Monthly Archives: March 2020

Social media companies have been hard at work to make sure they play a helpful rather than harmful role in disseminating news and information about the coronavirus pandemic. Today, Twitter took an extra step beyond its own platform to put its efforts into the wider, already under-pressure world of journalism. Twitter announced that it would be donating $1 million equally between two organizations, theCommittee to Protect Journalists and the International Womens Media Foundation, to further their work specifically related to supporting those reporting on COVID-19.

Organizations like the IWMF and the CJP always play a vital role respectively in supporting the work of female journalists and in defending all journalists who are working in complicated environments or with tricky subject matter. But its in times of crisis that you can especially see how vital their existence is. If you look now on the CJP site, for example, there are a number of stories shedding light on how journalists covering coronavirus news are under threat, particularly in countries where governments are trying to suppress too much negative information passed to the public. Its a role that is especially urgent to play now, given just how much people are turning to the news and the public service that journalists are playing in getting information out.

The fact is that journalists are in no way immune from the wider theme of the world right now, which is that this global pandemic has drastically altered nearly every aspect of our lives. As Vijaya Gadde noted when announcing the grants, Right now, every journalist is a COVID-19 journalist. And given Twitters deep link with news, this means journalists plights with some risking their health if not their lives to report stories are Twitters plights. Journalism is core to our service and we have a deep and enduring responsibility to protect that work.

Indeed, the larger economic pressures of this public health crisis are a huge blow to journalism, which was already under a lot of financial pressure as a business. To that end, Gadde noted that the funds will be used in some way to help with that, to ensure these organizations can continue their work in the face of new economic strains and to directly support journalists.

Twitter is not the first social media organization to donate to journalism. Last week, Facebook also announced two tranches of $1 million each that it was donating respectively to news organizations for coronavirus reporting, and to fact-checking organizations to make sure the content shared on Facebook remains on the straight and narrow when it comes to being accurate.

We are grateful for Twitters generous support. Our efforts at CPJ are focused on ensuring that journalists around the world have the information and resources they need to cover the COVID-19 pandemic safely. And we are pushing back against governments that are censoring the news, and restricting the work of the press. We need timely, accurate information flowing within countries and across borders so that political leaders, health policy experts, and the public at large can make informed decisions at this critical moment, said Joel Simon, executive director, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a statement.

Right now, there is a great need to support our community of journalists covering, and dealing with, this global pandemic. Based on our decades of work with journalists who operate in dangerous and difficult environments, the IWMF understands the critical role that safety and security plays in the industry. Thanks to the incredible support of Twitter, the IWMF will be able to address the needs of our community of journalists more deeply and robustly. By supporting journalists from diverse communities, together we can support the most representative news possible in this evolving time, added Elisa Lees Muoz, executive director, International Womens Media Foundation (IWMF), in her own statement.

Read the original here:

Twitter is donating $1M across two foundations to support journalism during the coronavirus pandemic - TechCrunch

Twitter (TWTR) has cemented itself as a cultural touchstone over the past decade with presidents using the platform to communicate with the public and the term hashtag entering the Oxford English Dictionary.

Despite the platforms prominence, shareholders have not been rewarded because Twitters business has failed to meet their expectations. Twitters user numbers have stopped growing and the platform now faces issues like increasing competition and negative user behavior. For Twitter to achieve the success of peers like Facebook (FB) it will likely need to move beyond its current advertising business model, although the viability of this is unclear.

Twitter is an important public forum which in many ways has become a cultural touchstone, but this importance in the public sphere has not translated into financial success. This lack of success could be attributed to the relatively narrow appeal of the platform, the potential of the platform being neutered by Facebook or difficulty monetizing the platform.

Twitter can be accessed through twitter.com, SMS or app with the companys focus on mobile. Content is largely user generated but there are also over 1 million media outlets who distribute Tweets in addition to Twitters platform partners. These outlets and partners add value to the user experience by contributing content to the Twitter platform which provides credibility and a measure of brand security for advertisers.

Twitter monetizes their platform by selling user data and advertising. Advertisers can target users based on Twitters interest graph maps which is based on interests, users followed, and actions taken on the platform amongst other factors. Advertising options include:

Twitter also enables advertisers to extend their reach beyond Twitter through MoPub and Twitter Audience Platform. MoPub is a mobile-focused advertising exchange which combines ad serving, ad network mediation and a real-time bidding exchange. Twitter Audience Platform allows Twitter Promoted Products to reach audiences beyond the Twitter platform while retaining access to Twitters measurement, targeting and creative tools. 86% of Twitters revenue currently comes from advertising on the platform with advertising outside of the platform aggregated under data licensing and other, which totaled $424 million in 2018. This compares to Facebooks $4.8 billion revenue from their advertising network in 2019. This is reflective of Facebooks much larger user base and potential data advantage. Revenue from data licensing comes from allowing data partners to access, search and analyze historical and real-time data on the platform.

Twitters platform has always been focused on its ability to provide information in real-time and this focus has increased as the company has sought to make it easier to follow and discuss events with expanded coverage of sports, entertainment and news amongst others. For example Twitter has previously live streamed NFL games and presidential debates.

To support its focus on covering events in real-time Twitter acquired the livestreaming app Periscope in 2015. Twitter tried to operate Periscope as an independent platform and was slow to incorporate Periscopes functionality into Twitter. Other platforms introduced similar functionality, like Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube Live (GOOG) and Amazons (AMZN) Twitch yet Twitter failed to capitalize on the early lead Periscope gave them in the live streaming market. If Periscope was quickly integrated into the Twitter platform so Twitters large user base could be leveraged the acquisition may have been far more successful.

