Technology

Instagram Will Soon Hide Like Count From Public View

Have you ever regretted uploading a photo because it didn’t receive the number of likes you wanted? Do you constantly compare the like count of other friends’ photos, or take hours to nail the perfect shot for Instagram? You’re not alone, but all this constant pressure and worrying might soon come to a close. Instagram has decided to do a trial to hide like count in several countries, including Australia, Japan, and Brazil.

Design Of The Trial

In this trial, Instagram will hide the total number of people who have liked posts from public and friends’ views. All that will be seen is a user name “and others.” The only people who will be able to see the actual total like count is the individual who posted the photo.

Like Count Affects Mental Health

The reason for this trial is due to the fear that “social media may be fueling a mental health crisis.” A UK snapshot survey found that of all the social media apps available, Instagram was voted worst for self esteem and well-being for people aged 14-24.

Teen girl sad and anxious looking at her phone.

This hit to mental health comes from a variety of factors. Self comparisons to photos (often photoshopped), a competition for likes, and online bullying are just some of the many sources for anxiety and depression on Instagram. As a result, the company has felt immense pressure to improve the app for its users’ mental health.

Directors’ Goals For The Hidden Like Count Trial

According to Mia Garlick, Facebook director of policy in Australia and New Zealand, “We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love.”

five beautiful young girls make selfie in the park

The trial originally began in Canada, to which the country’s Facebook director Adam Mosseri said they wanted to promote more connection between users. “We want people to worry a little bit less about how many likes they’re getting on Instagram and spend a bit more time connecting with the people that they care about.”

Positive And Negative Outcomes

The like count has often been equated to ones’s level of popularity and success. Consequently, erasing this tally is likely to improve the self-esteem of those who felt inadequate for their photos’ low like count. However, it may make those who typically had popular posts feel worse for having nothing to show of it.

Friends lying on ground, surrounded by social media icons, some happy and some sad.

For those who use Instagram for business purposes, the company said the trial would not affect the measurement tools.

Photos: Unsplash, Freepik

Netflix launches low-cost plan for mobile phones

Netflix is an online streaming platform which offers all sorts of movies, series, and other types of audiovisual content. If you want to enjoy the privilege of watching unlimited videos you can choose between three payment plans: basic, standard and premium, for respectively, 7,99€, 11,99€ or 15,99€.

Most people opt for the latter, and choose to share costs with other 4 people. This results in a pretty affordable price per person, given you can watch almost anything you like in HD.

Netflix Is Rolling Out A Low-Cost, Mobile-Only Subscription Plan For Users In India – The announcement comes at the same time the company said that it lost 130,000 subscribers in the United States from April through June.View Entire Post ›
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— elementarty (@elementartyy) July 18, 2019

Where the idea stems from

However, for some people it’s still a price too high to pay, for how they use it, anyway. Many people watch videos on their mobile phones, meaning they don’t really get the most out of the plan they’ve paid for: screens are so tiny that HD doesn’t really make sense in these cases.

A lower price for lower quality

This is why Netflix has come up with a new idea to become leader in the smartphone industry: a new low cost plan just for mobile phones. The price would be around four dollars, and with it you can watch videos in a resolution of 480p.

This is quite low given what we are used to, but definitely enough to watch something on our mobile phones. It also poses the condition that you can watch each video just once.

A special plan for mobile phones

The plan is a tad more restricted than what Netflix usually offers, but good enough for what it costs. It brings their services closer to those who would, in other circumstances, not be able to afford it. For now, they’ve just launched the plan in India, a country where people tend to own a smartphone rather than a TV.

Netflix: a market leader

The main objective of this project is become number 1 in this market, above other platforms that are currently making their way to the top, like Amazon Prime Video or Hotstar. If the proposal turns out successful, Netflix will eventually extend it to other places like Europe or the United States. For now, we can just cross our fingers for it to be successful.

Images: Twitter and Unsplash

Biodegradable yucca bags to replace plastic

That we ought to reduce our plastic consumption has become common sense by now. However, it seems to be awfully difficult to carry out. It has become so deeply integrated into every aspect of society that now that we are starting to live with the consequences, we just don’t know how to get rid of this harmful thing we call plastic.

Bags against pollution

However, with new ideas like these yucca-based biodegradable bags we are certainly taking a step in the right direction. Kevin Kumala came up with this innovative idea. It occurred during one of his trips to his home country: Bali. He noticed the enormous amounts of plastic that end up at the beaches, not only in Bali, but everywhere around the world.

