Digimentors

iOS 26 beta 4 arrives, with Liquid Glass tweaks and AI news summaries | TechCrunch Apple launches iOS 26 beta 4 for developers with updates to Liquid Glass and AI notification summaries, ahead. A public beta is expected later this week.

For #iPhone users who want a preview of iOS 26 . . . check this out.
techcrunch.com/2025/07/22/i...

A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors Infostealer data can include passwords, email and billing addresses, and the embarrassing websites you use. Farnsworth Intelligence is selling to divorce lawyers and other industries.

people 🤦‍♀️
www.404media.co/a-startup-is...

The Folding iPhone Is Getting Real (and Might Use Samsung Parts) More reports point to Apple launching a foldable iPhone in 2026, but it won't come cheap.

Some product news: foldable iPhone may really be happening!
www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/...

How Apple’s iOS 26 and Google’s Android 16 Will Change Our Phones

Admit it. #Apple and #Android phones have kind of always looked alike. But that's all changing. While Apple apps will fade into the glass, Google's will get brighter.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/t...

3D Printing Patterns Might Make Ghost Guns More Traceable Than We Thought Early studies show that 3D printers may leave behind similar toolmarks on repeated prints.

Not as slaps as #gun-control advocates may want, but looks like there's a near future where a 3D-printed gun would be traceable. #tech
www.404media.co/3d-printing-...

The Casino Social Media Platform That Wants to 'Kill' Facebook and TikTok A little-known crypto platform just made history, raising $600 million in minutes with a bold plan to dethrone social media titans.

Head spinning. Can #crypto be a form #socialmedia.
Please weigh in with your thoughts.
gizmodo.com/the-casino-s...

TikTok Denies Report Claiming It’s Building a Standalone US App TikTok has denied a Reuters report claiming it's building a standalone U.S. app with a separate algorithm.

U.S.-only TikTok app? No U.S.-only TikTok app? The plot thickens.
www.searchenginejournal.com/tiktok-denie...

Grok’s antisemitic outbursts reflect a problem with AI chatbots | CNN Business Grok, the chatbot created by Elon Musk’s xAI, began responding with violent posts this week after the company tweaked its system to allow it to offer users more “politically incorrect” answers.

We all need to understand the problems with #AI #chatbots so we can use them better.

www.cnn.com/2025/07/10/t...

Texas floods: How to spot fake disaster videos Following the floods in Texas, online accounts tried to to take advantage of the moment by sharing dramatic videos of previous unrelated floods. Here is how fact-checkers spot the fake videos.

Contemporary truth: Give us a disaster, and there will be fake videos. @politifact.bsky.social has some good tips for identifying viral fakes of the tragic flood in Texas.
www.politifact.com/article/2025...

TikTok Adds Countdown Bidding for Livestream Auctions Another way to push its in-app shopping options.

Sounds a lot like an Ebay fever-dream to us.
www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-...

How to verify footage amid US attack on Iran Soon after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. bombed Iran, footage claiming to show the aftermath flooded social media. But many images and videos were AI-generated, taken out of context or rec...

We found this good explainer from Politifact about how to tell real footage from the U.S. bombing of Iran from the #AI generated slop that's all over social media.
If you have any more tips, let us know in comments.
www.politifact.com/article/2025...

Musk's Grok retraining is harder than it looks AI researchers warn that efforts to politically shape LLMs are misguided and dangerous.

Let's just hope that #Musk's #Grok #AI can outsmart Musk as he tried to retrain it to reflect his political views.
www.axios.com/2025/06/24/e...

What is Perplexity, the AI startup said to be catching Meta and Apple’s attention | CNN Business A nearly 3-year-old AI startup has reportedly caught the attention of two of the largest and most influential tech companies, underscoring the fierce competition for AI talent and push to become leade...

Perplexity has had our attention for a while.
www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/t...

Google proposes fixes to search to hold off E.U. fines After losing an appeal on a $4.7 billion antitrust charge, the search giant offers up space to its rivals

Lotsa reactions to this story about Google fixing its search bias in the EU to avoid fines.
1) Have you ever noticed that Google ranks itself in search results over competitors?
2) How worried is Google search about AI Chatbots replacing it?
Let us know in comments.
qz.com/google-propo...

Sunday = Funday withSree Sreenivasan's (@sreenet.bsky.social) #NYTReadalong. This week's guest is novelist Sarah Hamdan, author of "What Will People Think." Fun begins at 8:30 a.m. ET. Find links to livestreams (watch live or later) and more info here: www.digimentors.group/post/nytread...

Why CEOs are using AI to scare workers CEOs warn the new technology could make many workers obsolete, while urging them to start using it right away.