Twitter acquired Vine for $30 million in 2012 citing the natural fit between Vines short videos and Twitters short messages as the strategic reason for the deal. Similar to Periscope, Vine was operated separately, and Vines functionality was not introduced onto the Twitter platform. Instagram introduced 15 second clips in 2013 and Vine peaked shortly after this. Vine was slow to introduce advertising options for brands forcing them to rely on paying users to generate content. The lack of monetization and dwindling user base led Twitter to shut Vine down in 2016. Snapchat ultimately became what the creators of Vine had originally envisioned.

It appears the inherent limited functionality of apps like Twitter, Snapchat (SNAP) and Vine are part of their appeal, forcing users to communicate in a different and more creative fashion. The limited functionality that is a large part of these apps reaching critical mass also appears to be the reason for their limited success in the long run. Facebook's initial success was due to its exclusiveness, limiting users to students of ivy league schools. As Facebook began to reach critical mass it was quick to roll back this artificial restriction though and make their platform universal. Facebook has also been quick to introduce features which have widespread appeal. Facebook appears agnostic on how their platform is used provided the user base is engaged, whereas Twitter appears focused on the functionality of their platform.

Twitter has faced rising criticism in recent years due to issues like fake news, trolls and bots along with accusations that foreign agents may be attempting to control political outcomes. Periscope has faced similar controversies with problems around child pornography and bullying. In some ways social media platforms have become victims of their own success. These issues have always existed but platforms like Facebook have become such a large part of society that these issues cannot be allowed to continue. Twitter has recognized this and in 2018 took steps to reduce negative behavior on the platform. This included helping people see high-quality information, strengthening the sign-up and account verification processes and preventing the abuse of Twitter data.

Many of these measures are implemented through machine learning which has minimal cost but there is also a significant labor burden associated with content moderation, which could pressure margins over time. Social media companies have sought to outsource this problem as they clearly do not see it as part of their core value proposition. It is a function they are forced to perform and seek to do so in as low a cost manner as possible. Twitter has little option but to address these issues though as it risks losing advertising revenue if their platform represents a threat to brand safety. Research has shown that false content is more viral which is a huge problem for platforms that rely on capturing user attention through user generated content. If the negative aspects of Twitters platform are to be controlled in a meaningful way while the business continues to rely on an advertising model it will likely need more significant effort than outsourcing.

Twitter recently banned political advertising on its platform, but this is a symbolic move which does not address Twitters larger issues, which are inherent in the nature of the platform. The move will also have virtually no impact on Twitters finances as Twitter is not widely used for political advertising. Revenue from political advertising only contributed 0.1% to Twitters total revenue in 2018.

The number of users on Twitter's platform has plateaued in recent years and this could be due to Twitter being a niche service with limited appeal relative to many other social media platforms. There is likely limited potential for international expansion as the platform already has significant international penetration, with the service available in 40 languages and 83% of users located internationally.

Figure 1: Twitter Monthly Active Users

(source: Created by author using data from Twitter)

Twitter switched from reporting Monthly Active Users (MAU) to Monetizable Daily Active Users (mDAU) which is likely at least in part to hide the fact they have been unable to drive user growth. dMAUs are defined as users who access Twitter on any given day that are able to be shown ads. The mDAU figure more closely aligns with revenue and shows that revenue growth is largely coming from an increasing proportion of users who are being monetized, not from a larger base of users or higher revenue per user. Twitter is making progress converting MAUs to mDAUs but without an increasing user base this source of growth will eventually dry up.

Figure 2: Twitter Monthly Active Users and Monetizable Daily Active Users

(source: Created by author using data from Twitter)

Twitters user base skews towards younger urban users who are highly educated and have high incomes. This is an attractive user base for advertisers which helps to explain Twitters relatively strong ability to monetize user hours on the platform.

Figure 3: Online Platform User Demographics

(source: Hootsuite)

Twitter may face increasing competition for advertising spend from other social media platforms as advertisers become more familiar with them. Twitter is relatively poor at creating brand awareness and driving ecommerce traffic and poor advertising performance could drive advertising spend away from the platform over time.

Figure 4: Percentage of Poll Responders Who Have Discovered Products on a Social Media Platform (U.S. 18-34 years old)

(source: Created by author using data from kleinerperkins)

Figure 5: Proportional Referral Traffic to E-Commerce

(source: Pinterest)

Twitter is unlikely to achieve significant growth in its advertising business due to a number of factors, including:

Twitter therefore needs to create alternative avenues for growth and is investigating options including an open protocol for social media and data portability across platforms. Twitters CEO has stated that he believes that value creation in social media is shifting towards providing recommendation algorithms and away from hosting content, which supports these strategies.

Twitter recently began R&D into creating an open protocol for social media which could allow competing interfaces for the Twitter platform to be developed and could also absolve Twitter of responsibility for content moderation. This initiative could move Twitter in the direction of becoming a protocol for the open internet (similar to SMTP for email or HTTP for world wide web) which many had envisaged for the platform in its early days. Twitter killed the openness of its platform in 2012 though by restricting what developers could do with APIs.

It is not clear how shifting from a platform to a protocol would benefit shareholders though. An open protocol for social media would likely require a shift in business model away from monetizing user attention. Companies generally dont profit from controlling protocols like HTTP, they profit by building applications on top of it. Potential business models include charging for premium access and storage, charging for data access and monetization through cryptocurrency. This work is nascent and even if it is successful would not have an impact on the business for many years.

Twitters work on an open protocol could also tie in with The Data Transfer Project, whose members include Apple (AAPL), Google, Facebook and Twitter. The Data Transfer Project is an open source project aimed at making it easier to move data between services, such as contacts, photos or conversations. So far this project has mainly focused on back end applications to enhance data portability but could soon involve consumer facing developments.

