Facebook Vanish Arrives – Spotlight #362
News

Good Monday morning. It’s November 16th. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg appear (yes, again)  before the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Tuesday to testify about their companies’ handling of the 2020 election.

One item sure to be discussed: Facebook has extended its ban on political advertising for another month. That ban includes social issues as diverse as the environment, taxes, and gun rights for any advertiser.

Today’s Spotlight is 1,034 words — about a 4 minute read.

1. News to Know Now

a. Amazon breached European antitrust rules according to an action filed by the EC. A second probe is also underway regarding how Amazon chooses sellers to offer products via Prime. (CNBC)

b. Disinformation continues flowing on social media even with a political and advocacy ad blackout. Facebook removed pages and groups linked to former Trump administration official Steve Bannon for falsely claiming the presidential election was fraudulent.

Bannon isn’t alone. Shaun Dakin flagged a group for us that is posing as an environmentally friendly page focused on sustainability. The group claims to be a Delaware-based LLC managed by a firm in California, but Facebook has labeled it as Russian state media. Bad actors often build large audiences around other topics before sending disinformation to them.

c. Russian and North Korean hackers are also targeting COVID-19 vaccine research according to an important announcement from Microsoft on Friday. The post is an open call for the world’s governments to act with NGOs to protect this infrastructure. Read it here.

2. COVID-19 Online Resources and News

Great Trackers
Johns Hopkins Dashboard or Animations
COVID-19 Forecast Hub
Google County Level Mobility Reports
Long-Term Care COVID Tracker

COVID-19 Tech News

5 Key Errors Undermine COVID-19 Data Shared on Twitter — Informatics
DeSantis data hire: Uber-driving, COVID-conspiracy sports blogger — Miami Herald
Facebook Shares Insights into COVID Impacts on SMBs — Social Media Today
Hot New COVID Tech is Wearable And Tracks You — New York Times
How Ticketmaster Plans to Check Your Vaccine Status — Billboard
NZ to adopt Apple and Google’s automated tracing — New Zealand Herald

3. Search Engine News

We’ve told you a lot about what Google has been calling “Core Vital Statistics”–metrics describing how a visitor experiences a webpage. Google warned earlier this year that these page experience metrics would be used as a ranking signal. Google announced last week that these factors will influence ranking beginning in May. That’s 165 days from now.

Your organization will need to pay attention to how fast a page’s main content loads and the way that it renders. No-nos include loading things after the page loads so that the display shifts, which is Google’s technical terms for everything on the page moving up or down after it loads.

Your search team is going to want to strip your website’s pages of many of its pretty and cool things. Remember that Charles Lindbergh famously left a parachute and radio behind in order to conserve fuel on his record-breaking flight. You won’t have to trim the edges from your maps like he did, but consider if you really need a map showing your location or whether an address and a map link are sufficient.

We know that Google warns about issues like encryption, page speed, and mobile-friendliness well in advance of making significant ranking changes. And while they sometimes delay those ranking changes, they do eventually launch.

4. In the Spotlight — Facebook Vanish Arrives

“Some people are going to get into trouble with this.”

— my wife, after I practiced using Facebook Messenger Vanish with her.

Disappearing messages have been around for years and are most prevalent on Snapchat. Facebook is again facing a clamor of copying Snap’s functionality with its launch of Facebook Vanish. The feature is live on Facebook Messenger in the U.S. and coming to Instagram.

This is very different from secret conversation mode. Each person in Vanish Mode must agree to start a Vanish Mode chat with each other. The conversation is separate from any existing conversation with that person. The ephemeral magic happens when you view another screen on your device and return to the Vanish Mode chat to find everything gone.

All messages are deleted after the person has seen them and switched to another screen although you will get an alert message if the other person uses their device to take a screenshot. Reminder: they can always take a screenshot with another device.

None of this applies to group chats today. There’s plenty of misinformation floating around online so here is the official Facebook Vanish announcement.

5. Debunked: Parler

A meme making the rounds claims that George Soros owns the conservative social media site Parler (pronounced: parlor).

This is getting conflated with documented news that shows David Mercer and his daughter Rebekah are investors in the site. The Mercers previously sponsored Breitbart News and have provided funds for other Steve Bannon ventures.

