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Microsoft Teams takes on Facebook groups with community hubs
Microsoft Teams now has community hubs that let you organize your local sports team or carpooling group.
Substack adds a chat feature to make it more of a social space
The chat feature is iOS-only for now and newsletter writers have control over the tone and topic of conversations.
Valve shares a trailer for the first ‘Left 4 Dead 2’ update in years
Valve says a community-led update is coming to 'Left 4 Dead 2.'
The next ‘Sims 4’ expansion is all about sustainable living
A new sustainability-focused expansion pack is coming to The Sims 4 on June 5th.
Facebook’s new Messenger hub shares tips for staying connected virtually
Today, Facebook launched a new "Messenger Coronavirus Community Hub," which so far basically just explains how people, communities and businesses can use Messenger to stay connected during the coronavirus pandemic. If you already use Messenger, this isn't going to introduce any groundbreaking ideas or features. Instead, the hub will provide tips like how parents and educators, for example, can host virtual playdates or use voice and video calls to check in on students and colleagues.
What's coming to Netflix in April: 'Community' and a ton of originals
It's been a while since we've published one of these, but present circumstances being what they are, we thought people would appreciate knowing what's coming to Netflix next month. Thankfully, there are a lot of new originals and back catalog additions to look forward to while stuck at home.
Reddit subreddits can now create their own community rewards
After several months of testing, Reddit announced today that it is rolling out a new feature called Community Awards for all eligible subreddits. The feature will allow moderators of communities on the site to create their own Reddit Gold-style medals that can be awarded to users and displayed next to their username on the subreddit.
Google will work with LGBTQ+ groups on harassment policies
In the wake of YouTube's controversial decision not to pull videos containing homophobic and racist attacks, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote an internal email acknowledging that "the LGBTQ+ community has felt a lot of pain and frustration over recent events." While a few Google execs have already apologized for YouTube's decision, Pichai's email carries more weight given his position. The email, obtained by The Verge, also suggests that Google plans to conduct more internal discussions aimed at addressing its harassment policies.
Reddit's 'Change My View' community becomes a dedicated site
Reddit is known for a handful of communities that have taken on a life of their own, and that includes communities taking their efforts off Reddit entirely. The creator of the popular r/changemyview subreddit, Kal Turnbull, has launched a Change My View site that expands his concept of civil discourse beyond what Reddit could offer. It uses the basic forum structure and rules, but relies on paid moderators, a log of moderation actions, and the Perspective comment ranking system from Alphabet's tech incubator Jigsaw (which also provided a degree of funding) to automatically scrub some abusive behavior.
Glitch launches its 'YouTube for app creators'
Fog Creek Software (led by well-known entrepreneur Anil Dash) has spent about a year testing Glitch, a sort of YouTube for app creators where people can create, modify and host code in an easy to use, collaborative environment. And now, it's ready for public consumption: Glitch has dropped the beta tag and is now officially available to everyone. The site lets you upload working code for everything from websites to VR experiences, and encourages you to "remix" them regardless of your skill level. You don't even have to figure out where to launch them, as Glitch automatically hosts your work.
Twitch updates policies on hate speech, harassment and sexual content
The fight against online hate speech and harassment continues to gain momentum. Twitter's new policies against such behavior went live last November, while Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg began the new year with a new pledge to combat abuse and hate, too. Now video game live-streaming platform Twitch has updated its community guidelines to be clearer about what constitutes harassment, hate speech, and sexual content, which are all already prohibited. The new rules will go into effect February 19th at 9:00 AM Pacific Time.
Facebook's new community tools help you become a mentor
Facebook is once again hosting a Social Good Forum, and that means a new suite of tools and updates to help communities. To start, there's a Mentorship and Support feature that helps mentors and would-be learners connect with each other to step through guided nonprofit programs. Also, the social network is eliminating fees for donations to nonprofits -- you can be sure that every bit of money you contribute will go to those that need it.