Twitters revenue began to plateau at approximately the same time as their user numbers and while they have been able to drive some revenue growth in recent years through increased engagement and monetization it has been little for investor to get excited about.

Figure 6: Twitter Revenue

(source: Created by author using data from Twitter)

Figure 7: Twitter Revenue Growth

(source: Created by author using data from Twitter)

Similar to revenue, Twitters profit margins have plateaued in recent years after the platform stopped growing. Increased content moderation requirements do not appear to be impacting the bottom line and Twitter remains quite effective at managing overhead costs. While a slight improvement in operating profit margins should be expected as a result of increased focus on expense management there is little reason to think Twitters margins will improve materially in the future.

Figure 8: Twitter Profit Margins

(source: Created by author using data from Twitter)

Figure 9: Operating Profit Margins for Social Media Companies

(source: Created by author using data from company reports)

Figure 10: Revenue Growth and Profitability for Social Media Companies

(source: Created by author using data from company reports)

Despite Twitters recent price pullback it would be difficult to characterize the stock as undervalued unless investors believe the future performance of the business will be materially better than its recent past. Twitters EV/S multiple is broadly in line with its own history and its competitors given its current growth rate.

Figure 11: Social Media Companies Growth and EV/S Ratio

(source: Created by author using data from company reports and Yahoo Finance)

Based on a discounted cash flow analysis I estimate Twitters intrinsic value to be approximately $33 per share. To create more value for shareholders in the future Twitter must find a way to drive sustainable revenue growth and higher margins in the face of increasing competition and potentially higher costs.

From the outside it is difficult to say where exactly Twitters problem lies, but there does appear to be a problem. As evidenced by failed acquisitions, management changes, organization restructurings, activist investors and generally failing to fulfill the promise of the platform. Given these previous issues and the challenges facing Twitter it is difficult to project a dramatic reversal of fortune going forward. Twitter appears destined to be a platform with far more societal impact than financial success.

Disclosure: I am/we are long PINS. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

More here:

Twitter: Business Transformation Is Required For The Stock To Soar - Seeking Alpha

President Donald Trump boasted about the ratings of his daily live news conferences on the coronavirus Sunday, and suggested that the large viewer numbers rather than the misleading remarks he has made during them are fueling discussions in the media about ending the practice of broadcasting them live and unfiltered.

Because the Ratings of my News Conferences etc. are so high, Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers according to the [New York Times], the Lamestream Media is going CRAZY, Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon.

Trump followed that tweet with four others that quoted a New York Times story that referred to the presidents daily briefings as a ratings hit.

But while Trump is framing the debate about whether his briefings should be broadcast live as stemming from envy or political ambition in the liberal press, in reality the arguments from columnists and staffers at CNN and MSNBC have centered on Trump showering the public with dangerous misinformation and spreading false narratives about the state of the coronavirus pandemic.

As the Times reports, Trumps daily press briefings on coronavirus are attracting huge numbers: 8.5 million on cable news, which is, in fact, roughly the viewership of the season finale of The Bachelor. (That doesnt include viewers on broadcast television or online streaming, which likely increases that figure by millions more, if not tens of millions more, people who are watching the briefings.)

Trump sees this as an opportunity to brag a sign of his popularity and, theoretically, public trust in his leadership in a time of crisis.

The problem with that line of thinking is that many people are not tuning into the briefings because of Trump, but because they want to keep up-to-date on coronavirus and the USs policies on it. During these briefings its not just Trump who speaks, but his coronavirus task force, which includes top public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the widely respected director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Deborah Birx, a physician noted for her work combating HIV/AIDS and the White Houses coronavirus response coordinator.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused an economic crisis, policy chaos at home and abroad, and widespread physical and mental suffering around the globe it would make sense that millions are tuning in to hear the nations top officials provide clear, accurate information on the latest.

Its precisely the critical importance of conveying accurate information in a time of crisis that has spurred many political analysts and members of the press to argue that its dangerous to present Trumps words to the public through live broadcasts. Trump has made dozens of false claims during the briefings, including overstating the potential of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19, and falsely saying that anyone who wants to be tested for coronavirus infections can be.

Voxs Matt Yglesias has argued against live broadcasts of Trumps briefings on the basis that theyre ersatz rallies held for political purposes rather than bona fide attempts to inform the public:

Its never good when politicians lie. But in a public health crisis, you have a lot of people seeking accurate information and some of those people turn toward the news media. Its important for those of us working in the media to try to provide that information.

When a person turns on the television and sees the president of the United States giving inaccurately optimistic assessments of the progress of testing, vaccine research, and treatment it encourages people to be less careful with their hand-washing and social distancing than they otherwise might be. That costs lives.

And while offering a post-briefing fact check is better than nothing, it doesnt really undo the harm of showing it in the first place. Whats called for is news coverage that incorporates the fact that the president is saying things, but that focuses on providing people with accurate information there are not currently Covid-19 treatments that scale very well, leaving hospitals at risk of becoming overwhelmed and unable to offer ventilators to everyone who needs them, making it morally urgent to do everything possible to slow the spread of the virus until a more comprehensive testing regime can be put in place.

When prominent members of the media and news anchors like MSNBC host Rachel Maddow have argued against television networks broadcasting Trumps briefings, its not because theyre upset that someone they oppose politically is getting a lot of attention. Its that the politician involved is exploiting that attention for political gain and hurting the public with falsehoods.

Link:

Trumps coronavirus briefings are popular, but not for the reasons he thinks - Vox.com

Forget Dr. Fauci -- we have the My Pillow Guy.

Donald Trump's daily Coronavirus briefings took their most bizarre turn yet on Monday when he invited the mustachioed TV pillow-hugger to the Rose Garden podium to address the nation about the killer virus.

