James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Twitter is testing a ‘Communities’ feature for people who want to stick to one topic
Twitter Inc. announced today that it’s slowly rolling a feature called “Communities” that will allow users to form their own groups and focus on one topic. In what has been a transformative time for Twitter, the company is now going the way of Facebook Inc. and its Groups feature and Reddit Inc.’s subreddits. The platform ...
Ford hires exec who was behind Apple’s secretive Apple Car project
Ford Motor Co. announced today that it has hired Doug Field, a former Apple Inc. executive who worked on the company’s autonomous car project. Field reportedly led Apple’s efforts to build an autonomous electric car, a project that is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. In 2018, he joined the company as vice president of engineering, ...
Report: Automated hiring software is rejecting millions of suitable job candidates
According to a report published by the Harvard Business School today, automated hiring software is overlooking a lot of talent in the U.S. The report states that millions of job candidates in the U.S. don’t even get a foot in the door, not because they are unqualified for a position, but because the software automatically ...
Twitter announces new ‘Safety Mode’ to combat harassment
Twitter inc. announced today that it’s testing out a new safety feature that should cut down on trolling, something for which the platform is still notorious. The “safety mode” can be activated by users in the settings menu, after which Twitter’s algorithm will attempt to spot harmful language or repetitive replies and mentions. If the ...
Facebook makes plans to reduce political content on the platform
Following Facebook Inc.’s promise last February to “turn down the temperature” regarding political content in people’s News Feeds, the company has now taken that to another level. It was reported by Axios today that Facebook has received positive feedback after reducing political content in the News Feeds of users in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and ...
China clamps down on gaming addiction, limiting playing time for kids under 18
Children under the age of 18 in China will now be limited to playing online games for one hour only on Fridays and weekends, and also on public holidays, the Chinese government announced today. Three hours per week might seem a hefty curtailment, but in the eyes of the Chinese government, the “spiritual opium” of ...
UK announces it will shake up GDPR data protection rules
The U.K. said today that it will “shake up” data laws previously in line with European data protection regulations. Now that the U.K. is on its own following its Brexit break with the European Union, it’s reported that the country wants to see an end to “endless” cookie pop-ups that ask for permission to use ...
Report: Facebook is thinking about creating a commission to advise on elections
Facebook Inc. is considering forming a commission to advise on decisions it makes around elections in the U.S. and abroad, according to an article published in The New York Times today. According to people familiar with the matter, Facebook has already consulted a number of academics and policy experts about setting up the commission. If ...
Study finds Trump election fraud tweets spread more when labeled misinformation
A study published today found that when Twitter Inc. blocked engagement of former President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims, they were shared more often on other social media platforms. The study, undertaken by researchers at New York University researchers and published in the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, endeavored to find out what happened when ...
Report: Amazon is planning to get into the department store business
Amazon.com Inc. is branching out again, with reports today saying the company is on the verge of opening several large brick-and-mortar department stores in the U.S. The company hasn’t confirmed the move, calling the details of a report on the matter in the Wall Street Journal “rumors and speculation,” although the Journal said plans are ...