Social media addiction is increasing day by day. Almost everyone from ages 7 to 70 is actively using platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter. However, this situation brings along some risks. For example, who will protect individuals under 18 from harmful content and people on social media? While one might assume the responsibility lies with the social media platforms, Mark Zuckerberg suggests that app age verification should be the duty of Apple and Google. Here are the details…

Zuckerberg Urges Apple and Google for Social Media Age Verification

Social media companies, along with platform providers like Apple and Google, and authorities like the European Union, are working to safeguard children from the risks of social media. For example Meta recently taken steps to people under 18 from getting messages from strangers on the platform. Even with these efforts, the things done so far to be safe are not enough. That’s why CEOs of TikTok, Snap, Discord, and X are called to Congress over concerns about not doing enough to safeguard children.

Following the question posed to Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the situation, his response was quite surprising. According to Zuckerberg, the responsibility for app age verification should lie with Apple and Google, not social media companies. Meta’s global head of safety, Antigone Davis, explained, “With this solution, when a teen wants to download an app, app stores would be required to notify their parents, much like when parents are notified if their teen attempts to make a purchase. Parents can decide if they want to approve the download.”

While age verification responsibility is under discussion, it’s probable that important actions will be taken soon. Still, it’s crucial to highlight that parents bear the main responsibility. Even though Meta and the EU aim to protect their audiences, it doesn’t automatically ensure your child’s safety. Being a responsible parent is key at this moment.

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As per our coverage yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg seemed to have given up after trying to persuade Elon Musk for a fight. In the latest twist to the much-anticipated battle between tech moguls Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, a potential medical setback for Musk could push the duel to an undetermined date – but the fight may still happen. Recent news has Musk considering surgery after revealing he’s undergoing an MRI for his neck and upper back. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO shared this update on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, causing Tesla’s share price to drop by over two percent shortly after.

More people are expected to get behind the fight if a Charity Fundraiser will be involved

This face-off, which began as playful online banter between the two, had the internet abuzz, speculating if they would actually exchange blows in the ring. Zuckerberg had initially thrown down the gauntlet on Threads, hinting at an August 26 fight night. While Musk hasn’t confirmed this date, he did state that the match would be streamed on X, dedicating all proceeds to a charity supporting veterans.

Zuckerberg’s witty retort questioned the reliability of X as a platform for charity fundraising. This jest highlights their history of light-hearted and sometimes earnest differences on subjects like artificial intelligence, space exploration, and social media.

However, with Musk’s medical revelations, it’s uncertain when or if this duel will occur. Beyond the humorous jabs, both moguls are serious about their training, with Zuckerberg expressing genuine enthusiasm for the sport and his willingness for the challenge.

Regardless of the outcome, their exchange has captured the internet’s attention, as everyone waits to see whether these tech giants will settle their playful feud in tweets or take it to the ring.

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The virtual world is abuzz with the banter between two of tech’s most influential personalities – Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and Elon Musk, who helms SpaceX, among other ventures. The important question on everyone’s mind is: will these tech titans actually face off in a ring match? As of now, the answer remains clouded.

This online banter may have the potential to turn into a Huge Event in the near future

Their online jabs started when Zuckerberg took to Threads to satirize Musk’s post about weightlifting, a supposed prep for the potential fight. The Meta CEO confidently stated he’s “always ready” for a duel with Musk. Interestingly, he mentioned a tentative date, August 26, but noted that Musk hadn’t given the green signal. “Don’t hold out too much hope,” Zuckerberg teased.

In a twist, Musk declared the match, if it transpires, would be broadcast “live” on X, with all earnings channelled towards a charity for veterans. Zuckerberg, not missing a beat, cheekily responded that they should “use a more reliable platform that can actually raise funds for charity.” Beyond the playful exchanges, Zuckerberg expressed his genuine love for the sport, emphasizing his readiness to face trained contenders.

The playful, and sometimes serious, differences between Zuckerberg and Musk are not new to the tech community. They’ve historically disagreed on subjects ranging from artificial intelligence and social media to space exploration. Zuckerberg, in late July, cast doubt on the actual occurrence of this much-anticipated match. As for official statements, Meta’s stance was cryptic, opting only to retweet Zuckerberg’s original post on Threads.