"Boy do you sell those pillows," the POTUS said in his introduction of his "friend" and CEO Mike Lindell, who was very first to the stage.

In fairness, Lindell explained that his factory was switching production to face masks, no doubt a helpful development as health professionals struggle amid the shortage -- although everyone on Twitter was confused as to why he needed to tell the nation this in person.

Although nobody on Twitter managed to count the number of times Lindell said the words "My Pillow" -- many of the tweets concluded it was simply free advertising.

Lindell concluded his speech by asking if he could read something he wrote "off the cuff"; and it wasn't hard to see why the President allowed it.

"God gave us grace on September 8, 2016 to change the course we were on. God had been taken out of our schools and lives, a nation had turned its back on God. And I encourage you to use this time at home to get back in the Word, read our Bibles and spend time with our families."

"Our president gave us hope where just a few short months ago we had the best economy, the lowest unemployment rate and wages going up - it was amazing. With our great President, Vice-President and this administration and all the great people in this country praying daily, we will get through this and get back to a place that is stronger and safer than ever," the MyPillow guy decreed.

The speech ended as awkward as it began with Michael reaching out for a handshake, but being ignored because of course "we don't do that anymore."

Twitter predictably lit up:

Trump offers free advertising to the MyPillow guy, who proceeds to use his time at the Rose Garden to campaign for Trump. How is this acceptable? pic.twitter.com/vp8uj6LBTo

Haven't seen any actual doctors at this coronavirus briefing, but at least we've got the My Pillow Guy

Remind me again, why are networks airing this? pic.twitter.com/tbBCqkLprl

And now the My Pillow guy is urging us all to return to God and read our Bibles at home, as we realize how amazing Trump's glorious leadership has been, and no, I am absolutely not kidding, and my God, we are all going to die.

Two days ago, I tweeted this.

Right now, Trump has the My Pillow guy speaking in the Rose Garden. https://t.co/tGYtidILaM

The My Pillow guy is speaking at the Coronavirus task force meeting. Someone reset the simulation, please

My Pillow is now making highly absorbent pillows so you can cry yourself to sleep after watching this press conference.

Trump has the "MyPillow" fuckface up there rambling about a bunch of bullshit. Why are CNN and MSNBC airing this garbage? Putting this shit on television is treason.

Is that the my pillow guy??Do I need to turn the volume up. I was waiting for the doctors

I just had this crazy dream that the guy from My Pillow was at the White House telling me to read the Bible. Wow this quarantine life is really getting to me.

*turns on WH briefing*

What MyPillow has done...

*turns off WH briefing*

Trump just had the My Pillow guy speak.

The My Pillow Guy.

These aren't press conferences to calm the American people. They're infomercials for Trump and his friends.#StopAiringTrump

Is the my pillow guy having trouble breathing? Also why the hell is he up there?

Trump now has the guy from My Pillow doing a campaign commercial for Trump's 2020 campaign in the middle of a press conference about a deadly virus. How can any real news network air this BS?! #StopAiringTrump

Now its Honeywell, P&G & Jockeys turn to shill from the garden.

Did Tang sell 30 second spots based on his pandemic ratings?!

They are glorifying themselves for sewing masks and gowns?

Oops, Jockey lady just called Pence Mr. Vice by mistake. She right.

In a pandemic, the U.S. govt just turned the bully pulpit microphone over to epidemiology expert My Pillow Guy to lecture the nation about putting Jesus back in schools.

What a dystopian hellscape this is. #mypillow pic.twitter.com/ISzImxdKAA

Got a story or a tip for us? Email TooFab editors at tips@toofab.com.

Social DIstancing Instagram Stars Are Finding Creative Ways to Pass Time While Self-Isolating

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Twitter Utterly Confused as Trump Invites MyPillow Guy to Address the Nation on Coronavirus - TooFab

From marrying the love of their life, to travelling, to eating yummy food, here are some of Twitter's future dreams

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many celebrities, influencers and ordinary users alike are sharing their hopes for the future.

Social media platforms have become an integral part of this concerning time as many parts of the world have gone into self-isolation in order to slow to spread of COVID-19.

As doctors, scientists and health professionals are looking for a cure, hoardsof people have connected through Twitter and Instagram to share positive and uplifting stories about their dreams and aspirations post-coronavirus.

#WhenCoronaIsOver is the hashtag trending all over Twitter as of late, giving feel-good vibes across the screen. One user shares that he wants to marry the love of his life, while another person took a less-romantic approach by taking pictures of his favourite food items with the caption, Eating this all once coronavirus is over.

From destination holidays to appreciating family time more, here are some of Twitters wishes forwhen coronavirus is over.

Some users just really want a partner, or to geta haircut.

Others are taking self-isolation as a time to reflect and see life after coronavirus as a second life. One wrote, with a picture of a sunset, Thank the Lord. Appreciate life. Change for the better, because this is your second life.

When coronavirus is over when it (eventually) subsides, I like to feel the sunshine and the fresh air, go shopping, go out to eat and see my friends again. Hopefully, there will be a miracle, one user wrote dreamily.

#Coronavirus: Fake videos of lions and tigers on the streets of Russia goes viral

One Pakistani user even mused, When coronavirus is over, we will move from this to this really quick. Attached are pictures of a simple daal dish next to takeaway food.

Meanwhile, another user pointed out that many of us will appreciate the work of volunteers and medical aid professionals that were at the forefront of assistance during the times of coronavirus.

We will realise the real importance of volunteers, volunteer group, NGOs, not-for-profit organisations, conscious individuals, especially youths, who came to help and feed the hungry wholeheartedly in need of the hour, he wrote.

And, well, some just wanted to appreciate the time of self-isolation. #WhenCoronaVirusIsOver we will never ever sleep like this during our whole lifeso keep sleeping.