Wait. Employers are scaring workers with #AI threats because they don't think their employees are taking AI seriously?
Do you feel your job could be done lost to AI? Let us know in comments.
www.axios.com/2025/06/20/a...?

Bluesky briefly suspended JD Vance's account after he joined | TechCrunch Bluesky's automated impersonation detection system took down JD Vance's new account, but it was restored soon after.

What do you think #JDVance will do with his @bsky.app account?
techcrunch.com/2025/06/19/b...

Facebook Announces That All Video Uploads Will Now Be Reels Meta is leaning further into the Reels format.

While #TikTok is probably here to stay (i.e., no #ban likely as long as Trump is president), #Meta is expanding #Reels. Now all #Facebook videos will be Reels!

www.socialmediatoday.com/news/faceboo...

Why Frank McCourt wants to spend $20 billion on TikTok Frank McCourt unloaded a baseball empire in a tabloid frenzy. Now he's back with a moonshot to take over TikTok and remake the digital world

Two days until the extension on the #TikTok ban runs out.
Trump is expected to extend the ban again. And billionaire Frank McCourt has an idea about how he can buy and then completely change how the platform functions.
Do you think his idea can actually work?
qz.com/frank-mccour...

Meta AI users confide on sex, God and Trump. Some don’t know it’s public. Some people are unwittingly posting their private and sometimes mortifying conversations with the Meta AI chatbot to the world.

FREE LINK! Because it's really important for people to understand how NOT to make their conversations with #Meta's #AI public. DO NOT PUT private "conversations" in the "Discover" feed.

wapo.st/446pMJ6

An absurd TikTok trend lets AI finish your photo Arrest that dog!!!

Always interesting things going on with #TIkTok, especially using #Capcut. And now #AI can finish off your photo. Some are cute, some are quite odd.
mashable.com/article/ai-f...

Instagram May Soon Let You Rearrange Your Grid. What to Know The company isn't sharing a lot of details yet, but promises more flexibility.

Big news from #Instagram. 🤳 Coming soon! You'll be able to re-arrange your grid. I remember this functionality was on everyone's social media wishlist back in 2012. 👏
www.cnet.com/news/social-...

Tonight's episode of "Shining Light on Shadows" will focus on mental health in seniors. Guest Jonathan Boorstein (@jonathanb10003.bsky.social) will share his experiences. Neil Parekh and Dawn Helmrich Neuburg co-host.
More information and links to livestreams: www.neilparekh.org/post/ep-31-j...

Threads Continues To See Strong Download Momentum in May Meta continues to dominate the social app top download charts.

Well, evidently #Facebook isn't dead yet since it comes in 4th place when Android/iOS platform downloads are combined. Note that #Meta has 3 of the top 5 in the combined list.
#SocialMedia
www.socialmediatoday.com/news/threads...

Social media creators to overtake traditional media in ad revenue this year User-generated material to surpass advertising income from professional media amid change in viewing habits

"Content on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram will attract more advertising income this year than content from traditional media companies, according to research, marking a “huge cultural shift” for the media world."
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...

New Insights Highlight X’s Shift to the Right Under Elon Musk Democrat users report increasing unease at X’s changes.

Have you noticed a shift in your experience on #X? Let us know if you think it's connected to your political leanings. #politics #socialmedia
www.socialmediatoday.com/news/x-forme...

LinkedIn Shares Video Posting Best Practices Some handy pointers for your LinkedIn content strategy.

Good tips here for posting video on LinkedIn, especially their reminder to use subtitles for videos. (People at work watch videos on mute, duh.)
www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedi...

Overwhelmed by Scammers? You're Not Alone. 96% of Americans Are Targeted Every Week Scam emails are the most common tactic criminals use to reach out to us, followed by phone calls, texts and social media messages.

Everyone we know is inundated with scam emails, calls, texts and social media messages.
Advice: 1. NEVER talk to a scammer. Your voice can be cloned. 2. You must likely do not owe tolls.
www.cnet.com/tech/service...

AI is remaking — and breaking — the web As browsers evolve to keep up with the chatbots, the incentives for human contributions are fading.

Have you been noticing? We're seeing less human-generated content and more #AI-generated content on our #web browsers?
www.axios.com/2025/06/02/a...

The ‘white-collar bloodbath’ is all part of the AI hype machine | CNN Business If the CEO of a soda company declared that soda-making technology is getting so good it’s going to ruin the global economy, you’d be forgiven for thinking that person is either lying or fully detached...

Here's a solid look at how the #AI leaders predicting that #AI is coming for all the #whitecollar jobs is, right now at least, a bit off the mark.
www.cnn.com/2025/05/30/b...