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Social Feed: Zuckerberg unfazed by #deletefacebook, Boomerang moves to FB

Social media is a fluid technology — nearly every day, the major social media networks are announcing a big change, coming under fire for the latest controversy or moving forward in smaller ways. Social Feed is a collection of those smaller changes that you may have missed with this week’s biggest news — like another app misusing Facebook data, Instagram’s new portrait mode, and Mark Zuckerberg dodging questions from Congress. Find Social Feed every weekend for the latest social news tidbits.

Facebook is unfazed by #DeleteFacebook

Despite a call to #deletefacebook amid privacy concerns, users are apparently unfazed by the movement. While Zuckerberg already confirmed that the network had not seen a major impact in user count, another Facebook representative has expanded on that data, suggesting that the network hasn’t even seen a big shift in privacy permissions. Carolyn Everson, a vice president for global marketing at the company, says advertisers aren’t leaving the platform and that users haven’t had any “wild changes in behavior.” 

Boomerang is bouncing over to Facebook Camera, too

Instagram’s parent company Facebook is bringing the popular Boomerang effect to the Facebook Camera, along with adding 3D drawing tools. Facebook confirmed that both features are rolling out over the next few weeks. The 3D text creates an augmented reality effect by freezing the type in one location inside the camera. Even if the camera moves, the text stays put.

The tool is rolling out inside Facebook Camera alongside Boomerang. As in Instagram, Boomerang creates a looping GIF but plays the motion in reverse before starting over. The effect has long been a part of Instagram, and now the platform’s parent company is migrating that feature over to Facebook, too.

Even LinkedIn is jumping on the GIF bandwagon

Apparently, even professional-focused social network LinkedIn isn’t immune to the popularity of the all-powerful GIF. LinkedIn is adding a GIF search tool into the network’s messaging tools. The tool, which has already begun rolling out to some users, is powered by Tenor. Users can find popular GIFs, the GIFs chosen most in their network or search for a GIF. 

Fake Facebook Black Lives Matter Page takes $100,000 in “donations”

Mark another entry in the list of ways Facebook tools can be abused, According to CNN, the most popular Black Lives Matter Facebook page was actually a scam. The Page allegedly ran fundraisers but some of those donations reportedly wound up in a bank in Australia. The Page has since been suspended. The kicker? The fake page managed to get more than double the number of followers as the official page for the movement, according to CNN, with nearly 700,000 users following the fake.

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Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
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Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

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How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
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Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

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I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
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In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

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