Have something to add to the story? Share in the comments below.

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#WhenCoronaIsOver: Twitter shares wish list post coronavirus pandemic - The Express Tribune

Several industries eager to educate the public about and promote their efforts to fight the coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease it causes are being blocked by Twitter and Google.

Both platforms have flatly told companies and trade groups that they will accept no advertising that includes a mention of coronavirus or COVID-19, a blow to firms trying to direct even helpful advertising to users thirsty for information about how to fight the virus.

Twitter and Google told Secrets that the decision to ban ads that mention the virus came after executives decided that they did not want to appear to be profiting from the crisis.

As a result, only official sources a government office or official and nongovernmental organizations will be able to push out promotions and ads that mention the virus.

But three representatives of industries involved in the fight said that they were not attempting to profit but only to tell the public about tools it can use to stay safe. And, they said, using advertising is the only way to field a national campaign.

They are putting a huge filter around the virus message, one that favors the government, said one representative.

Another said that if taking advertiser money was a problem, the platforms could donate it to an anti-virus campaign.

There are a great number of good actors within the private sector who want to share useful information or direct how people can help during this unprecedented crisis, said a Republican strategist helping in the battle to reverse the decisions by Twitter and Google.

No one is going to see their social media posts unless they pay to promote them. It would be helpful if these platforms would get out of the way or figure this out quickly because its only hurting these efforts, added the strategist.

Twitter told some of the groups blocked that there were several companies and industries complaining.

For now, however, neither is backing down.

At Twitter, ads and promotions mentioning the virus violate its Inappropriate Content policy, a spokeswoman told us.

Based on our Inappropriate Content Policy, we will halt any attempt by advertisers to opportunistically use the COVID-19 outbreak to target inappropriate ads. Government entities that want to disseminate public health information will be permitted to promote ads on COVID-19. In the case of COVID-19, we have put additional safeguards into place in order to facilitate the sharing of trusted public health information and to reduce potential harm to users. We are currently prohibiting the promotion of all medical masks due to strong correlation to COVID-19 and instances of inflated prices globally, she said.

The policy is similar at Google. A spokesperson told us: Since January, we have considered coronavirus to be a sensitive event. We implemented this policy out of an abundance of caution to protect users, and do not allow any ads to run on coronavirus-related terms. We are monitoring the situation closely and are making real-time adjustments to help businesses reach their audiences with pertinent information.

Google also said that it had set aside some $270 million to help governments and NGOs promote their anti-virus efforts and education campaigns.

View original post here:

Google and Twitter ban ads that mention coronavirus and COVID-19, even helpful ones - Washington Examiner

The goal is to develop software to help solve some of the problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Proposals are being considered this week as part of a global hackathon whose mission is to develop software to manage the COVID-19 outbreak. The online #BuildforCOVID19 Global Online Hackathon is being spearheaded by the World Health Organization and leading tech companies including Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, WeChat, and Slack.

The hackathon "is an opportunity for developers to build software solutions that drive social impact, with the aim of tackling some of the challenges related to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic," the group wrote.

Each participating company has committed resources for developers who apply. The site has received close to 20,000 submissions. Winning proposals will be announced on Friday, April 10.

SEE: Coronavirus: Critical IT policies and tools every business needs (TechRepublic Premium)

The group developed a list of the key challenges and areas in which technology can play a role. They include health, vulnerable populations, businesses, community, education, and entertainment.

"With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic, governments have issued guidance for members of the community to practice social distancing, while companies have enforced work from home policies in an effort to flatten the curve of viral infections across the population," the group said. "Given the isolation currently being experienced within communities right now, we want to create an online space where developers could ideate, experiment and build software solutions to help address this crisis."

In an effort to publicize the online hackathon, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted it in a Facebook post. He noted that hackathons are an integral part of the social media company's history and an important way new ideas and projects are born."Features like Blood Donations and Crisis Response were first built during hackathons and are now used by millions of people worldwide," Zuckerberg said. "I'm hopeful that some useful prototypes and ideas will come out of this one as well."

Here is the full list of organizations that are participating in the hackathon:

AWSCognizantFacebookGiphyMicrosoftPinterestSlackSalesforceTikTokTwilioTwitterWeChat

Neo FundSlow VenturesSouth Park Commons8VC

Congressional Apps ChallengeHack Club

We deliver the top business tech news stories about the companies, the people, and the products revolutionizing the planet. Delivered Daily

Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Excerpt from:

Facebook, Slack and Twitter among tech companies joining WHO to launch COVID-19 hackathon - TechRepublic

LOS ANGELES: The coronavirus outbreak has led to a 900% uptick in hate speech toward China and Chinese people on Twitter, according to a report by a tech startup.

"People are spending more and more time on social networks, communication apps, chat rooms and gaming services, and the problems endemic to these platforms hate, abuse, toxicity and bullying have become accentuated," the Israel-based company L1ght said in its report.

"According to our data, much of this hate and abuse is being directed towards China and its population, as well as individuals of Asian origin in other parts of the world," added the startup that uses artificial intelligence to detect harmful content in social networks.

It said although there are some uplifting stories being shared online as people confined because of the pandemic first detected in China turn to the Internet, there is also plenty of hate being shared.

"Toxic tweets are using explicit language to accuse Asians of carrying the coronavirus and blaming people of Asian origin as a collective for spreading the virus," the study found.

It said that a lot of people are using racist hashtags such as #Kungflu, #chinesevirus and #communistvirus as they tweet about the pandemic.

Internet traffic to prominent hate sites has also increased 200%, the report said, as have posts against Asians.

It said that certain media outlets have also encouraged backlash against Asians, pointing to a video on Sky news Australia titled "China willfully inflicted coronavirus upon the world".

