Twitter restores old, ‘better’ version of TweetDeck – but for how long?
Twitter has backtracked to the older, freely accessible version of its TweetDeck platform just days after launching what the company claimed to be a “new, improved version”. “We have just launched a new, improved version of TweetDeck,” Twitter announced last week, adding that in 30 days, only users subscribed to the platform’s premium subscription service Twitter Blue would have access to the tool. However, the social media company restored its old TweetDeck version along with free API access with no announcement of its return from either Elon Musk or Twitter’s new chief Linda Yaccarino. TweetDeck is an app using Twitter’s API which enables users to view multiple feeds in customisable columns. While it was launched as a free-to-use independent app in 2008, it was then acquired by Twitter, and was recently turned into a paid feature. Several third-party apps such as “Harpy” shut down after the social media company began charging for access to its API – the system used to communicate with other services – as part of efforts to generate new revenue sources. “Without free access to the Twitter api, Harpy will stop working on February 9th. This includes access using a (free) custom api key. Thanks for using harpy,” the app’s Twitter account noted. TweetDeck’s new version, which also uses Twitter’s API, experienced a temporary outage last week, after Twitter decided to limit the number of tweets users can view. Twitter users also noted that while the new version of TweetDeck came with added tools like a Tweet composer and video docking, it didn’t have an Activity Tab which is deemed an important feature. Now, following the launch of Meta’s rival app Threads last week, many users have flagged that the old TweetDeck is back along with its legacy API working, which would allow the platform’s third-party apps to work again. However, without any official announcement of Twitter backtracking to the old TweetDeck, it remains unclear for how long the freely accessible “better” version would remain. Developers such as Roberto Doering, creator of the Harpy app, say Twitter is “most likely” to shut down access to their legacy API again. “Please note that this doesn’t mean that Harpy will be maintained again, seeing as Twitter will most likely shut down access to their legacy API (again) soon and third-party apps are still against their [terms of service],” Mr Doering wrote on Harpy’s GitHub page. Read More Threads: What is it, can it rival Twitter and what are the risks? Tweetdeck down: Major Twitter client not working amid chaos on site New Meta app Threads ‘first credible threat’ to Twitter Account tracking Elon Musk’s jet is now on Threads after Twitter suspended it Elon Musk says ‘Zuck is cuck’ as Threads inches closer to 100m users Threads hits 70 million sign-ups on its second day
2023-07-10 15:17
TSMC Sales Ride AI Demand Boost to Beat Estimates
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported better-than-expected sales on a boom in artificial intelligence applications demanding more of the
2023-07-10 13:59
Account tracking Elon Musk’s jet is now on Threads after it was suspended from Twitter
The popular Twitter account tracking Elon Musk’s private jet, which was suspended from the social media platform, now has a new presence on Instagram’s rival platform Threads. “ElonJet has arrived to Threads,” the new account named “Elon Musk’s Jet” run by the University of Central Florida student Jack Sweeney posted last week. Mr Sweeney was stopped by Twitter last year from posting the realtime whereabouts of Mr Musk’s private jet using publicly available data. He had started tracking Musk’s plane in 2020, and at the time of his Twitter account’s suspension, it had over 500,000 followers. The Twitter owner reasoned that anyone posting real-time coordinates would be suspended “as it is a physical safety violation” after his son was pursued by an unknown motorist in Los Angeles. “Criticising me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Mr Musk said. “Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family,” the Tesla titan said in a separate tweet. Following this, Mr Sweeney began posting on Twitter with the account, ElonJet but Delayed, sharing information on the SpaceX chief’s private jet’s movements with a 24-hour delay. However, he continued to post real-time updates on the plane on rival social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon. But despite Mr Musk’s threat, no “legal action” appears to have been taken against the college student. “Remember when Elon said he would sue me. Just another empty threat,” Mr Sweeney posted on Threads on Friday. Now, finding a new home on Threads, Mr Sweeney’s new account has already racked up more than 78,000 followers at the time of writing. “I’m honestly hoping Twitter dies... As I am hindered on there, you search for my name, seems I’m search banned,” the college