The Associated Press included the hoax in its weekly roundup.

6. Following Up: Walmart & Cruise Partner for Self-Driving Car Delivery

We’ve told you in the past about GM’s Cruise unit receiving authorization to test its vehicles in San Francisco. The company announced last week that it is partnering with Walmart in Scottsdale to deliver groceries and packages with self-driving vehicles monitored by a human.

Morning Brew has news and analysis.

7. Protip: Moving from or Organizing Google Photos

People are not happy with Google’s announcement that images uploaded to Google Photos count against a user’s free storage limits. Lifehacker has you covered if you want to reduce the space you’re using there or if you decide to move entirely.

Do not delete photos until you know they’re safe elsewhere.

Screening Room: Jackman & Reynolds Christmas

One of the internet’s best loved “feuds” is back as actors Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds partner with Sam’s Club for charity. I can’t wait for their reboot in 15 years of “Grumpy (But Buff) Old Men.”

9. Coffee Break: Octopus Play

Great, now the octopi are sentient. That’ll change ordering at restaurants.

Have a look at this 75 second excerpt from a CBC documentary about an octopus initiating a game with its human handler.

And so a game was born …

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Online Disinformation in Unique Places – Spotlight #361
News

Good Monday morning. It’s November 9th. Wednesday is Veterans Day. A heartfelt thank you to all who served, their families, and their other loved ones.

Today’s Spotlight is 1,039 words — about a 4 minute read.

1. News to Know Now

a. A $1 billion withdrawal of bitcoin captured the world’s attention last week. The bitcoin wallet was quickly linked to the dark web’s Silk Road market for illegal drugs and weapons. Federal officials confirmed Thursday that the funds had been hacked and forfeited to U.S. government custody. (ArsTechnica)

b. Scammers are using Google Drive to lure unsuspecting victims with phishing links. Remember that a Google Drive request comes from Google, but displays the name of the Google account that contacted you. (Wired UK)

c. Google Photos may charge consumers for premium features based on analysis by one-time Silver Beacon client XDA Developers. They found messages within the software about unlocking premium features and a Google One membership providing benefits. The third paragraph starts with code fragments, and if that doesn’t scare you off, then you can read the whole thing here.

Our Take: Nothing is formally announced, but Google is wise if they charge separately for advanced features. For example, the company gives 5 gigabytes of storage to all accounts, but we have a small account that increases storage to a terabyte. 

2. COVID-19 Online Resources and News

Great Trackers
Johns Hopkins Dashboard or Animations
COVID-19 Forecast Hub
Google County Level Mobility Reports
Long-Term Care COVID Tracker

COVID-19 Tech News

Bus Provides Internet Access for Students – WCIA
Calls to Online Child Sex Abuse Watchdog Up – The Guardian 
Pandemic Fuels Global Decline in Internet Freedom – US News
Permanent Remote Workers Doubling in 2021 – Reuters
Ransomware Hits Hospitals as Coronavirus Spikes – MIT Tech
Telemedicine Takes Center Stage in Pandemic – Science
Utah Exploring Google/Apple Contact Tracing – Fox Salt Lake City

3. Search Engine News

We write a lot about keyword research because understanding the words people use to search is important. Understanding where those people are and then being able to predict future trends are the necessary next steps.

A mashup of Google Trends and data visualization at Waves of Interest provides a look at this investigation process in a beautiful display.

Unfortunately, Google search data is becoming more difficult to source each month. We’ve told you that Google is not including as much keyword information in its advertiser reports. A new report measures the decrease in data at more than 20% between August and September. 

4. In the Spotlight — Online Disinformation in Unique Places 

“One of the biggest challenges we have to our democracy is the degree to which we don’t share a common baseline of facts. What the Russians exploited, but it was already here, is we are operating in completely different information universes.”

—Barack Obama, January 2018

America somehow moved to being unable to even agree on science. Vice President Mike Pence and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows actively disclaim evolution. The administration sidelined public health experts during the pandemic and began listening to a radiologist who lacked epidemiology or immunology experience. 

Obama’s observation was accurate. Exploiting fissures between belief systems is an easy and inexpensive way to harm a group dynamic even if that group is a country.