"The video now has over 5k comments, the majority of them toxic and hateful," the report said.

The findings come as numerous US rights groups, activists and politicians have sounded the alarm about a surge in the number of racist incidents directed at Asian Americans.

Critics say US President Donald Trump's repeated references to the COVID-19 virus as the "Chinese virus", has also resulted in xenophobia. AFP

Read more:

Covid-19: Huge surge of hate speech toward Chinese on Twitter - The Star Online

As any employee or freelancer working on the sports side of digital media understands, the content must go on, even as the main contentsports itself, or at least the kind we care abouthas stopped. Luckily, the world at large seems to understand that principle as well, and the at-home quarantine content, while not quite as satisfying as watching Giannis Antetokounmpo dunk from half court after two steps, or Brooks Koepka blasting a drive 400 yards at Augusta, has been pretty friggin' good.

I'd like to start with MaxIsNice, who has released two absolutely delightful basketball impression videos. First, there's LeBron and Anthony Davis, and...well, watch:

The body movement by the dude impersonating LeBron (Max, probably?) is spot-on, from the almost compulsive hand-t0-mouth tic to the wide bow-legged backwards run after a jumper. Now watch the same guys do Magic and Kareem:

Everything about this is hysterical, from Magic's constant smile to Kareem's inability to take any shot, even a free throw, without making it a four-step hook shot. Also, shout-out to the two friends doing the yeoman's work of playing straight-men defenders as the stars go to work.

Let's move now to the arena of announcing, where Nick Heath, who is apparently a rugby announcer when he's not self-distancing, has taken it upon himself to use his skills for some, um...alternative sports. First, "keepy-uppy":

"She hasn't enhanced her reputation" slayed me. Next, dogging:

Finally, my favorite, the Crossroad Dash:

This was a perfect Twitter video, and when he said "three titles in three days!", implying that he's spent at least the past 72 hours watching people cross the street, it became legendary. Take a lap of "honour," Nick Heath.

It even inspired Joe Buck to get in on the act, and while he's not nearly as funny as Heath, I appreciate the effort, and I also appreciate the very good form of these basement tennis kids:

Next, whatever the hell this is...well, I'm counting it as a sport, because it's hilarious and amazing and involved the destruction of a laptop, I think:

Nor can we forget the more obscure sports, like dance:

I'm semi-sorry for making you watch that, but I had to, and what's quarantine life without paying it forward?

In fact, a unique part of the Great Quarantine is that it broadens our definition of what "sport" really is. In the following video, the main character does something very funny, at least slightly athletic, and she's wearing an Ohio State shirt. Do I count it? Folks, I count it.

Finally, since this is Golf Digest, here's the best golf content I've found...and it comes from a soccer star. The stars of actual golf have really let us down:

RELATED: Distract yourself with the best quarantine-themed golf trick shots we've seen (so far)

The Most Frightening But Awesome Workout Video of the Week: Cam Newton

In my rational moments, I have no idea if Cam Newton can be a good-to-great NFL quarterback again, but based on this workout video, I'm willing to be all my money that he ends up with more Super Bowls than Brady:

The combination of him being a very physically impressive dude, the music, and the "all I do is work!" theme got to me. It makes me want to do a crazy hard workout, and while I will inevitably order Indian takeout and get fatter tonight, it's nice to have the feeling of wanting to do better, just for a moment. Thank you, Cam.

The Tyrant Who Has Just Increased Its Power of the Week: The NFL

One of the terrible tertiary effects of sports being canceled is that it has given radio hosts, ESPN, and various other media an excuse to do what they want to do anyway: Talk endlessly about the NFL, even when the NFL isn't in season. If this were a normal year, we'd be at the tail end of March Madness, celebrating the start of the baseball season, and gearing up for the NHL and NBA playoffs. The French Open would be just around the corner, and so would the Masters. Instead, with nothing better to do, the discourse has shifted to where it inevitably shifts, and that's the NFL. The timing of this particular pandemic was terrible for almost every sport, but for now, nothing has really changed in the NFL, so our focus naturally drifts to the biggest sport in the country. In terms of fan interest, it's a case of the rich getting richer.

The Best/Stupidest Idea of the Month: This Reddit Guy

I can't find the tweet that introduced this to me, so apologies to whoever dug it up in the first place, but this Reddit NBA post is brilliant in the simplicity of the question it asks: "Could an Owner theoretically marry a player to circumvent the cap?"

I mean, clearly if this became a widespread phenomenon, Adam Silver would institute a rule against it (right?), but if they pulled a fast one, I bet they could get away with it the first time. As the user pointed out, Bucks owner Wes Edens could sign Giannis for the minimum, watch as everyone reacted in shock, and then marry him at the courthouse and share his millions. Realistically, I don't think the NBA could do anything about it, which is why it's such a brilliant idea. And this is what happens when sports fans are forced to sit around their homes all day just thinking of things. Weird times.

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Sports is just funny Twitter videos now, but the videos are good - Golf Digest

A group of friends are running down a sidewalk through a blinding rain, desperate to get into their car and into the dryness. The guys out front, they see the stop sign up ahead and scatter accordingly to avoid it. But the dude in the back, he does not. He plows into the metal pole with such force that when his body suddenly stops moving, his feet skate atop the wet concrete and he ends up clinging to the pole for dear life, his friends laughing hysterically over his plight.

Hey, Rex Chapman, block or charge?

"Oh, that's definitely a charge. That stop sign clearly had its feet set." The 52-year-old has to push his analysis through a fit of his own laughter. Like the poor victim being replayed again and again on the smartphone in his hand, Chapman also now has his feet up in the air. He has fallen back onto the couch where he is sitting, slapping his knees with his free hand and guffawing. "Why the hell am I still laughing so hard at this?! I've already seen it like 50 times!"