student told Insider. Mr Sweeney also shared that while he would be posting manual updates of Mr Musk’s private jet to the new Threads account for now, he hopes Meta would allow him to return to auto-posting. “Zuck will I be allowed to stay,” he posted, seemingly taking a jibe at his account’s suspension on Twitter by Mr Musk. Read More Elon Musk says ‘Zuck is cuck’ as Threads inches closer to 100m users Threads: Kim Kardashian and the Dalai Lama among celebrities joining Meta’s new app Mark Zuckerberg trolls Elon Musk by posting Spider-Man meme on Twitter after launching rival Threads Elon Musk says ‘Zuck is cuck’ as Threads inches closer to 100m users Threads hits 70 million sign-ups on its second day Mark Zuckerberg trolls Elon Musk with Spider-Man meme after launching Twitter rival
2023-07-10 13:45
Elon Musk says ‘Zuck is cuck’ as Threads inches closer to 100m users
Twitter owner Elon Musk appeared to troll Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg as the new Threads platform closes in on 100 million users. Since the launch of Threads, the Tesla and SpaceX chief has been critical of the new app, even filing a lawsuit accusing Meta of poaching former Twitter staff to build the new social media app. Mr Musk responded to a Twitter post on the lawsuit last week, saying “Competition is fine, cheating is not”. On Saturday, he called Threads “just Instagram minus pics,” adding that it “makes no sense, given that thirst pics are the main reason people use that app”. Then later on Sunday, responding to a screenshot of a Threads conversation between Mr Zuckerberg and the account of fast food joint Wendy’s, the Tesla chief said “Zuck is a cuck”. “Cuck” is an insult often used to attack the masculinity of an opponent. It is short for “cuckold”, a word dating to the Middle Ages that describes a man who is aware of his wife’s infidelity and acquiesces to it. Meanwhile, as the Threads app nears close to 100m users, the Meta chief also has expressed his fare share of jibes at the SpaceX and Tesla boss. Mr Zuckerberg posted his first tweet in 11 years on the day of Threads’ launch, sharing the popular meme of two Spider-Men pointing at each other, a likely reference to the comparisons drawn between Threads and Twitter. The Meta boss also responded to two posts on Threads in one-worded replies, commenting “concerning”, seemingly a reference to the way Mr Musk tweets often. Mr Musk has replied with the word “concerning” at least 26 times, according to a review of the multibillionaire’s tweets by Insider. Since the launch of Threads, Mr Zuckerberg has hoped to draw a contrast to Twitter which currently boasts over 250m users but has also seen a surge in hate speech and misinformation since Mr Musk bought the company last year. Even as the Meta chief has expressed intention to make “kindness” the focus of Threads, it remains to be seen how new signups by race supremacists and fringe rightwing personalities will affect the platform. It also remains unclear if the beef between the two tech billionaires is playful banter or bitter competition as they have also expressed willingness to engage in an MMA bout. The two agreed to a physical fight last month after Mr Musk accused the Meta chief of ripping off Twitter with Threads. “Up for a cage match,” the Twitter owner and chief operating officer wrote, to which Mr Zuckerberg replied “Send me location”. UFC trainer Javier Mendez recently said the Meta boss is more likely to win the fight due to his active training, apparent fitness, and experience. Podcaster and jiu jitsu enthusiast Lex Fridman has also said following a training session with the Tesla boss that he was “extremely impressed” with Mr Musk’s “strength, power, and skill, on the feet and on the ground”. Read More I’m a tech nerd who does jiu-jitsu. I know exactly why Mark Zuckerberg wants to fight Elon Musk Musk, Zuckerberg and the bitter battle for the future of social media I tried Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter rival, Threads – I’m not impressed Threads hits 70 million sign-ups on its second day Mark Zuckerberg trolls Elon Musk with Spider-Man meme after launching Twitter rival Meta’s new Twitter rival app Threads gets over 10 million sign-ups
2023-07-10 12:59
Tired of Elon Musk? Here are the Twitter alternatives you should know about
When Elon Musk took over Twitter in October and began upending the platform, there weren't many viable alternatives for frustrated users. Now, there may be too many.
2023-07-09 21:57
Mark Zuckerberg concealed his kids' faces on Instagram. Should you?
When Mark Zuckerberg shared a photo on Instagram of his family on July 4, two things stuck out: the billionaire CEO wore a striped souvenir cowboy hat, and the faces of his children were replaced with happy face emojis.
2023-07-09 17:27
Elon Musk is the gift that keeps on giving to Mark Zuckerberg
At the start of last year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in the hot seat.
