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Technology

Social media

Yesterday

Users of Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms are experiencing login issues in what appears to be a widespread outage.

Facebook, Instagram back online after global outage

A more than two-hour outage was caused by a technical issue and affected hundreds of thousands of users globally.

  • Updated
  • Reuters

This Month

Elon Musk

‘Doesn’t pay his bills’: Former Twitter executives sue Musk for $197m

Twitter’s former CEO Parag Agrawal and other executives say the billionaire made up reasons to fire them to avoid paying severance.

  • Barbara Ortutay
The federal government has told TikTok to start bargaining with Australian news companies.

TikTok dragged into Albanese’s Facebook fight

The government has told the video social network with 8.5 million Australian users to strike deals with media companies for the value of their content on its site.

  • Nick Bonyhady
Tyson “ASX Wolf” Scholz in Greece shortly after telling ASIC’s lawyers he was just putting on a brave face.

Don’t believe the hustle: ‘ASX Wolf’ says he’s actually miserable

On social media, no one is as beautiful or wealthy or happy as they seem. Not least the guy asking you to pay $1000 a year to join his Discord channel.

  • Myriam Robin
Conversations have moved from Mark Zuckerberg’s “town square” to private group chats.

As Facebook turns 20, news is out, fun is in

Social media are more popular than ever, but social networks are dying.

  • The Economist
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February

The power and influence of the major digital platforms was seen three years ago when Facebook its blocked news content from Australians.

Digital giants harm consumers and competition

New mandatory codes of conduct are needed to regulate the dominant market power of companies like Apple, Google and Meta.

  • Gina Cass-Gottlieb
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says X could face huge fines when new laws are introduced this year.

X faces ‘big trouble’, fines if it does not change, warns Rowland

“There is going to be someone who turns around and says ‘how did governments allow this to happen?’ We’re not going to be that government”

  • Ronald Mizen
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has been wooed by X to post original video content on the social media platform.

X has started paying celebrities for TV-like shows

Elon Musk’s social media network is hiring politicos, celebrities and reporters from mainstream media, a big departure from the angry world that turned many off.

  • Kate Conger

What are burn-away cakes? The latest TikTok food trend, explained

Various online tutorials explain that the key to the eye-catching trick is to use an edible image for the bottom layer.

  • Emily Heil
Meta Platforms founder Mark Zuckerberg bludgeoned his workforce last year. It’s paying off.

Yesterday, Zuckerberg apologised. Today, he’s a market hero

A day after he was publicly rebuked for Facebook’s treatment of kids, Mark Zuckerberg is toasting a soaring share price after an earnings and dividend surprise show.

  • Updated
  • Nick Bonyhady
Mark Zuckerberg apologises to families at a Congressional hearing.

‘Blood on your hands’: Apologetic Zuckerberg grilled at fiery hearing

X’s Linda Yaccarino, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew and other social media CEOs testified before a Congress committee examining ways to curb harms from online platforms.

  • Updated
  • Hannah Murphy

January

Woolworths young executive Andrew Cooper at Bloodhound Espresso in Darlinghurst, Sydney on December 19, 2023.

Why this Woolworths executive no longer brings a laptop to meetings

In our Summer Breakfast with the BOSS series, Andrew Cooper, head of transformation at Woolworths Metro, says ditching his laptop for an old-fashioned paper notebook has helped him become more productive in meetings.

  • Updated
  • Lois Maskiell
Reddit plans to make its Wall St debut.

Reddit reportedly seeks to launch IPO in March

The social media platform’s planned debut would be the first initial public offering of a major social media company since Pinterest in 2019.

  • Echo Wang and Anirban Sen
Hugh Grant in Notting Hill.

How TikTok made the ‘Hugh Grant bookshop’ viral - again

A new generation is discovering the joy of reading on paper thanks to an electronic medium.

  • Madeleine Ross
Tweens are getting more demanding.

Tween taste is expensive these days. Here’s who to blame

Generation Alpha and younger members of Gen Z have a more prolific and boundless catalogue at their fingertips for what’s “in” than ever before.

  • Jaclyn Peiser
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Cynthia Scott

Nine CEOs reveal their favourite productivity hacks

Removing social media apps, reducing the length of meetings, listening to podcasts at faster speeds, and ChatGPT are among the tools chief executives use to get more out of their day.

  • Updated
  • Sally Patten and Euan Black
Twitch is a popular platform for video game livestreams, owned by Amazon.

Amazon’s Twitch axes a third of its staff as tech cuts enter new year

Australian staff at the platform, which features live-streams of people playing games, were also let go. Its local rival, Kick, has been hiring popular gamers.

  • Nick Bonyhady
Elon Musk has cast X as a free speech destination where people “cancelled” by other platforms can find a home.

Elon Musk’s X reinstated 6100 banned Aussie accounts

At the same time, the social media platform cut 80 per cent of engineers responsible for limiting harmful posts such as antisemitic and illegal material.

  • Nick Bonyhady
Mornings and late afternoons are the best times for “deep work”.

How to be less distracted at work

Experts say professionals should limit their phone use and carve out time for uninterrupted “deep work” if they want to become more productive.

  • Euan Black
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Fidelity’s X stake fell 72pc in value since Musk buy

The investment firm has again cut the value of its stake in the platform, formerly Twitter, amid a particularly tumultuous time at the social media company.

  • Vlad Savov and Tom Maloney