Mina Kimes talks with Ryan McGee about the many sides of Rex Chapman, tracing his journey through sports, media and life. Listen

That's nothing; the world into which he retweeted that video a week earlier has watched the clip 3 million times and counting, over 700,000 views from Chapman's original post and another 2 million-plus from the seemingly endless cycle of retweets. They think it's hilarious. So does Chapman. He thinks this whole damn thing is hilarious. Not just the guy smacking into the street sign but his new role as @RexChapman, the man who fills our Twitter timelines not with pandemics and politics but with pratfalls and practical jokes.

"A social media influencer. I'm not even sure what that means," Chapman says from his home in Lexington, Kentucky. "Me, an influencer? Man, I hope not."

As unlikely as that idea once might have seemed, Chapman has more than 580,000 Twitter followers. That's 10 times more than he had one year ago, a swelling of devotees that began with a tweet on Jan. 10, 2019.

Before that day, his followers were almost exclusively basketball fans who had rooted for Chapman as a Kentucky high school hoops phenom, a Kentucky Wildcats legend and a 12-season NBA player who found fame as the first-ever draft pick of the Charlotte Hornets, a player who electrified the NBA slam dunk contest and who, as a member of the Miami Heat in 1996, hung 39 points on Michael Jordan and the legendary Chicago UnbeataBulls. His prolific on-court career brought followers like Ice-T and Chuck D, and Steph Curry, who has known Chapman his entire life via father Dell, a Hornets teammate and still one of Chapman's closest friends.

But since his tweet that January day, hundreds of thousands have followed Chapman's account -- including Bootsy Collins and the Imam of Peace, Mark Hamill and Chris Pratt, state governors and international news correspondents. Most of those newbies have no clue he ever played basketball.

In Lexington, once known as "Rexington," Big Blue Nation citizens above a certain age certainly remember the 6-foot-4 former Mr. Basketball who was a pre-viral viral superstar, hiding out in his dorm room and in the gym to avoid rabid fans at age 18. They likely also remember his succession of addictions over the years, which ranged from hoops drills and swimming to betting on horses and a five-bottle-a-day diet of painkillers that damn near killed him. They might have seen his mug shot from 2014, the first item that appears from a Google search.

But the vast majority of recent arrivals to the Rex Chapman bandwagon likely aren't aware of his vaunted history on the court or his deep struggles off it.

"I was at the SEC tournament last year," he says. "I went to get my credential, and it was eight to 10 interns, just college students there helping out. I showed them my ID, and they said, 'Are you Rex Chapman, the guy from Twitter?!' I went, 'Yeah, that's me, getting my credential. Let's go.'"

The post that changed everything for Chapman was a clip of a man on a paddleboard, churning out into the ocean. A pod of dolphins can be seen just under the surface of the water, coming right at the clueless boarder. Suddenly, one of the dolphins explodes into the air to perfectly body check the man off the board and into the ocean, then rejoins its group.

"When I saw that, I said to myself, that's a f---ing charge. I tweeted it out, and people thought it was funny, and that's really it. That's all." But people have watched the clip from his post and its echoes nearly 10 million times. The accidental influencer definitely tapped into something.

"Well, I tapped into maybe arguably the worst rule in basketball," he says. "I wish they would just take it out or amend it greatly. It's a terrible rule, block or charge. I shouldn't be able to stand there and it's a foul. Come on!"

Chapman says he's always been obsessive-compulsive, and a bit of a loner. He says he was the kid who, when given a Jolly Rancher by a friend, would think, "Wait, you aren't going to give me the whole bag now?" This is the man who would stand at the free throw line in an empty gym for hours on end, resetting angrily after any miss, and the man who once ate nothing but canned turkey chili for an entire year. So having his face in his phone, compulsively scrolling through his Twitter feed? That comes all too naturally. For any of us, time spent on social media is time locked in an echo chamber. For a man with a personality like Chapman's, it increasingly felt like a torture chamber.

"Yeah, I wanted off of it. I was so tired of it," he says of Twitter. (He has never taken the Instagram plunge: "One feed is enough for me.") "It's just toxic right now, the political climate. Everything is so snarky. And I'm that guy. I want to be that guy, the smartass smart guy. So I'm not naturally happy all the time, all upbeat. People that know me will tell you that."

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But he couldn't delete his account because his work as an analyst for Kentucky basketball and NBA TV demanded some sort of social media presence. The guy falling off the paddleboard helped pull him out of the Twitter tar pits; he went searching for more slapstick. He found a zoo visitor getting slapped upside the head by an elephant's trunk. He found a kid who opened a new Nerf gun and immediately shot himself in the crotch. He found a guy trying to drive a four-wheeler down a flight of stairs and ending up on his head. He found another on a rope swing who tried to be Tarzan but ended up centering a tree with his face like Daffy Duck's Robin Hood.

He loved them all. So did everyone else.

"It started picking up so much steam, I had to kind of put some ground rules out there. I asked people, 'I think this dude breaks his arm. Is that OK to post?' But now there are really only two rules. One, it has to make me laugh. Two, no death. It's a little twisted that I even have to explain that no-death thing to people, but I do."

In the beginning, it wasn't all comedy all the time. He says it happened a little at a time but then took over nearly completely. "I have strong opinions about certain things, but I realized at some point that there are a lot smarter people out there than me commenting on that stuff, really. People with political science degrees and politicians and doctors and lawyers. All the stuff that I think I have a strong opinion about doesn't matter. They don't want to hear that from me."

They want laughs. But they also want to feel good. That's the sneaky best part of the Rex Chapman feed. For every tickle of the funny bone, there are also punches right to the heart. Set to his trademark lines of "Dogs, bruh" and "This is the Twitter content I'm here for," there are scores of canines making babies giggle and dozens of clips to restore our faith in humanity, from the kid who visits a nursing home to hand out free hugs to the high school senior with Down syndrome scoring points on senior night.