While it remains to be seen whether the battle will be in tweets or in the ring, the internet is eagerly watching.

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The social media landscape recently welcomed a new competitor from an existing media giant Meta called the Threads. At a time when Twitter has pivoted to a more aggressive monetization strategy, including paywalls, Threads has rapidly gained traction, with 100 million users signing up on its platform in its first few days.

The question that naturally arises is: What unique offerings does Threads bring to the table that users are contemplating a switch from Twitter?

Let’s delve into a fundamental comparison to gain better insights.

Design

Twitter’s minimalist design, primarily text-based, with a linear feed, has been its signature look for years. Conversely, Threads embraces a more visual approach with a card layout reminiscent of Instagram stories, which makes it an excellent platform for sharing links and news stories, providing a more immersive experience.

Features

Twitter, with its mature platform, offers a plethora of features, including trending topics, direct messaging, robust search capabilities, and support for multiple languages. Twitter also gives users the option to draft and save posts for later. There’s also the added advantage of an intricate thread system that lets users easily engage in complex conversations.

On the flip side, Threads, still in its infancy, has a more pared-down feature set. Its main offering revolves around text-based posts with a 500-character limit, quite a leap from Twitter’s 280. Notably missing, however, are functionalities like direct messaging, discovery pages, and support for hashtags. Also, the ability to save drafts and edit posts after publishing is absent.

But Threads isn’t sitting idle; Meta executives have assured users that new features are underway. The roadmap reportedly includes post-editing, multi-language support, and improved desktop functionality. Thus, even though Threads is currently less feature-rich compared to Twitter, it is poised to close the gap soon. Also, Zuckerberg recently said that the app will remain ad-free until it hits 1 billion users.

Algorithm

Twitter employs a complex algorithm that surfaces tweets based on user preferences and engagement. It provides two feed options: one curated by user interests and the other based on user-followed accounts. Threads, on the other hand, adopts a simpler feed approach where posts from all users are visible, regardless of whether a user follows an account or not.

User Demographics

Threads’ initial user base seems to be skewed towards Instagram’s audience, likely due to the seamless integration with the popular photo-sharing app. Twitter, with its broader demographic, appeals to a more diverse audience, including journalists, politicians, and celebrities.

Verification

While Twitter’s controversial pay-for-verification model has drawn criticism, Threads has retained a more traditional verification process. Verified Instagram accounts automatically receive their blue badge on Threads, offering a more trusted verification system.

To better understand the basic in-app differences we have created this chart. Please take a look.

Can Threads Take on Twitter in the Long Run?

Predicting the winner in this ongoing social media duel is quite premature at this stage. Each platform holds its unique strengths. Despite facing criticism over its paywall policy and alleged toxicity, Twitter still boasts a solid base of loyal users and a rich array of features. On the other hand, Threads, though still evolving, benefits from the massive leverage of Instagram’s enormous user base and Meta’s technological expertise.

This face-off could be perceived as a clash of the titans: Mark Zuckerberg of Meta versus Elon Musk of Twitter. Both are widely recognized for their path-breaking innovations and cutthroat competitiveness.

To conclude, the ongoing rivalry between Threads and Twitter offers an interesting insight into how social media platforms are evolving to cater to a diverse array of user preferences and experiences. Each platform provides unique benefits to its users, and the ultimate choice rests on individual usage habits and preferences. As the social media landscape continues to evolve, we can anticipate more exciting developments in the future.

From my perspective, so far, Threads has emerged as a much calmer space compared to Twitter, which often resembles a battlefield for keyboard warriors. It’s too early to forecast the trajectory Threads will take. A clearer picture will emerge as more users start interacting and creating content on the platform.

As for Twitter, it is likely to remain a vital player in the social media landscape, provided it doesn’t make any strategic missteps. Traditionally, Twitter has been the go-to platform for breaking news, important updates, and brand engagement. Hence, in my opinion, both networks can coexist, each catering to unique audience segments and purposes.

