Twitter Whitewashes Users' Custom Backgrounds, Facebook Relents on Major Search Warrant Haul, and Snapchat Partners with Univision
This week in social media, Twitter messed with everyone's homepage, Facebook relented on its fight against a sea of search warrants issued by a New York court, and Snapchat and Univision have partnered up.
It's time for Social Media Sunday!
"Don't Mess with My Profile!" - Everyone on Twitter this Week
At the very start of the week, Twitter users woke up to a strange phenomenon: Somehow their custom Twitter homepage wallpapers had been lost, replaced by a wall of white.
If something like that was your experience, good news: It wasn't just you.
Now the bad news: Twitter removed the wallpapers from all user homepages, replacing them with an all-white background that will also grace viewers' retinas on your profile, notifications, and timeline.
On Monday, Twitter explained itself to Mashable this way: "We're removing background images from the home and notifications timelines on web for all users. Now, background images are only available where logged-in users will see them publicly (Tweet pages, list pages and collections pages)."
The point is that other logged in Twitter users will still see your customizations, but for public display for lurkers and passing visitors, they'd rather whitewash everyone's profiles.
Of course, a tempest of Twitter anger was tweeted this week, but it doesn't look like the company will budge. Instead, Twitter directs users to their help center for information about your new inside-Twitter-only wallpaper here.
Safety Center: Twitter's New Anti-Troll Kit
While the change in backgrounds may not be user friendly, Twitter announced the "Safety Center" this week, which is an easy-to-read resource that explains Twitter's policies, gives tips on blocking or reporting trolls, and other information you might need in your anti-troll kit.
However, some are criticizing the site as a weak, surface-level effort to dress up old resources without adding much new. Mashable noted that much of the content is not new, including links to some pages that already exist on Twitter's site, such as the section on advice for those receiving violent threats.
Cyber-bullying and trolling have been around Twitter for a long time, so any step in the right direction is laudable -- if it produces results.
Facing Criminal Contempt Charges, Facebook Forced to Give Up Massive User Data
This week, Facebook announced it had given into a sweeping series of search warrants from a New York court that it had been fighting since last summer. Facebook had to turn over nearly all data from the accounts of 381 users to the court. The defeat resulted in dozens being charged for disability fraud.
In its post on the matter, Facebook maintained it gave the good fight.
The 381-person search warrant, wrote Facebook Deputy General Counsel Chris Sonderby, "is by far the largest we've ever received - by a magnitude of more than ten - and we have argued that it was unconstitutional from the start."
"We've gone to court and repeatedly asserted that these overly broad warrants - which contain no date restrictions and allow the government to keep the seized data indefinitely - violate the privacy rights of the people on Facebook and ignore Fourth Amendment safeguards against unreasonable searches and seizures," continued Sonderby. "We fought forcefully against these 381 requests and were told by a lower court that as an online service provider we didn't even have the legal standing to contest the warrants. We complied only after the appeals court denied our application to stay this ruling, and after the prosecutor filed a motion to find us in criminal contempt."
The announcement, by the way, only came after the government moved to unseal the warrants, dropping their gag order against Facebook and allowing the company to notify all 381 users affected by the warrant and seizure -- who may not have known if they weren't among the 62 charged.
Snapchat
Now, with Univision
No, you won't be able to watch Univision through your Snapchat app, but the country's largest Latino broadcast network has partnered with the billion-dollar startup to help blend their social media interaction into live events. Called "Live Stories," Snapchat promises a "curated stream of user submitted Snaps" relevant to specific events and locations.
According industry blog Ad Exchanger, the 18-month partnership announced on Thursday took shape when Univision sponsored a Live Story based around the U.S./Mexico soccer friendly in April.
The announcement also comes as Snapchat seeks to target bilingual Latino millennial Snapchatters for advertisers, which Univision and Snapchat will take turns in the deal overseeing and benefiting from.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
