Skip to main content

Celebrate the SCOTUS same-sex marriage ruling with a rainbow Facebook profile picture

Facebook Smart Phone App
Bloomua/Shutterstock
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states today, plenty of tech companies are joining in the celebration of this historical event. Companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple, and LinkedIn have shown their support through social media or have even temporarily changed their logos to have pride colors.

If you haven’t seen a lot of color in your Facebook News Feed, you’re about to. Facebook launched a new tool that lets users add the colors of the LGBT flag over their existing profile picture. While this isn’t the first time users have added a rainbow filter over their profile picture, it’s the first time Facebook created a tool like this.

While logged into Facebook, you can go to Facebook.com/celebratepride to add a rainbow banner over your profile picture.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other tech executives are celebrating the legalization of gay marriage on social media today. Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted, “Today marks a victory for equality, perseverance and love.”

Google also added artwork with color of the rainbow flag on search page results for phrases like “gay marriage” and “same sex marriage.”

LinkedIn replaced its typical “LinkedIn Blue” logo with one that contains the colors of the LGBT flag, and adorned it on its own site as well as its Twitter profile.

The ephemeral messaging app, Snapchat, shared a Live Story called Marriage Equality which allowed users to upload videos and images from this historical day. Many of the videos and images from the Live Story were taken by users celebrating outside of the Supreme Court.

In a speech this morning, President Obama praised the Supreme Court’s ruling saying the decision arrived “like a thunderbolt” after a series of battles over same sex married. Obama calls the ruling a “victory for America.”

Karen Tumbokon
Karen is a technology, music and entertainment writer. Originally from New Jersey, Karen began her writing career in music…
Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
Bluesky social media app logo.

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.

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

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.

Read more
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

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.

Read more