Grindr adds more transgender-inclusive features
Grindr is rolling out new features to be more inclusive of transgender members. User profiles now include a new "identity" feature that includes options for listing gender and preferred pronouns. Members can pick from a list of common gender identities such as "trans man", "woman", "cis man", "non-binary, "non-conforming" and "queer", or specify their own identity if it doesn't appear on the list. Pronouns such as "he/him/his", "she/her/hers" and "they/them/theirs" can also be chosen, or specific pronouns written if not listed. Writing throughout the website has also been updated to include gender neutral terms.
'Pokémon Go' developer buys social animation startup Evertoon
Game developer Niantic has become a well-known name since it released Pokémon Go to massive popularity last summer. Unfortunately, the game has recently seen a rather sharp decline in its active user community in the past year and a half. Perhaps that explains the company's recent acquisition of a relatively unknown startup, Evertoon, which makes an app for creating animations with customized avatars. "Today I am excited to announce that we have acquired the Evertoon team," wrote Niantic boss John Hanke, "who bring with them a wealth of talent and experience in mobile products, tools for creativity, and community building."
Your solar panels could power the neighborhood during a blackout
A new set of algorithms could make it possible for renewable energy-generating homes to not only access their power reserves during outages, but share their resources with their neighbours -- a move which could play a significant role in disaster relief efforts. Self-sufficiency is an attractive factor when it comes to domestic renewable energy, but even though it's the sun generating electricity, owners of solar panels are still beholden to the grid. During an outage, their equipment powers down for safety reasons, and it's impossible to draw on the renewably-generated electricity that's waiting to be used. We've seen companies produce kit to overcome this before -- Tesla's Powerwall home battery system can untether a home from the grid for a few hours, for example -- but researchers from the University of California San Diego want to scale up the technology to have a wider and more meaningful impact.
YouTube wants you to translate video descriptions
YouTube has had community-sourced subtitle translations since 2015, but they're only useful if people can find the videos in the first place... what about labeling the videos? You now have a chance to help. The internet video service has expanded its Community Contributions to let you translate video titles and descriptions, not just captions. If you think a video in your preferred language would be helpful elsewhere in the world, you don't have to ask the clip creator to do you a favor.
Public Access' time is done, but a better Engadget community awaits
It's been just shy of two years since we unveiled Public Access, our grand experiment in community contribution. In that time, we've seen some excellent stories published on the platform by you, and we are grateful for those efforts. Today, however, we are moving the Engadget community in a new direction and will be shutting Public Access down this Thursday, March 9th. For those of you in the community, you can rest assured your contributions aren't going anywhere -- the links to your stories will remain live and shareable, even though your profile pages will disappear. That said, we will be removing all site navigation to Public Access stories, so you need to copy the links to your stuff if you want to be able to read and share them moving forward. And, if you have any questions, just email publicaccess at engadget dot com, and we'll answer them! While your Public Access profile will be no more, you can (and should) sign up for an Engadget account that'll let you continue contributing to the Engadget community by submitting comments and gadget reviews. We've got some new features (including new and improved profile pages) planned for our community that are coming soon, so sign up, tell us what you think, and enjoy the ride!
How a 3D-printed boat race united a Red Hook community
Last Sunday, nearly 500 people gathered at Valentino Pier in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to cheer on close to 20 radio-controlled boats as they sped toward a target 150 feet away. The boat races were part of the second annual Red Hook Regatta, which was born last year as a means to highlight the area's history as a freight port, as well as the work of local youth. The competing vessels, which were either handmade or 3D-printed, were created to showcase the expertise of Red Hook's so-called Digital Stewards.
YouTube becomes more social with the Community tab
As rumored, YouTube has launched the Community tab in a public beta, making the site more like a social network by letting creators post text, GIFs, live video and more. Mobile users will see the new content in their "Subscriptions" feed and can also get push notifications. It will launch in beta with the Vlogbrothers, The Kloons, AsapScience and just a few other select channels, for now.
Google Spaces helps you share things with small groups
Apparently, Google+ refocusing on communities just wasn't enough. Google has introduced Spaces, an app for Android, iOS and the web that's designed solely for sharing experiences in small groups. All you have to do is start a topic, invite a few people (no, they don't need Google+) and you're off to the races -- there's a conversational view that makes sure you see whatever's going on. Chrome, search and YouTube are built-in, so you don't have to hop between apps to find a relevant story or video.
