hashtags
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YouTube rolls out hashtag landing pages to all users
This week, Google completed the rollout of new landing pages that organize videos using metadata tags.
YouTube begins embracing the hashtag
When you visit YouTube on Android or the web, you might come across something you probably associate more with Twitter or Facebook: hashtags. The video platform now allows uploaders to add hashtags to their descriptions and video titles to make it easier for viewers to find their channels and content. Like in other places on the internet, YouTube's hashtags are clickable and will bring up a results page with other videos tagged with the same thing. The website will even display the top three hashtags at the bottom of the video and above its title.
Instagram users can now link to hashtags and profiles in their bios
Hashtags are incredibly important to the way Instagram operates; back in December, the social network began allowing people to follow hashtags like they do profiles. Now the company is bringing them even more front and center. Starting today, Instagram is allowing users to link to both hashtags and profile links in their bios. Now, when you include a "#" or "@" in your bio, it will automatically become a live link that will lead to a hashtag or profile page.
Instagram now allows you to follow hashtags like regular accounts
Hashtags are key to discoverability on Instagram, as Engadget Editor Dan Cooper discovered when he spent a month trying to accumulate 100,000 followers on the service. And now, Instagram has made it even easier to use them, thanks to a new feature that allows you to follow hashtags.
Hashtags help survivors break their silence
Last Friday, the Washington Post revealed a video recorded in 2005 of Donald Trump and Access Hollywood co-host Billy Bush engaged in a lewd and crass discussion about women. Caught on a hot mic, Trump said that he can grab women "by the pussy," that he starts kissing them without waiting for consent and that he can get away with it because he's a "star." Trump has since come under fire for his remarks, not just because they are vulgar, but because what he is describing is sexual assault.
Breaking up in the time of Twitter
For nearly 10 years, we shared everything, but it never occurred to me that sharing a four-digit PIN could ruin it all.
Mapping project catalogs Instagram sunrises from around the world
Have you noticed the wealth of sunrise and sunset photos on Instagram? Michelle Chandra certainly has, and her project offers a look at the sun's activity around the world in real time. "All Our Suns" gathers snapshots upload with either the #sunrise or #sunset hashtag, using the posts to populate a set of data-driven maps. Two of the crowdsourced cartography pieces catalog every image that's uploaded during the course of a 24-hour period -- one for sunrises and one for sunsets based on a user's location. What's more, you can click on a location marker to view the photo. A third map notes times when two people are posting at the same time, with one updating the beginning and the other observing the end of a day. The whole thing is a study on how our lives literally revolve around the sun and how social networks illustrate time as a never-ending loop.
Twitter revamps trends to explain why a topic is popular
Peeking at what's trending on Twitter ensures you don't miss anything, but sometimes a hashtag's meaning isn't obvious. For those strange-looking acronyms, subjects and unfamiliar names, the 140-character social network tweaked the way its Android and iOS apps handle trends. On the top chart, there are descriptions for each item that not only decodes a hashtag, but explains why the subject is a hot topic. The company nixed the Discover and Activity tabs too, and all the details on what's popular now reside in Search. Unfortunately, the new workflow is only available on mobile in the US for now, but it'll arrive in more locales, and on the desktop, "in the future." Revamped trends follows the recent change to quote retweets so that they don't eat up that valuable character allotment -- both of which make Twitter's own software more attractive.
Twitter helps you keep track of NFL action with curated timelines
While you're sitting on the sofa watching your NFL team of choice take the field, you're likely peeking at a mobile device for updates, too. If that's the case, Twitter is looking to lend a hand this season with curated timelines for action around the league and game-specific options. In the #NFL timeline, you can see what the folks you follow are saying with "relevant tweets" from teams, players, coaches, media and celebrities peppered in to keep you in the know. For the game-focused feed (#SeahawksvsPackers or #SEAvsGB for example), everything is distilled down to what you need to watch that particular matchup. If that sounds a bit familiar it's because the social network did the same thing during the World Cup, and now it's looking to keep American football fans well-informed. For now, the timelines are only available on iOS and the web, so Android users will have to sit tight for the time being.