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According to recent reports from the Wall Street Journal, Meta, the company headed by Mark Zuckerberg, is engaged in discussions with Chinese enterprises to introduce its VR headsets into the Chinese market. The move aims to reestablish Meta’s presence in China and expand the availability of its devices. However, some Chinese companies express concerns due to Zuckerberg’s previous statements, which may pose challenges to potential collaborations.

One of the companies reportedly in negotiations with Meta is Tencent. The decision to proceed with talks was made by Tencent’s founder and chairman, Pony Ma, after an internal debate among executives. However, Tencent has stated that they first need to understand the cooperation conditions put forth by Meta.

Challenges and Opportunities in China’s VR headset market

If an agreement is reached, Meta’s Quest 3 headset is likely to make its way into the Chinese market. Unveiled prior to Apple’s Vision Pro in early June, the Quest 3 features the Pancake optical design, resulting in a 40% reduction in weight and thickness compared to the Quest 2. Powered by the latest Qualcomm chip, the headset boasts performance more than twice that of the previous Snapdragon XR2 generation. While the device has not yet been officially released, Meta has announced its pricing, starting at $499, which represents a significant increase compared to its predecessor.

Currently, PICO, a VR headset manufacturer acquired by ByteDance, holds significant influence in the Chinese market. PICO’s PICO 4 series of VR headsets offer a price advantage over Meta’s Quest 3. Furthermore, the VR headset market in China is relatively small, making the success of Meta’s collaboration with Chinese companies uncertain, even if the Quest 3 is introduced.

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In a recent statement at the Bloomberg Technology Summit, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed his interest in watching a hypothetical duel between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. While Altman stated that he is not concerned about Musk coming after him, he humorously mentioned that he would attend the duel if it were to take place.

The Metaverse Clash: Musk’s Mockery and Zuckerberg’s Determination

Adding fuel to the ongoing rivalry, Meta (formerly Facebook) announced its intention to introduce a new platform called “Threads” to compete with Twitter. Meta’s Chief Product Officer, Cox, allegedly described the product as a means for Instagram users to seamlessly transfer their followers and user information to the new application.

Responding to this news, Musk took to Twitter and directly mentioned Zuckerberg, sarcastically stating, “I’m sure the Earth is eagerly awaiting to be completely controlled by Zuckerberg, with no other choices.” In a subsequent interaction, Musk joked that if Zuckerberg really knows jiu-jitsu, he is ready for a cage fight.

Despite the banter, doubts remain about whether the duel will ever materialize. Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, took to Twitter to humorously claim that she had canceled the fight without informing the involved parties.

The rivalry between Zuckerberg and Musk has a history rooted in their differing visions for the metaverse. In 2021, the two engaged in a public exchange of jabs, with Zuckerberg proclaiming Meta’s intention to lead the metaverse while Musk derided the company as a “cult” on Twitter. With Meta now unveiling plans for a direct competitor to Twitter, Musk openly ridiculed the idea, further escalating their ongoing conflict.

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Just earlier this week, Elon Musk had tweeted out that he is willing to take on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a cage match. While it seemed like all fun and games, it seems that Mark has no intention of backing down from a challenge for the fight.

Elon Musk & Mark Zuckerberg’s cage fight confirmed!

For context, both billionaires have been taking light jabs at each other for sometime now. In response to Elon’s initial provocations, Mark Zuckerberg stated in a podcast interview with Lex Fridman that “I’ve always thought that Twitter should have a billion people using it”. Following Musk’s challenge, Mark took a screenshot of the tweet and shared it on his official Instagram account with the caption “send me location.”

This is as serious as it gets with Meta spokesperson Iska Saric stating that “The story speaks for itself”. Meaning, this is real and it could be the actual fight of the century. Jokes aside, Elon responded to this confirmation and gave out the location for the fight, the “Vegas Octagon.” It seems that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO isn’t just taking jabs for fun, but has even prepared a special move.

In a following tweet, he claimed that he had this “great move that I call ‘The Walrus,’ where I just lie on top of my opponent and do nothing.” In other words, Elon is already ready to take on the CEO of Meta. As of right now, it is unclear who would win, since both fighters have their own advantages. But when every punch could be worth a pretty penny, this can be a pretty fun match to watch for everyone.