Kumala’s journey

From then on, the biologist started seeking for a solution to replace these plastic bags that have become so usual in our daily lives. However, the journey he would have to go through would definitely not be an easy one.

He did not only want these new bags to be biodegradable, he also wanted to make sure that, in case they did end up in the sea, they wouldn’t harm marine fauna.

A clever solution

He found yucca starch bags to be the perfect solution for the plastic problem. What Kumala accomplished went further than just bags that biodegrade at a fast pace: he managed to make his invention eatable for fish, meaning they would not only not cause any harm, they would also feed marine wildlife.

Yucca bags

Kumala chose the yucca veggie to be the protagonist of his invention because of his own roots. Indonesia cultivates over 25 million tons of yucca every year. This is why yucca seemed like the perfect candidate for the job. Once the biologist chose the material he wanted to work with, he went onto copying the manufacturing process of regular bags.

More than bags

The result of Kumala’s investigation was a bag that would turn into compost in only 100 days, that dissolves in warm water and is as cheap as 5 dollar cents. This project, if all goes as planned, will reach other countries in no time.

However, Avani Eco did not want to limit themselves to just “plastic” bags: they have already started creating all sorts of plastic replacements in other areas like food recipients or cutlery.

Images: Avani Eco

Confirmed: Instagram ISN’T Listening To Your Conversations

How many times have you scrolled through Instagram, only to see an ad pop up about the most random thing you were just talking about with your friends? I swear it happens all too often. Most recently I was bombarded with inflatable pool flamingos after my friend had been talking to me about buying one. It was CREEPY and I swore Instagram was listening!

Man holding coffee cup while scrolling instagram on phone, looking shocked.

However, according to Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, the application we long thought was eavesdropping into all of our conversations, isn’t! In fact, it has no connection or access to the microphones in our phones!

If Instagram Isn’t Listening, Why Do We Get Such Specific Targeted Content?

His first explanation for the phenomenon? “Dumb luck,” which doesn’t seem quite like a sufficient answer for one of the most used and profitable applications in the world.

via GIPHY

His other theory might leave you feeling a little more uneasy. Masseri said, “you might be talking about something because it’s top of mind because you’ve been interacting with that type of content more recently. It’s top of mind, maybe it’s subconscious and then it bubbles up later.” Meaning, you are likely interacting with content on social media and websites, without even realizing it!

Not Entirely A Coincidence…

It does make you wonder how often we surf the internet or scroll through instagram and like different ads, websites, and photos without registering what we are doing. That said, Mosseri does admit that the ads we see on Instagram are generated based on the accounts we follow and all the content we commented on or liked.

Man on computer while a circle of social media apps, including Twitter, instagram, Facebook, etc encircle him.

Another way that Instagram gives us “targeted ads” is by sorting each of its users into one of 52,000 ad-targeting categories. Talk about being specific! Just further proof that there is a deep digital algorithm behind all the content we see.

How To Avoid The “Creepy” Ads In The Future

On the one hand, we can rest assured that Instagram is not listening in to our most intimate (and ridiculous) of conversations. To avoid the creepy “I swear I was just talking about this” ads that pop up, it’s a wise decision to start paying more attention to all that we do while using our social media apps. Being more attentive instead of mindlessly scrolling and liking will help limit the shocking content.

Photos: Freepik

How To Organize Your Life Once And For All

The average person works around 8 hours a day, and yet the latest studies have found that we are only productive for 3 of those hours… With numbers that bad, it’s painful to even think about how poorly we organize our lives to be productive outside the workplace…

No wonder so many of us feel like we’re not accomplishing all that we want to. Before you waste any more time stressing about the seemingly impossible task of getting everything done on time (or resorting to Netflix to destress and put your work off even more), we have the tips to organize your life once and for all.

Write a Daily To-Do List and Stick To It

Get in the habit of creating a daily to-do list first thing when you wake up. Although it may seem like a hassle, it will help organize and prioritize the events in your day with a handy visual reminder. Knowing all that you need to finish in a day will help you waste less time and feel accomplished every time you check off an item.

Make The Gym Your Friend

If you don’t already make it a point to exercise during the week, start doing so ASAP. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of cardio a week to help give you the energy to organize your life and complete all tasks efficiently.

Worried about joining a gym and feeling clueless as to where to begin? Most gyms offer trainers or group classes that can ease you into the process. If doing things solo is more your thing, there are plenty of great fitness apps that provide guided workouts and instructions to ensure you stay safe and achieve your goals.