New Twitter feature labels #hashtags you may not recognize
My feed is currently littered with hashtags I've never seen before. Iberia (the Spanish airline) tweeted with #ttot (Travel Talk on Twitter), Al Gore used #CRinBrazil (Climate Reality in Brazil) and Verizon posted something with #MobileBKsweeps (no clue). Things can get even more confusing during evening hours on the East Coast, when tags like #TWD (The Walking Dead), #AHSFX (American Horror Story) and #HIMYM (How I Met Your Mother) might appear. A quick trip to Google typically clears things up, but most of the time it's simply not worth the hassle. According to #WSJ, Twitter's now testing a tool that would help bring some clarity to those cryptic tags, in an attempt to make the service more user-friendly. The Wall Street Journal noticed expanded hashtags in Twitter's iOS app, and while reps declined to comment, it appears that the new feature is beginning to roll out. #itsabouttime.
Hitpoint's #Dungeon to start building rooms from tweets on July 4
#Dungeon, the roguelike that will build labyrinths by converting tweets into monster-filled chambers, will start its social media adventure on July 4 on PC, Mac and Android. The date was tweeted on the game's official Twitter account, paired with hashtags that make us wonder what sort of room a release date tweet would make. If you're a little too eager to wait that long, developer Hitpoint's recent post to Indie DB notes that a closed alpha should be "happening soon." Further details will be made available on the #Dungeon Twitter account, so keep an eye on that if you're dying to know what a series of #swag tweets will build. Considering #Dungeon is slated for July 4, we're pretty curious about what the #Murcia sections will look like, too. [Image: Hitpoint Games]
Tumblr search update makes it easier to find the perfect GIF
With over 154 million blogs on Tumblr, finding just what you're looking for can be a chore. Luckily, the company has made it easier by announcing a beefed up search function. The Yahoo-owned site can now process search requests with multiple hashtagged words or phrases, such as "#engadget #expand." Leaving the pound sign out produces more robust search results -- returning both officially tagged entries and ones that simply contain the query text. To make its explicit content filter more visible and less confusing, Tumblr moved it to the redesigned results page, which now also boasts a Filter menu that segregates posts by type. Finally, a scrollbar that displays relevant blogs joins these two features, which should make it easier to find new friends if yours left for greener pastures.
Tweetdeck for Mac update adds composition pane, auto-suggested hashtags
Mac users are finally living in the future Twitter promised them back in August. The micro-blogging service recently updated the Tweetdeck Mac app to include the dedicated composition field the web and Chrome app got a few months ago, as well as auto-suggested hashtags and usernames. What's more, you can reply to tweets inline and preview images before blasting them out to your followers, too. It might seem like the Mac version is third in line for support, but hey, at least it's still there.
Google Search adds support for hashtags, pulls related info from Google+
The latest way Google is working social media into its search engine is with the use of familiar hashtags, but at least for now that doesn't include direct results from competitors like Facebook and Twitter. Available initially to users in the US and Canada, searches that include hashtags (like #ExpandNY, for example) will gain a right rail display relevant Google+ posts that were either shared publicly or to you. Even if you're not an avid user of the #, since Google+ autogenerates hashtags for many posts, it should be easy to find related info for pretty much any topic. According to Zaheed Sabur, there are also links to search said hashtag on other social sites, although which ones weren't specified. Even if you're in the right area you probably won't see the new feature just yet, as it's going live "within the next few hours."
Vine for Android update brings mentions, autocompleting hashtags
Vine proved you can do a lot with six seconds of video, and thanks to its latest Android update you can do even more. Version 1.3.4 brings a couple of usability fixes to help the world see your valiant attempts at short-form comedy, including @ mentions in posts and comments and autocompletion for hashtags. The changelog notes "other bugs fixes and improvements" too, but the takeaway here is that the Google version is just about on par with the iOS one. Now, could you please hurry along and make one of those rad stop-motion clips for us? Thanks.