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Meta Platforms recently unveiled a groundbreaking AI model called I-JEPA, designed to revolutionize image completion and analysis. Unlike existing models, I-JEPA utilizes comprehensive background knowledge to accurately fill in missing sections of images. By incorporating human-like reasoning, Meta’s AI scientists, led by renowned expert Yann LeCun, have successfully mitigated common errors encountered in AI-generated images, such as the presence of extra fingers.

Meta’s Commitment to Open-Source Collaboration: Sharing Innovation for Industry Advancement

Meta has a strong track record of sharing AI research via its internal research lab. CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes in the value of opening their developed models to external researchers. This strategy not only drives innovation but also helps to identify potential safety concerns and reduce costs. He believes that standardizing these tools across the industry will enable Meta to benefit from advancements made by others.

Despite concerns raised by industry peers regarding the potential risks associated with AI technology, Meta’s executives have chosen not to endorse a statement equating these risks with pandemics and wars. Instead, they focus on building safety measures into AI systems, aligning with LeCun’s stance against “AI doomerism.”

In a move to bring AI closer to consumers, Meta is integrating generative AI features into its product suite. This includes advertising tools capable of creating image backgrounds, and an Instagram tool that can adjust user photos based on textual prompts, ushering in a new era of interactive, AI-enhanced social media.

Meta’s I-JEPA AI model represents a significant leap forward in image completion and analysis, driven by human-like reasoning and a commitment to open-source collaboration. With these advancements, Meta aims to enhance the quality and reliability of AI-generated images while pioneering new frontiers in the field of artificial intelligence.

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Generative AI is a class of artificial intelligence techniques and models that are designed to generate new and original content, such as images, text, music, or even videos. It involves training algorithms on large datasets and enabling them to learn patterns and structures within the data, allowing them to create new instances that resemble the training examples. Generative AI algorithms can produce creative outputs by combining and extrapolating from the learned knowledge, providing valuable tools for tasks like content generation, artistic expression, and data augmentation, among others. Dall-E 2 and Midjourney are great examples of generative AI. CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that Generative AI will soon be available in every single one of our devices.

All Meta products, such as Whatsapp, Instagram & Messenger will get this functionality

Recently, at a companywide all-hands meeting, Zuckerberg shed more light on Meta’s plans regarding generative AI. He provided employees with an overview of how the company intends to incorporate generative AI “into every single one of our products.” One of the proposed features involves the introduction of AI “agents” for popular platforms like WhatsApp and Messenger. This concept has been previously mentioned by Zuckerberg himself. Notably, details of the Instagram AI chatbot were discovered recently, offering users a choice of up to 30 distinct “personalities.”

Furthermore, Meta is reportedly developing generative AI photo editing capabilities for Instagram. This feature would enable users to modify their images using text prompts and subsequently share the edited photos with their followers. Zuckerberg has also hinted at the creation of post generation tools for Facebook, as well as for the platform’s advertisers, during the company’s recent earnings call.

The exact timeline for the release of these features remains uncertain. Nevertheless, Zuckerberg seems eager to see them implemented sooner rather than later. In addition to driving internal development, Meta has organized an internal hackathon, encouraging employees to propose innovative ideas for new generative AI features.

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The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, has just announced that non fungible tokens or popularly known as NFTs, will soon be made available on one of its social media platforms, which is Instagram.

According to a BusinessInsider report, the senior official at Meta was addressing one of the sessions at the South By Southwest event earlier this week. There, he stated that “over the next several months, the ability to bring some of your NFTs in, hopefully over time be able to mint things within that environment.” The Meta CEO further added that “a bunch of technical things that need to get worked out before that’ll really be seamless to happen. We’re working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term.”

Similarly, Instagram Head, Adam Mosseri, also said that recently the company is “actively exploring NFTs” but did not divulge any other details regarding this matter. Additionally, Zuckerberf said that it is placing an emphasis on India and its creators and developer community as well. This news also arrives as the tech giant is shifting its focus on AR (augmented reality) driven Metaverse experiences for billions across the world.

