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S pot a Fake, Facebook-Nevers and Paranoid Browsers

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Nick Cotton Aug 18, 2017

Here’s the news we’re talking about around the Zbra Studios water cooler. We’ve provided key bullet points from each article for the speed readers out there.

How to spot a fake viral video
by James Vincent From The Verge
  • “…we turned to filmmaker and visual effects specialist Alan Melikdjanian, better known as Captain Disillusion — a character Melikdjanian has been playing on YouTube for a decade, and who’s responsible for some of the best (and wittiest) debunkings online.”
  • “You might also find that the uploader has some connection to an advertising agency. Plenty of viral videos are really undercover sponsored content, meant to draw the viewer’s attention to a certain product or brand. Often there’s no mystery about this (like Instagram “magician” Zach King doing tricks with Snickers bars for example) but sometimes the relationship is quite subtle.”
  • “Trust your instincts, but remember they’re easily deceived. Look for signs of visual effects, but don’t forget that some things can be “faked” simply through luck and practice.”
Facebook has a “Facebook-nevers” problem, and it’s getting worse
From FastCompany
  • “…Facebook will see a usage decline in the 12 to 17 age group, according to eMarketer. There’s a growing demographic of “Facebook-nevers,” which are younger social network users who simply avoid Facebook altogether.”
  • “eMarketer points out that while Instagram is still bigger in the U.S., Snapchat has more users in the age group 12 to 17 and 18 to 24.”
GOOGLE IS ABOUT TO MAKE YOUR BROWSER MORE PARANOID
By KLINT FINLEY From Wired
  • “You may have noticed that when you visit certain sites, such as Wired.com, browsers like Google Chrome display a little green padlock and the words “Secure” next to the address. That icon means that the site uses the encrypted web protocol HTTPS instead of plain old unencrypted HTTP.”
  • “On Thursday, Google warned users of its Search Console tool that a forthcoming version of Chrome will display warnings when users are asked to submit any information over an unencrypted HTTP connection–not just passwords and credit cards.”
  • “So keep an eye out for those security warnings in the coming months, but remember that they don’t necessarily mean your password or credit-card information is being passed along insecurely.”

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