At nearly 12 years old, and after four years as a public company, Twitter has finally had a profitable quarter. The company said today that it made $91 million during the fourth quarter of 2017, whereas it lost $167 million this time in 2016. Twitter advised investors late last year that it was closing in on its first profitable quarter in large part by cutting costs. Profitability isn’t the only good news for Twitter this quarter: its revenue also started growing again, rising to $732 million, up 2 percent from $717 million this time in 2016. During the rest of 2017, revenues had declined by 4 to 8 percent year over year. It’s not entirely clear what changed to reverse that, but it’s possible that advertisers were wary to spend money on the platform amid major harassment issues that Twitter began to address in a more serious way as the year went on. There remains one clear sore spot at Twitter, though: monthly users. While monthly users grew by 4 percent year over … [Read more...] about Twitter lost users in the US again, but it finally made a profit
How to delete your Twitter history
It’s a commonly accepted, scientifically proven fact that Twitter is bad for you. Not only is it awash in a synapse-frying torrent of mental spew and unpleasant headlines, but the network is also a performative minefield waiting to destroy either your career or your emotional well-being — and quite often both if given enough time. However, some of us use Twitter for our jobs. And sometimes we still find Twitter occasionally enjoyable, like when we all get to watch a rocket launch together. If you’re on Twitter period, it’s a good idea to take precautions around your tweet history. We live in an era when alt-right trolls and political operatives will spend hours scanning the online footprint of a smear campaign target, all with the purpose of dredging up past jokes and verbal faux pas to twist into context-less, career-costing hit jobs. Look at what happened to MSNBC contributor Sam Seder in December of last year, when prominent alt-right voices elevated a joke … [Read more...] about How to delete your Twitter history
Twitter discontinues its Mac desktop app after years of spotty support
Twitter’s erratic support for its dedicated desktop Mac application is coming to an end, with the company announcing today that it’s pulled the application from the web and from Apple’s App Store. Support for Twitter for Mac will end in 30 days, the company adds. The app, before Twitter pulled it, had an average user rating on the App Store of 1.7 out of 5. That’s an accurate approximation of most people’s attitude toward the software, which has never quite been as robust as third-party clients like Tweetbot or even in-house services like Tweetdeck. We're focusing our efforts on a great Twitter experience that's consistent across platforms. So, starting today the Twitter for Mac app will no longer be available for download, and in 30 days will no longer be supported.— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) February 16, 2018 Twitter failed time and again to keep its Mac app up to date with the service’s latest features — it took the … [Read more...] about Twitter discontinues its Mac desktop app after years of spotty support
Tired of Trolls? Take Your Twitter to Germany
In mid-November 2016, a couple of lurching swastikas with the words “Go Trump” appeared, spray-painted in white, in a playground where my children go for swings and basketball. My kids attend a Hebrew day school, and my son sometimes wears a yarmulke, so I got to talking to other parents at the school. The conversation turned to Europe 80 years ago, where many of their forebears had survived and not survived the Holocaust. One whose family left Germany told me that a clear signal had convinced his family to get out. “The curfews they could handle. But when the Nazis came to take the family dog, my dad’s family fled Berlin. That was it.” My family didn’t leave after the playground graffiti. Neither did the other families at our school. After all, unlike in Nazi Germany, our neighborhood streets, after the swastikas were scrubbed, seem in general like a sanctuary from brownshirts. Physical space, in states red and blue, where we behold each other and … [Read more...] about Tired of Trolls? Take Your Twitter to Germany
Pro-Gun Russian Bots Flood Twitter After Parkland Shooting
Each new breaking news situation is an opportunity for trolls to grab attention, provoke emotions, and spread propaganda. The Russian government knows this. Fake-news manufacturing teenagers in Macedonia know this. Twitter bot creators know this. And thanks to data-gathering operations from groups like the Alliance for Securing Democracy and RoBhat Labs, the world knows this. In the wake of Wednesday’s Parkland, Florida, school shooting, which resulted in 17 deaths, troll and bot-tracking sites reported an immediate uptick in related tweets from political propaganda bots and Russia-linked Twitter accounts. Hamilton 68, a website created by Alliance for Securing Democracy, tracks Twitter activity from accounts it has identified as linked to Russian influence campaigns. As of morning, shooting-related terms dominated the site’s trending hashtags and topics, including Parkland, guncontrolnow, Florida, guncontrol, and Nikolas Cruz, the name of the alleged shooter. Popular … [Read more...] about Pro-Gun Russian Bots Flood Twitter After Parkland Shooting