#Leaving: Chris Messina exits Google for NeonMob's digital art platform
If it weren't for Chris Messina, #FirstWorldProblems wouldn't exist. Since creating hashtags back in 2007 as way of grouping online conversations, he's spent his time focusing on design and the open web at Google. Perhaps more accurately, redesign. Messina is responsible for the search giant's revamped brand badges, profiles and +1 button, as well as helping create the Google Developers knowledge base. After over three years at Mountain View's cavernous digs though, he's leaving for something a little more intimate. Starting next week, he'll call NeonMob -- a sort of online art / trading card / sticker collecting-hybrid start-up -- home. There, he'll focus on the site's growth and new media-activities like building a community. Oh, and as of right now, he's two pieces shy of completing his first sticker set. Maybe if you help him out, he'll return the favor -- it kind of is his job, after all.
Google+ gets a new multi-column card design and ability to automatically add hashtags (update: video)
Today at Google I/O 2013, Big G revealed a big redesign for Google+. Starting later today, users will see their content in a multi-column setup fit for any size screen. The home page for G+ now has up to three columns populated with individual cards for posts and pictures, and the social network can intelligently learn the content of those posts and automatically add related hashtags for you. Columns appear or disappear depending upon the size of your screen, and cards can be flipped to reveal editing options, or moved to suit users' aesthetic tastes. Should you have the requisite screen real estate, pictures and videos expand to the width of multiple columns to further provide a more visually pleasing social experience. In order to eliminate clutter, Google + has adopted a familiar looking left-side menu layout that disappears until a hovering cursor (or presumably a swiping finger) reveals it. Update: You can see the new layout and auto hashtagging in action in the video after the break.
Twitter search improved with 'real-time human computation,' teaches you what trendy hashtags mean
Twitter's pretty often enhancing its microblogging platform by adding plenty of new features, and the latest changes could very well be among the most useful ones. Via its Engineering Blog, Twitter has gone into detail about how it has improved search within its social network, noting that a "real-time computation" system has been built to help "identify search queries as soon as they're trending, send these queries to real humans to be judged, and then incorporate the human annotations into our back-end models." What this means, essentially, is you'll now be able to learn more about what the service's millions (and millions) of users are talking about, helping you discover what the most popular topics are all about -- you know, something like #notimpressed or #tigerblood. The company's blog post is rather thorough on how the search improvements work, so be sure to hit the source link below if you'd like to learn a little more about the recent tweaks.
Twitter post-to-Facebook integration adds photos, tags and links, makes wild nights more regrettable
Twitter has long had the option to send updates to Facebook, but most of what makes Twitter unique has been stripped out while cross-posting the night's escapades. That's been fixed just in time for the weekend. As of now, Twitter has confirmed to The Next Web that updates will automatically display the first photo as well as link Twitter users' names and any hashtags. The change isn't automatic and will require a quick on-and-off flick of the cross-posting setting before the gobs of extra information make the trip to Facebook. It's just as well -- we'd really rather not make it any easier for Aunt Mildred to see photos of our weekend benders.
Be thankful you don't have to play these Rejected Darkmoon Faire Minigames
As you might know from our video tour, the new Darkmoon Faire island coming in patch 4.3 is loaded up with carnival-style minigames you can play with purchasable tickets. Faire-goers can look forward to playing games like Tonk Battle, Whack-a-Gnoll, and Ring Toss, but you have to figure ... what games did Blizzard consider before adding the ones we get in 4.3? We started guessing on Twitter, then let the WoW Twitter community take over with the #RejectedDarkmoonFaireMinigames hashtag. Unsurprisingly, you guys killed it. Here are a few of our favorites from the hundreds of entries we got.