"I just think that everybody likes good things. Everybody likes dogs, everybody likes to feel good and believe the best in people. I think right now, if it's providing anything, it's just a little laugh during the day, just to remind yourself that we all just have thoughts in our heads out here. We think, we write and we're all people just trying to get along out here. So let's laugh a little bit."

Chapman spoke those words in an interview on March 3. Ten days later, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the SEC tournament, then the NCAA tournament, then seemingly everything everywhere for an undetermined amount of time. Chapman's Twitter feed changed a little to adjust to that new world, with videos that informed about the coronavirus threat (an animated matchstick cartoon demonstrating the benefit of social distancing), provided social distancing laughs (a guy in a coffee shop using a makeshift face mask of a Puma sneaker strapped around his head) and showcased feel-good stories amid shelter-in-place chaos (Spanish police enforcing lockdown through entertainment).

This week, he used his ever-expanding platform to promote a fundraising campaign to help those economically affected by the pandemic. On March 22, after thanking his followers for his "fun and awesome and cool" Twitter experience, he announced the Rex Chapman COVID-19 Relief Fund, explaining that his already-established charitable foundation was teaming up with the Bluegrass Community Foundation to raise funds to help people around the nation as they try to cope with coronavirus-related financial hardship. After three days, it had raised more than $150,000.

Before the virus crisis, when Chapman was asked whether he had been approached by corporations with sponsorship opportunities, la Kardashian product placement, he rolled his eyes and said that wasn't really his style. He even joked about his newfound power, that he was going to start his own Jonestown cult but only "if I decided to apply myself, but I think we both know I'm not going to apply myself."

But now, he is. And he hopes that his followers will, well, follow.

"I think this group of people I have gathered, these are people who are looking for some good in the world," Chapman said from his home the night after announcing his initiative. "So it would only seem natural that they would also want to do some good in the world, right? It wasn't so long ago that I was sleeping in my car. If it hadn't been for the kindness of other people, willing to help me, I don't know where I would be. I might be in the ground. So let's make the most of a terrible situation and let's show some of that same kindness."

His already-established charity is the Rex Chapman Foundation, formed to support the fight against opioid addiction. That's a fight he knows entirely too much about. Despite an injury-marred NBA career that resulted in 10 surgeries, including seven over his final three seasons, he rarely allowed doctors to prescribe pain medication. "I wanted to know how the injury felt because then I would also know when it was feeling better," he says. But as his career was ending, he had an emergency appendectomy. Doctors prescribed him OxyContin.

"After two days, I was in love. I had never felt that good," he says. "I was at ease in social situations. I was having a good time all the time. Really, for the first time ever. But it was all a damn lie. Pretty soon I was taking 50 pills a day. Just crushing up bottles of it, keeping it hidden under my mattress at night. When I woke up needing it, I would throw down that bottle and the powder would get into my system quicker. My wife didn't know. My four kids didn't know. And that led to all of that falling apart."

In the years after his playing days, Chapman made two unsuccessful trips to rehab. He slept on the couches of friends. He did indeed live out of his car. He lost touch with everyone back home in Kentucky. He'd held various NBA front-office jobs and in 2013-14 had settled into a new role as a TV analyst for Grand Canyon University. Then, in the fall of 2014, he was arrested near his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, after stealing merchandise from an Apple store and trying to pawn it for money that he says was to pay off gambling debts. He says that he can't remember it, his mind in a fog from his addiction, and that he still has never brought himself to look at the surveillance video from the store. Less than two weeks later, he went into rehab again. This time it was back in Kentucky, admitted to Louisville's Brook Hospital, run by former Wildcats teammate Paul Andrews.

Five years on, Chapman says he's clean and drug free. He has worked hard to rebuild connections with his ex-wife and four children, one of whom lives with him in Lexington. A big part of his new lease on life has come through his rebuilt connection with an outside world that seemed to have given up on King Rex when he became the guy in that Googled mug shot -- a connection built through @RexChapman.

"I think he is a messenger that there is life after opioid addiction, that there can be good times and that you can be successful," says David Helmers, Chapman's best friend since third grade. Now they co-host Cartoon Network's "Block or Charge," a streaming show inspired by Chapman's Twitter account.

"And I don't mean have an NBA contract," Helmers continues. "This is a state that was ravaged by opioids. This is a state that has a long history in Appalachia, in eastern Kentucky, particularly, of drug addiction and dependency. And now there's an affliction that literally affects everyone in the world. We've never needed a laugh or a warm feeling more than we do right now. Rex was the one who needed a reason to smile, and I think this had a big part in saving his life. Now we all need a reason to smile, and he's helping us deal with all of our lives."

Chapman rolls his eyes at such talk. But you get the sense that he is well aware of what he's doing. He doesn't have market research or deployed algorithms or concern over best "peak social hours" or a team of social media experts searching the globe for the best material. He's just a retired basketball legend with a drafts folder overstuffed with tweets that he'll unleash whenever he feels like it.

"Look at this, it's ridiculous," he says, scrolling through the responses to his latest post. One is from comedian Tommy Chong. Another is from singer Richard Marx. He just got a follow from lawyer and author Preet Bharara. Chapman can't even remember what it was that he posted, though it has 3.5 million impressions in six hours. He goes back and looks. Oh yeah, it's a government official warning Americans not to put their hands on their faces or in their mouths to help stop the spread of coronavirus. She then licks her finger to turn to the next page of her speech.

"We're bringing people together, man. One stupid video at a time."

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Rex Chapman is a comeback story and a Twitter feed for our time - ESPN