Finally Organize And Get Rid Of Your Clutter

Admit it, we all have a few piles or drawers that are filled with items that we always put off for tossing later. Well folks… that “later” has officially arrived, and it’s time to crack down on the extra junk we don’t need in our lives. Not only will it make you feel instantly freer and in charge of your life, but it will also give you more space to organize and keep the items that you actually need. Time to check that off the to-do list!

Have Snacks Handy In Containers

To be working at your maximum potential every day, your brain and body both need to be energized, which is why it’s important to always have snacks handy. Instead of lugging full boxes around, by some small containers to conveniently organize and carry portion-sized snacks in your bag. That way you additionally won’t overeat on extra stressful (or boring) days.

Take Advantage Of A Calendar App

Living in the digital age, we’re fortunate to have an app for literally everything, and that includes calendars. While there are many calendar apps to choose from to organize your life, the most important thing to remember is to actually use them (and not let the app just sit there taking up precious space on your phone). This means plugging in and syncing all your events and reminders right away so you don’t forget them or accidentally double book.

Even if you aren’t attending an event of a friend of family member, it’s smart to add a few of their celebrations as well to your calendar. You’ll never have to shamefully send the ‘Sorry I forgot your birthday’ message ever again!

Photos: Unsplash and Pixabay

6 tech myths you should stop believing and why

We live in a world in which our lives completely revolve around technology, and we couldn’t even remember what life before it was like. However, as most of us are no tech-experts, it often happens that people start having misconceptions about technology and issues. We tell you some of the most common tech-misconceptions and why they are not true.

Emptying the “bin” doesn’t completely delete photos

As long as nothing is written where the deleted archive was placed in the hard disc, you can still recover the document. Windows keeps track of your files through a pointer, meaning every file in your hard drive has this pointer that indicates its location.

When said file is deleted, what actually happens is that just the pointer is deleted, but not the file itself. In other words, the document still exists inside your hard drive, your computer just isn’t able to detect where anymore. There are ways to find out where your files are.

It’s not necessary to let your laptop rest when it warms up

If your laptop does heat up, you should go ahead an check its fan, as it might be a sign there’s something wrong with it. Plus, turning it on and off is only good for shortening its lifespan.

Computers nowadays have power management systems that prevent you from having to turn off your laptop. Modern day smartphones run on lithium-ion batteries, and are programmed to stop charging when the battery is full.

More megapixels doesn’t necessarily mean better quality photos

The only thing more megapixels guarantees is a bigger picture. It doesn’t mean the quality will be better, contrary to popular belief. Quality is actually related to the lens and sensor of the camera.

So if you have either a bad lens or a bad sensor (or both), the photo will remain of bad quality no matter what the number of megapixels is. What megapixels actually do, is transforming a visual image into a pattern of electronic signals.

Using your phone excessively doesn’t cause cancer

If people have told you that using your phone too much can cause cancer, they were lying to you. It is, in fact, not more that a myth. It turns out that the frequencies phones emit are so low that human bodies can’t even perceive them.

Phones do emit electromagnetic radiation, but it is in the form of non-ionizing, radio frequency waves. The only known side-effect we have found is the generation of heat at the body part placed closer to the apparatus.

Side-effects

The biggest concern linked to mobile phones is the effects they have on little children, who have yet to fully develop their brains. Studies have been carried out that prove that the side of the brain closest to the phone metabolizes more glucose than the other side, but any bad side effects from these findings are still unknown.

The worst side-effects mobile phones have are things like tripping on sidewalks and being involved in car accidents, but it’s all because they were paying attention to their phones instead of to life.

Closing apps doesn’t increase your phone’s battery life

Apparently, closing the apps you’ve been using does not lengthen your phone’s battery life span, opposite to what we have believed for many years. This has caused a popular habit of people closing their apps in the multitask window, when it’s not even necessary.

Many people have claimed it not to be true, but even Kyle Richter, former Apple technician and CEO of MartianCraft, has confirmed that closing apps does not only not affect its battery life at all, it could also be damaging the battery life.

Contactless technology is as safe as can be

Contactless cards make use of the same technological security as cards with a chip. They have safe encryption technology, according to Howard Lewis, MasterCard money expert.

An accidental payment cannot happen, as your card has to be very close to the reader, and on top of that, the reader has to take a payment of the exact amount you key in. It’s also impossible to pay twice: you will only be charged once.

Photos: Unsplash