Tech
Things We Tried And Liked In 2020
The apps, gadgets, subscriptions, and other things that made 2020 not so, uh, 2020.
BuzzFeed News
Can’t Make It Home For Thanksgiving? Send A C-List Celeb Instead
Stay isolated. Pay minor celebs to apologize to your mom.
Katie Notopoulos
Snapchat Will Now Pay People For Posts
A new section features public snaps, with money given out for the ones that go viral.
Katie Notopoulos
Los Angeles Police Just Banned The Use Of Commercial Facial Recognition
The country’s third-largest police department notified employees of the ban after BuzzFeed News showed that its officers were using Clearview AI, a facial recognition platform that has taken data from Facebook and other social media platforms.
Brianna Sacks
Facebook Knows That Adding Labels To Trump’s False Claims Does Little To Stop Their Spread
Internal data shows that labels on President Trump’s posts decrease reshares by about 8%. They still account for some of the most engaging posts on the platform.
Craig Silverman
This Neo-Nazi Group Is Organizing On Facebook Despite A Year-Old Ban
Ukraine’s Azov movement, which the State Department calls a “nationalist hate group,” is running ads, organizing violence, and exporting its far-right ideas.
Christopher Miller
Facebook Has A Rule To Stop Calls To Arms. Moderators Didn't Enforce It Ahead Of The Kenosha Shootings.
“What we learned after Kenosha is that Facebook’s call to arms policy didn’t just fail. It was never designed to function properly in the first place.”
Ryan Mac
Elon Musk Says He "Most Likely" Has COVID-19
"DayQuil rocks."
larryfitzmaurice
As Election Misinformation Spreads On Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg Told Employees That Biden Won
Facebook’s CEO also said Steve Bannon’s comments about beheading government officials did not warrant his complete removal from the platform.
Ryan Mac
The President Tweeted Something Bad Again
It was in all caps!
Jane Lytvynenko
Instagram’s Redesign Is Pushing Its TikTok Clone
A new redesign puts “Reels” front and center.
Katie Notopoulos
Apple's New MacBooks Run Faster Apple Chips And Cost The Same As The Old Ones
Apple finally put chips it designed itself into the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, and the Mac Mini.
Pranav Dixit
Just A Bunch Of Photos Of How Big The iPhone 12 Mini Is In People's Hands
Here's the real money shot.
Katie Notopoulos
Here’s A Running List Of Debunked Postelection Rumors
Watch out for baseless claims of voter fraud.
Jane Lytvynenko
VR Furries Are Now Running Around The Four Seasons Total Landscaping
The Philadelphia site of Rudy Giuliani’s speech is being put to another use.
Caroline Haskins
How The Nugget Couch Became Supreme Drops For Moms
The coronavirus sent demand for the foldable couch through the roof, and parents are losing it when they can’t get one.
Katie Notopoulos
The PlayStation 5 Is The Perfect Console To Quarantine With
Better graphics, improved controllers, and faster storage mean you don't really need to go outside.
Brandon Hardin
Donald Trump Shows Up First When You Search Twitter For "Loser." Here's Why.
“If an account is mentioned often alongside certain terms, they can become algorithmically surfaced together as an association.”
Pranav Dixit
This Is What People Promised They Would Do If Biden Won
Time to make good on those promises.
Scott Lucas
A Bunch Of Lies Circulating Online Just Came Out Of Trump's Mouth
The US president repeated several claims that have already been shown to be false.
Jane Lytvynenko
Anonymous Trump Critic And Former DHS Staffer Miles Taylor Has Left Google
Taylor, who had been on unpaid leave from Google, was employed by the company for a little more than a year.
Hamed Aleaziz
Facebook Has A Metric For “Violence And Incitement Trends.” It’s Rising.
The metric, which assesses the potential for danger based on keywords, rose to 580 from 400 this week — a 45% increase.
Ryan Mac
The US Postal Service Said It Can't Track 300,000 Ballots Sent In The Mail, But That Doesn't Mean They’re Lost
During an ongoing trial, Postal Service officials said the ballots weren't being tracked so that they could be delivered more quickly.
Caroline O'Donovan
Facebook Live Spread Election Conspiracies And Russian State-Controlled Content Despite Employee Fears
The social network’s live video tool has recommended videos featuring misinformation and the hyperpartisan views of Trump allies leading up to and following election day in the US.
Ryan Mac
The President And His Supporters Are Spreading False Claims About How The Votes Are Being Counted
There's no evidence for falsehoods designed to call into doubt the legitimacy of the election.
Craig Silverman
False Information About Voting In Pennsylvania Is Flooding The Internet
“The online misinformation has been relentless. Have never seen anything like this,” said one local official.
Jane Lytvynenko
Facebook Cut Traffic To Leading Liberal Pages Just Before The Election
“It's incredibly demoralizing, especially given the cataclysmic state of America, to know that the memes our team is making are being unfairly spiked in the Facebook algorithm.”
Craig Silverman
Donald Trump Jr. Tweeted A World Map That Made Absolutely No Sense
The map gave away disputed territories claimed by India, colored in bodies of water, and left Croatia blank.
Pranav Dixit
Here's A Running List Of False And Misleading Information About The Election
Watch out for images and videos being taken out of context.
Jane Lytvynenko
Plunging Morale And Self-Congratulations: Inside Facebook The Day Before The Presidential Election
On the same day Facebook announced only 51% of its employees believed the social network was having a positive impact on the world, a vice president commended their efforts to prepare for the 2020 presidential election.
Ryan Mac