2023-07-09 00:45
Meta’s Threads App ‘Positive’ Vibe Tested by Users Known for False Claims
Since Meta Platforms Inc. launched Threads on Wednesday, millions of users have joined the new social platform that
2023-07-08 05:23
Rivian's stock rallies to highest in 2023 after posting strong deliveries
By Chibuike Oguh NEW YORK (Reuters) -Shares of Rivian Automotive surged more than 18% on Friday as it continued to
2023-07-08 02:20
Tesla wants EPA to finalize tougher vehicle emissions rules
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Tesla wants the Biden administration to finalize more stringent vehicle emissions limits than those proposed
2023-07-08 01:55
Threads: Instagram boss says it will fix major problems with app, including using multiple accounts and feed
Instagram’s team is working on a number of updates for its new Threads app, its management has said. Meta launched Threads – a Twitter rival that is built by the Instagram team and uses its branding – late on Wednesday. It has already gained some 70 million users, capitalising on chaos and technical problems at Twitter. But it is still without a number of major features, including those that are readily available on Twitter. The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has been responding to users on the Threads app itself promising that a number of those features are coming. Chief among them is the option to change between accounts. Even though Threads is a separate app from Instagram, users must sign up with an Instagram account – which is then stuck signed in, without the option to quickly switch between other accounts. Mr Mosseri said that and many other additional features were being worked on by its team. Those other tools including a devoted desktop version, better search and hashtags, and better integration between Threads and Instagram so that posts can be shared between the two. But perhaps the biggest request has been for a chronological feed that includes posts only from those accounts that a user actually follows. At the moment, Threads is built around one news feed that is filled with algorithmically chosen content, much of which comes from accounts that a user has not explicitly chosen to subscribe to. Mr Mosseri said that was being worked on, and could arrive in the “next couple weeks”, but it was not necessarily a priority. “I do think a lot of why people are getting so much engagement right now is because you don’t need to follow a bunch of people in order to discover a bunch of new accounts in feed,” he wrote. Threads has ruled out some expected changes, too. That includes direct messages, with Mr Mosseri suggesting that he did not want to give users another inbox to check, with Meta already offering a number of other messaging platforms. Both Mr Mosseri and his boss, Mark Zuckerberg, have ruled out any rush to put ads into Threads. Mr Zuckerberg said that the site would decide on ads when the app was moving towards a billion users, and that for now the company was working on getting even more scale. Read More Threads hits 70 million sign-ups on its second day People are realising something really worrying about Threads Twitter threatens legal action against Meta over new ‘Threads’ app
2023-07-08 01:46
Threads: Instagram app reaches 70 million sign-ups as it hurtles towards the size of Twitter
Threads, Instagram’s new Twitter rival, has now hit 70 million sign-ups, parent company Meta has said. The app is now easily the fastest-growing app in the world, and has seen the fastest growth of any app ever. That position was originally held by ChatGPT, but it took a couple of months for that app to reach 100 million users. It also means that Threads is well on its way to the size of Twitter, its rival. That app had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Elon Musk’s buyout latest last year. Meta revealed the latest sign-up numbers as it looked to highlight high-profile early adopters, including Selena Gomez, Khloe Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton. It did not reveal how many posts had been made on the site, though that is already likely to be in the hundreds of millions. Meta launched Threads – which uses Instagram branding and borrows accounts from the platform – late on Wednesday. Since then it has been growing quickly, with the number of users seemingly doubling every few hours. Dubbed as the “Twitter-Killer”, Threads was the top free app on Apple’s App Store in the UK and US on Thursday. Its arrival comes after Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Musk have traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas. “The cage match has started, and Zuckerberg delivered a major blow. In many ways, it’s exactly what you’d expect from Meta: Stellar execution and an easy-to-navigate user interface,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said. Twitter responded on Thursday by threatening to sue Meta, according to the publication Semafor, citing a letter delivered to Zuckerberg by a lawyer for Twitter. Twitter was not immediately available for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the Semafor report. Meta said no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee. Numerous competitors to Twitter have sprung up following Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the social media platform last year, which was followed by a series of chaotic decisions that have alienated both users and advertisers. Musk’s latest move involved limiting the number of tweets users can read per day. Twitter’s stumbles make room for a well-funded competitor like Meta Platforms, analysts and experts said, particularly because of its access to Instagram users and its advertising strength. “Meta’s release of Threads came at the perfect time to give it a fighting chance to unseat Twitter,” said Niklas Myhr, professor of marketing at Chapman University, referring to the turmoil at Twitter after it limited the number of tweets users can see. “Threads will be off to a running start as it is built upon the Instagram platform with its massive user base and if users adopt Threads, advertisers will be following closely behind.” Other competitors have found limited success. Mastodon, another Twitter-like app, has 1.7 million monthly active users, according to its website, while Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky has about 265,000 users. Read More People are realising something really worrying about Threads Twitter threatens legal action against Meta over new ‘Threads’ app Meta responds to Musk’s threat as Threads becomes most rapidly downloaded app Musk, Zuckerberg and the chaotic fight to succeed Twitter Kim Kardashian, Rylan Clark and Dalai Lama among those joining new app Threads Threads is already more than three times bigger than every Twitter rival combined
2023-07-08 01:18