Facebook makes shock change to news feed to prioritise well-being
Mark Zuckerberg has made his new year’s resolution to fix Facebook, and his first step is to change the news feed algorithm to prioritise posts which spark comments between users. This, he admits, will mean a decrease in airtime for news outlets and ads from brands and will almost certainly lead to spending less time on Facebook (but the time users do spend will be of a higher quality).
While we’re on the topic
BuzzFeed is already preparing itself for what will be an inevitable plunge in readership for the social media reliant publisher. BuzzFeed is now running an ad, on Facebook, that states “Facebook is taking the news out of your News Feed, but we’ve got you covered,” and then urges readers to download the BuzzFeed app. BuzzFeed was one of the first publishers to truely harness Facebook’s power of reach. Now, the question for all publishers, reliant on Facebook for audience, is what now?
The celebrity social media game is strong
What do Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Maher and James Corden all have in common? They are just some of the 250 celebrities who have embraced IAm, an app that aggregates all your social media into one place. The insider look into celebrity lives has proven so popular that the company is adapting some into ‘over-the-top TV channels in the next six months’. The shows will broadcast on smart TVs, set-top boxes, and car infotainment systems.
Image: IAm
RIP M
Poor M. She was the hybrid human/artificial digital assistant which Facebook launched in 2015 to take on Siri. She started in Beta, and in Beta she will now stay. All she wanted to do was help you shop for baby gifts, or find you a dinner reservation, was that so bad? She’s now been demoted. New title? Head of sticker recommendations.
You got a Black Box, you got a gym
Is this the end of doing star jumps in front of strangers? Will we never have to wipe the sweaty remains of a fellow gym goers butt off gym equipment again? Ryan DeLuca and Preston Lewis — founders of bodybuilding.com — think so. The duo have created a virtual reality the workout system that combines resistance training, gaming principles and high intensity cardio. The system, Black Box, comes with a a HTC Vive VR headset and motion-tracking forearm bands.
HR and AI are a beautiful pair, apparently
Volvo’s recent promotion for their S90 model saw the company re-fit the model so it could conduct ‘interviews’ with budding technicians looking to work for the company. People were asked to apply online. The car then interviews them using image recognition, mapping and analysis. It takes into account the facial expressions and vocabulary used by the candidate. Then based on all that it assesses their knowledge, motivation and social skills.
