- TikTok users can now post 1,000-character text-based updates in addition to videos and series of photos.
- Text posts appear similar to Instagram Stories visually: users can add a background color, edit how text appears, and add music and stickers to the post.
- Other users can also engage with the post similar to how they interact with video — by stitching, dueting, and commenting.
Read More at theverge.com
- The number of people globally who initially access news through a website or app has dropped by 10 points since 2018, and younger groups prefer to access news through social media, search or mobile aggregators.
- Audiences pay more attention to celebrities, influencers, and social media personalities than journalists on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism said in its annual Digital News Report.
Read More at reuters.com
- A report by Bloomberg suggests that Bytedance Ltd. is currently working on an AI chatbot code-named “Grace” by the TikTok owner.
- According to the company spokesperson, employees who use the chatbot would see a popup message stating that the chatbot is based on several large language models.
- Both the spokesperson and the employee who tested the service have asked to remain anonymous as this is an internal project the company is working on.
Read More at neowin.net
- Parental pranksters have spent the past year fooling followers with footage of their youngsters being branded that it’s now become a bona fide trend — and a surefire way for thirsty moms and dads to go viral.
- A Florida couple kickstarted the craze last summer, hitting headlines with a video that showed their 6-month-old son getting the word “mom” inked on his arm.
- The clip clocked up more than 17 million views and a whole lot of outrage.
Read More at nypost.com
- TikTokers have started a disturbing new trend of using generative artificial intelligence to depict grisly murders and other heinous true crimes committed against children.
- The resulting video clips — modified deepfakes, as they do not alter existing images but instead create new ones — show young children, sometimes bruised, narrating their chilling real-life experiences with computer-generated voices.
- Notable murders spoken of, in first person, by CGI kids include that of Elisa Izquierdo, a 6-year-old murdered by her mother.
Read More at nypost.com