Online disinformation experts were therefore unsurprised to learn that indoor bike maker Peloton had to remove QAnon conspiracy information from public areas of its website. 

A study by The Conversation, peer reviewed and published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that a typical U.S. Twitter user is exposed to 26 messages critical of vaccines over a three-year period. That ongoing repetition is dangerous.

This isn’t solely an American issue. Last month, more than 130,000 people watched the execution of a protester in Nigeria. Army sources there embarked on a mission to label coverage by Reuters and The New York Times as “fake news” despite a global audience.

There are horrible ramifications to influencing emotionally charged stories with online disinformation. Facebook and all social media has a role in this. Reporters found that domestic terrorist militia information was rampant on Facebook even after the arrest of men plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Facebook publishes a detailed monthly report about “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” Last month, they removed nearly 8,000 pages and 100 different groups. There are similar big numbers every month. Facebook is an effective media for disinformation, but not its cause.

How to combat online disinformation: Keep a list of fact-checking sites handy, and remember to double source information from known authorities or news organizations. You undoubtedly would prefer to get vaccine information from the Mayo Clinic and NIH instead of the fake Facebook page “US Vaccination Approval Registry” run by someone who watched three YouTube videos.

5. Debunked: Harmony Square

Two University of Cambridge psychology professors have collaborated with academic and private partners to create a free interactive social impact game about election misinformation.

You can play Harmony Square in about 10 minutes.

6. Following Up: Amazon Grocery Pickup

We wrote extensively about Amazon’s grocery initiatives in September. Now with Walmart’s challenge to Amazon Prime, the e-commerce giant has said that it will provide free one-hour grocery pickup for Prime members at Whole Food locations nationwide.

CNBC has the details here.

7. Protip: Too Many Tabs

As I write this, I have 17 tabs open on browser sessions in two monitors. My name is George, and that’s too darn many.

Wired takes you through browser and extension options for this problem. 

Find your intervention here.

Screening Room: Amazon Ballerina

We’re doing heartstrings, not humor, this week. Here is the longform version of Amazon UK’s Christmas ballerina spot.

9. Coffee Break: Salt Labyrinth

You may need to stay home again soon. You are absolutely safer at home now, but finding a pastime might prove difficult. You’ve binged television, baked bread, and done all the jigsaw puzzles.

Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto spent five days in 2016 creating exquisite and huge salt labyrinths on the floor of a thirteenth century French castle as one does with time on their hands, a creative streak, and a lot of salt.

Have a look here.

Machine Learning Disruptions Ahead – Spotlight #360
Articles

Good Monday morning. It’s November 2nd. We’ve got information for you below about a great new free tool from First Draft that shows disinformation in social media posts, ads, and elsewhere online. This week promises to be unlike any we’ve ever faced so please practice self-care and don’t believe everything that you read or hear.

Today’s Spotlight is 1,121 words — about a 4 minute read.

1. News to Know Now

a.   Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple, and Twitter all announced earnings Thursday following another round of testimony on Capitol Hill. No one in that group is hurting. Amazon’s profit soared to over $6 billion for the quarter and Facebook added more advertisers despite an advertising boycott that included dozens of brands. (AdAge)

Wow moment: Amazon has saved one billion dollars in travel expenses so far this year. 

b. Twitter continues labeling disinformation. The company started last week by flagging a dishonest tweet by President Donald Trump that claimed that there were problems and discrepancies with mailed-in ballots throughout the country. That is not true. Twitter announced last week that it will use headers and images on its site this week to show accurate voting information. (New York Times)

c. Facebook has told New York University researchers that they may not use information downloaded by the team using software that it built to access its political ads library. Facebook says its rules prohibit third party software from downloading the contents. (CNN)

2. COVID-19 Online Resources and News

Great Trackers
Johns Hopkins Dashboard or Animations
COVID-19 Forecast Hub
Google County Level Mobility Reports
Long-Term Care COVID Tracker

