WhatsApp Vs Signal: Battle of The Messenger Apps

So one morning I wake up, check my Twitter feed, switch to WhatsApp, out pops a notification telling me that the messaging app now intends to share my data with its parent company Facebook and I have to accept it's terms by February 8 or it will kick me out of its platform. Of course I don't like the idea but I don't like the tone either. But do I click on "accept" right away because I don't want to lose my WhatsApp account ? After all it is where all our interpersonal communication take place, email now is strictly for official correspondence. However, I clicked "not now" hoping there might be a way out from this forced consent. I have never been a big fan of WhatsApp, so perhaps it was time to look for alternatives.

Posted By Danish 1:13 AM

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Deplatforming US President: Are Tech Giants Waking Up?

The last week has been quite eventful, there have been two seemingly unrelated developments involving Facebook that deserve close attention. The bigger event, storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters is being discussed and written upon by nearly everyone who is capable of forming an opinion and is interested in US and World politics. So for now I would prefer to not wade into the politics except where it intersects tech ecosystem.

Posted By Danish 5:43 PM

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Tech Giants Need To Take Their Societal Responsibilities More Seriously

(Courtesy : nasafcu.com )

Over the decade social media platforms have grown phenomenally, in early years there were comparisons of user base of Facebook, for example, with the population of the US and then with India's and China's but now that the number has reached 2 billion and growing that particular metric has been discarded. It is no longer about the numbers alone now but the volume of information being disseminated on them which is pretty much eclipsing traditional media and becoming the dominant space for all kind of discourses globally and especially political discourses.With such monopoly over information dissemination and ability to impact societies and polities significantly it is but natural that governments and the political system would turn their attention towards them and some of them seem to be happening lately. 

Posted By Danish 1:57 AM

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Rumours, Psychographics And Social Media

Source: Wikimedia Commons

What do the Cambridge Analytica scandal, alleged Russian interference in 2016 US elections, Brexit, rise of right wing ideologies around the world and mob lynching of more than 20 people in India based on WhatsApp rumours have in common ? Of course it is the peddling of fake news through the social media platforms that have now become ubiquitous across the classes and demographic segments. The bigger question though is how and why these misinformation campaigns originate and spread and how this malicious threat can be checked.

Posted By Danish 2:08 AM

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Open The Internet Please

The Times of India report says "telecom and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad backed an open internet three days ago" which makes one wonder whether the minister really backs open internet or there was some shoddy reporting on part of the Times Group. But let us not get into the semantics now (though I will come back to it eventually), so as not to dilute the issue at hand. The current debate raging on has more to do with the concept of net neutrality, which thanks to the efforts of online activists, seems a certain victory now. If you are unaware of what net neutrality means and why it is under threat, the video created by AIB explains it best.
    

Also visit savetheinternet.in

Posted By Danish 5:30 PM

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