mike bloomberg
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Twitter suspends 70 accounts posting identical pro-Bloomberg content
Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign has been much shorter than his competitors and, so far, much louder. With a huge budget, it's paid for posts by social media influencers as well as standard advertisements. However, the LA Times reports that on Friday, Twitter suspended some 70-odd accounts for breaking its rules against "against platform manipulation and spam." According to Twitter, this wasn't just a ban impacting some full-on bots, but it wiped out accounts sending out identical pro-Bloomberg messages. One shown in the tweet read, "A President Is Born: Barbra Streisand sings Mike's praises. Check out her tweet." While some bans could be permanent, other accounts could be restored if the account holder verifies they still have control. According to the LAT, many of the accounts they looked at had only been created in the last few months, A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal reported the campaign was hiring "deputy digital organizers" that might do everything from phone banking to social media posts, but if they want to keep their accounts, then they'll probably want to vary slightly from the recommended messaging.
Facebook plans to clarify when pro-Bloomberg posts come from staffers
Thanks to Mike Bloomberg, Facebook wants to make it more obvious when paid campaign staffers share posts promoting candidates, CNBC reports. This is a direct response to Bloomberg paying organizers to post on social media, but it could apply to any campaign staffers sharing political views on Facebook.
Mike Bloomberg is paying Instagram influencers to hype his campaign
Before this week, social media networks like Instagram were one of the few places where you could escape the advertising reach of billionaire presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg. Not so anymore. According to The New York Times, Bloomberg is working with a company called Meme 2020 to try and reach out to young voters. But rather than convincing them to vote for him based on his policies, Bloomberg is instead attempting to secure votes by going viral.
Uber shuts down New York City taxi beta, may see light at the end of the (Lincoln) tunnel in February (update: TLC responds)
Uber has been having a tough time getting a foothold in New York City, and it's temporarily withdrawing the UberTaxi service it had in beta. The withdrawal isn't entirely for the reasons you'd expect, however. While Uber claims to have been getting grief from the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission for offering a competing (if technically legal) service through its smartphone apps, the program's end was due to demand rather than any kind of outright ban -- the Commission's pressure reportedly kept Uber from matching interest with enough yellow cabs. Black car service is still on for those who don't mind the classic ride. Should that uncomfortable balance not be quite good enough, Mayor Bloomberg is promising a truce come February, when a shift in contracts will let New York change the rules and hopefully improve the market for taxi alternatives. Update: TLC Commissioner David Yassky has weighed in with both an elaboration and claims that the Commission has been in favor of newer technology for awhile. He notes that the contracts expiring in February relate to exclusive payment arrangements with Creative Mobile Technologies and VeriFone, and that apps of all kinds (Uber's included) can compete for attention at that point. His full statement: "In recent months, as e-hail apps have emerged, TLC has undertaken serious diligence and is moving toward rule changes that will open the market to app developers and other innovators. Those changes cannot legally take place until our existing exclusive contracts expire in February. We are committed to making it as easy as possible to get a safe, legal ride in a New York City taxi, and are excited to see how emerging technology can improve that process. Our taxis have always been on the cutting edge of technological innovation, from GPS systems to credit card readers."
NYC's Made in New York Digital Map lets you see who's hiring in the tech field
You can't deny Mike Bloomberg's often coming up with different ways to involve New Yorkers in tech-related bits. On this occasion, Mayor Bloomberg & Co. have introduced a novel way for citizens of The Big Apple -- and others who plan on making the move -- to find jobs in the technology sector. Dubbed "Made in New York Digital Map," the service aims to make it easier for folks to see which tech companies are seeking engineers, designers, developers, etc. At the moment there's more than 325 outfits looking for new hires, with over "thousands of jobs" being up for grabs. Mayor Bloomberg says this is only the beginning and he's encouraging startups to set up shop here in the City, as he believes this "is the place to be if you're a growing tech startup." You can take a tour of the Digital Map now via the source link below.
Chevy Volts invade NYC police fleet, give cops all new ways to taze bros
New York's boys in blue will soon be able to creep up on evildoers with even more subtlety, thanks to some new electrified vehicles the city unveiled yesterday. As part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's environmentally-friendly PlaNYC initiative, 70 new EVs have been added to the city's fleet of public cars, in the hopes of lowering emissions and creating a "greener, greater New York City." Joining the force are ten Ford Transit Connect cargo vans, ten Navi-star E-star trucks and a full 50 Chevy Volts -- some of which will be used as NYPD squad cars. These newcomers will be shared among nine different departments, joining 360 other city plug-ins already purring their way across the five boroughs. Bloomberg is also working toward adding EVs to New York's army of 13,000 taxis -- which we're totally cool with, as long as they're not minivans. Zip past the break for a rather Homeric press release.
New York City marks April 16th as Foursquare Day, Mayor feeling good about his chances
16 is the product of squaring four, so naturally the date of April 16th is the most logical one to be called Foursquare Day. Just why such a celebration should exist is less obvious. As it turns out, a grassroots movement of Foursquare users built up steam around the idea of dedicating a day to the online check-in service, that concept then filtered through to Foursquare's founders who decided to go "100% in on this," and now, somewhat surprisingly, so has New York City Mayor (the elected one) Mike Bloomberg. As Mike sees it, Foursquare represents a fine example of NYC's startup-friendly environment, which is why he's giving it and its heretofore informal Foursquare Day celebration the official NYC seal of approval. He even went so far as to deliver a Mayoral Proclamation to the Foursquare offices, which you can see for yourself after the break.