Zuckerberg also spoke at the company’s Fuel for India’ event, where he said that Indian will play a crucial role in the building of Metaverse and its future. The Metaverse is basically being heralded as the successor to the mobile internet, with Twitter also introducing a new feature that lets users set an NFT as their own profile picture.

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Facebook is the largest social media platform right now and the company has grown so much more with its acquisition of other social media and communication platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.

Now, to reflect the company’s focus on building the metaverse, Facebook is planning to change its company name as early as next week, reports The Verge, citing sources with direct knowledge of the development.

While not much is known at this point in time, it’s likely that the company will have a new parent company and Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and other products will be positioned under the new parent company.

The development comes at a time when antitrust regulators in the United States as well as in other regions are trying to break the company up.

The new name for the company is a closely guarded secret and even the full senior leadership isn’t aware of it. There’s a possibility about the new name to have something to do with ‘Horizon.’

It is said that the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning to talk about the name change at the annual Connect conference taking place on 28th October. But there’s a possibility that the announcement could happen earlier than that.

The rebrand could also help separate some of the futuristic work that the company is doing and could give that team a breather from the intense scrutiny that the social media platform Facebook is facing related to its operation.

Facebook has set up a dedicated metaverse team which Mark Zukerberg says is going to be a big part of the next chapter “for the way that the internet evolves after the mobile internet.” He also added that the company will be doubling down in this area.

In 2015, Google had reorganized the company’s holding structure and announced Alphabet as the parent company as it wanted to signal about no longer being just a search engine but a growing conglomerate with companies working in several areas.

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WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging applications and despite facing backlash for its newly updated privacy policy and competition from the likes of Telegram and Signal, it continues to lead the market.

The messaging platform, owned by Facebook, keeps adding new features to the application. While the company has already added much-requested features, it is now working on some new features that are highly demanded by users.

A new report coming from WABetaInfo says that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, and Will Cathcart, Chief of WhatsApp, have confirmed that the messaging platform will soon get multi-device support for using the app on multiple devices at the same time.

It further adds that Zuckerberg has also confirmed plans for adding a new ‘disappearing mode’ across all chat threads which will allow users to enforce disappearing messages across all of their WhatsApp chat threads.

This seems like an expansion of a seven-day timer feature that was introduced last year which is also known as disappearing messages. It remains to be seen if WhatsApp is planning to offer more flexibility to users for setting the timer length. Telegram allows users to set the timer for a few seconds to a fixed number of days.

WhatsApp is also planning to add a ‘view once’ feature that will allow users to share media files like photos and videos that can be seen by the recipient just once and after that, it will disappear. This is similar to sending photos on Instagram, another social media platform owned by Facebook.

The report adds that the ‘view once’ feature will start rolling out soon. While the exact date for the rollout of these features is not yet known, it is said that the new features could be made available in a public beta release in the coming months.

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We woke on Monday to news of Hugo Barra’s resignation as Xiaomi’s Vice-President of International. Mr. Barra had cited his desire to be closer to home as the reason for leaving and returning to Silicon Valley. When he made the announcement, nobody knew what new project he’d be embarking on or which company he’d be joining. However, a few hours ago he took to his twitter page (@hbarra) to announce that he’d be joining Facebook as the new Vice-President of Virtual Reality.

The announcement was also made on Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg who said Hugo Barra’s position as lead of VR will also cover the Oculus team. There is no mention of when exactly he’ll be resuming the position as he is still in China. But a follow up comment made by Hugo Barra himself says “in a couple of months”.

Mark Zuckerberg has shown great enthusiasm for virtual reality as he believes that is the next big thing. Hugo Barra also seems to share the same enthusiasm. During his tenure at Xiaomi, the company launched two VR glasses: the Xiaomi Mi VR Play which is more like a refined Google Cardboard; and the more sophisticated Mi VR Headset.

READ MORE: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 will Provide better VR Experience with Great Battery Life

Oculus is currently in court after being sued by Zenimax, a parent company for a number of gaming studios. Zenimax is accusing Oculus’ CTO, John Carmack of leaking intellectual property to Oculus while he was at Zenimax.

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