COVID-19 Tech News

Eight In-Store Innovations for the COVID-19 Era – Econsultancy
MIT: AI Identifies Asymptomatic COVID-19 Carriers – Venture Beat
Older People, Republicans Share Inaccurate COVID News – Nieman Lab
Post election, Vaccine is Biggest Disinformation Threat – CNBC
SF Stops Google-affiliated Testing After Results Take 10 Days – SF Gate
The Challenges of Contact Tracing as U.S. Battles COVID-19 – Pew 

3. Search Engine News

Google continues remaking Google My Business listings into a profit center by selling upgraded proafiles and the “Google Guaranteed Badge” for a $50 monthly fee. The process includes background checks for customer-facing employees, insurance verification, and appropriate license checks. Working directly with small businesses allows Google to build direct relationships with organizations that typically use a third party when interacting with the company. 

What we think: The $600 annual fee is inexpensive, but still a budget-sized item that was previously free. We’ll be advising customers that we’ll monitor performance on Google My Business since it is now effectively paid advertising.

4. In the Spotlight — Machine Learning

Let’s stop using the term AI as a synonym for machine learning. Machine learning uses a lot of data to create software that is capable of determining whether new input fits that pattern. Image recognition and malware scanning are two common applications of machine learning.

We’ve told you in the past about GPT-3, which is a deep learning model that can create human-sounding text when prompted. Above, in the COVID resources section, we link to a fascinating article about an MIT research team that used 200,000 audio samples of people coughing, including some who were infected with COVID-19, to train their model. That is a level of audio analysis that is beyond human limits.

The world is racing to train machine learning algorithms to handle all sorts of analysis that was previously thought impossible. Being human, there are good and bad applications for this technology.

A machine learning algorithm that was trained on nude imagery is being used as an automated chatbot to create deepfake nudes of ordinary people. The user uploads an image of a clothed woman, and the algorithm removes the clothing while building a credible-looking nude image of the woman.

More than 104,000 women had their images faked in this way by midsummer. Research by technology firm Sensity found that over 60% of those images were subjects known to the individual while another 15% were celebrities. Sensity also reported that a limited number of images appeared to feature children. The images carry a watermark from the software that can be removed by purchasing higher levels of access.

This level of technology is commonplace. Microsoft has a new program for software developers called Lobe that automates machine learning of images so that anyone can create a training model by uploading labeled images to the software. I’ve reviewed the initial videos and anyone can easily be taught to train the model.

On Thursday, Google announced URL2Video, a software tool that converts a website page into a 12 second video. Google says that it is now working on generating audio for the video created from a web URL as well as voice-overs.

Our take: For more than forty years technologists spent much of their time making information digitally accessible. The next phase — telling stories about that information — is here. When consumers first began using automobiles, they needed to understand how to repair them and spent much of their time maintaining them. Many of today’s sophisticated automobiles can’t be repaired without a mechanic’s specialized equipment. 

5.  Debunked: The First Draft Dashboard

First Draft has published a must-use online dashboard dealing with election misinformation. They’re a trusted source funded by Google, Facebook, and multiple tech companies who are heavily invested in cleaning up misinformation and disinformation appearing online.

At this link you’ll find ads, identified misinformation, Twitter feeds, and reliable news and information. I can’t stress enough how much you need to bookmark this website for this week.

First Draft News Dashboard

6. Following Up: Self-Driving Data

We’ve told you that Alphabet’s Waymo unit has introduced self-driving taxis in Phoenix. This week Waymo released public road testing data from January 2019 through September 2020.

The results were way better than human driving results.

7. Protip: Changing Messenger Themes

Facebook’s new Messenger interface comes with some nifty themes including Pride, Love, and Tie-Dye, as well as different emojis and colors. 

The Next Web shows you how to put your spin on Messenger chat.

Screening Room: Vipps

There is no Christmas, no COVID-19, and no election news in this commercial for Norway’s Vipps smartphone app. That’s why you should watch “Give Your Phone a New Start.” At least it’s attention getting.

9. Coffee Break:  MIT’s Nightmare Machine

A little more machine learning for you before you go to face this first week in November. MIT has created a website that shows scary images one of its algorithms creates. You get to click through some of them and help train the model on whether you think it’s a scary picture.

I was going to show you this last week, but I was distracted when the U.S. government decided to sue Google.

Have fun. Click over to Haunted Places on the same site for more.