or thumbs down, similar to traditional videos uploaded on the site. Reels videos can also be designed with stickers, filters and text.

No announcement has been made about Reels’ official roll out on YouTube. Katrina Hallare/JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Hot chef, meme sensation ‘Salt Bae’ to open restos in London, New York

If you’re well versed on the latest trends that the internet and social media has to offer, chances are you’ve stumbled upon a video of a suave-looking man expertly filleting and sprinkling salt on a slab of meat.

After his clip was shared on Instagram, the internet quickly dubbed him as the eccentric and sensual chef “Salt Bae”, but in real life, Turkish restaurant owner Nusret Gökçe is just a simple man with a burning passion for cooking meat.

The viral pony-tailed chef, who co-owns the global Nusr-et chain of grill houses, has since become one of the most popular memes of 2017—with his clip reaching 8 million views and even gaining 2.5 million followers on Instagram.

His magnificent salt-sprinkling pose has been imitated online in several spoof videos, while his likeness was even printed on T-shirts worn by celebrities like pop star Rihanna.

Gökçe’s sudden popularity has even reached a global scale and was immortalized in graffiti in Melbourne.

Banking on his recent name recognition, “Salt Bae” will reportedly expand his business and open branches in London and New York over the next few months, according to Business Insider.

Despite not knowing any foreign language apart from native tongue, the proud father of nine is optimistic that he’ll be able to “communicate with people through meat.”

The internet sensation also said he’s amazed of his sudden fame and even shared the story behind the salt meme.

“That move at the end [salting] came automatically,” he was quoted as saying in the report. “I did not do that to show off. It is just my signature. You can think of it [as] a kind of final touch for a painting. It was a final touch to the meat; I was blessing the meat.”

Gökçe added that his videos online were mostly shot by his staff, in an effort to promote his restaurants.

Although most people would see him as ”uncouth,” Gökçe is incredibly modest and shared that he came from humble beginnings.

“I am the son of a mine worker. My father and mother [are not literate],” Gökçe shared. “I cannot go to school due to financial difficulties. I started [working for] a butcher as an apprentice when I was 14. Meat has become a passion for me.” Khristian Ibarrola

source: technology.inquirer.net

Apple developing Snapchat-style app

As part of Apple’s strategy to target younger users, the company is developing its own video-sharing app similar to Snapchat and Instagram.

According to a report on 9to5Mac, the company was motivated by the level of engagement that social apps generated on the iPhone. Users averaged 50 minutes a day on Facebook and 30 minutes on Snapchat. The focus for Apple’s app will be on short, easily created videos.

Apple is highly experienced when it comes to video editing and will be employing the same development team behind Final Cut Pro. They will apparently also hire the former president of a video production company to lead the new project.

The company has not been idle when it comes to developing apps with “multiple social-related features.” It has been busy testing out different software that have yet to be released. With the introduction of third-party animated sticker packs for the iMessage in iOS 10, users may soon see more of social apps developed by Apple.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Justin Bieber Takes Down His Instagram After Feud with Selena Gomez

This happens after Justin and ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez had a war of words in the comments section. Justin told his fans to stop attacking his rumored new girlfriend Sofia Richie, and Selena told him to stop posting photos and getting mad at his fans.

“If you can’t handle the hate then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend. It should be special between you two only. Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you. They were there for you before anyone,” Selena writes.

Justin then accused Selena of using him for fame, to which she replied, “Funny how the ones that cheated multiple times are pointing the finger at the ones that were forgiving and supportive, no wonder fans are mad. All love.”

And the rest is history―quite literally.

Although Selena later apologized for the incident on her Snapchat, it might take a while before we hear anything from Justin on social media―unless he decides to tweet something out of nowhere. (Yup, his Twitter’s still there, don’t worry.

[Entertainment Tonight and Telegraph]

Photo courtesy of Salon

source: preen.inquirer.net

Maine Mendoza posts messages after getting back social media accounts from hackers

Maine Mendoza made a triumphant return to social media on Tuesday, hours after hackers took over her accounts.

The Kalyeserye sweetheart posted a message after taking back control of her Twitter account.


But she has not gotten access to all her accounts quite yet, with her Facebook account being deactivated by hackers and her email account still out of reach.

Anonymous Philippines took responsibility for the hacking in the wee hours of Tuesday, posting messages directing Maine's 2.4 million followers to their social media pages.

The entries have been deleted.—JST, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Instagram now lets you see the world through its eyes

Instagram, Facebook's popular photo-sharing service, has upgraded and revamped its search function to focus on trends.

The service said in a blog post the trending Tags and Places can now be accessed in the new Explore page.

"With more than 70 million photos and videos posted to Instagram every day, wherever something is happening, chances are you can see it here. Whether it’s behind the scenes at the NBA Finals, on the runway with the latest fashion trend at a favorite club with a local band, people are capturing moments large and small on Instagram. But, until now, there’s never been an easy way to find these moments," it said.


With the revamped Explore page, it said discovery on Instagram will be "immediate and effortless."

"The new Explore now surfaces trends as they emerge in real-time, connecting you to events and conversations both near you and around the globe," it added.

Also, it said trending Tags and trending Places can help users experience moments like #bonnaroo or #fathersday from every perspective.

Meanwhile, the top of the Explore page will feature new curated collections updated regularly.

Also, Instagram said it has "dramatically" improved its search ability.

"With the new Places Search, you can now peer in at just about any location on earth, allowing you to scout out your next vacation spot in the South Pacific, get a look inside that hot new restaurant or experience your favorite music festival — even if you couldn’t make it this year. The new Top Search also lets you search across people, places and tags all at once," it added.

Tech site Mashable said Instagram has made available its updated apps for iOS and Android.

But the new Explore features will be available initially in the United States, though it will expand to more countries. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com