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Robin Williams’ Instagram account brought back to fight ‘AI abuse’

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Robin Williams' children are taking over their father's Instagram account after his daughter spoke out against the use of his AI likeness, as reported earlier by The Wrap . In a post on Tuesday , Zak, Zelda, and Cody Williams write that they want the late actor's Instagram profile to be a "safe, trusted place where the stories, photos, videos, and memories shared reflect his legacy with authenticity, warmth, and care." A story posted to Zelda Williams' own Instagram account expands on the decision to bring back her father's profile, saying that it's meant to help combat "rampant AI abuse," according to The Wrap : I'm sorry if anyone found Da … Read the full story at The Verge. * This article was originally published here

Mark Zuckerberg has an Instagzam

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Instagram's wordmark is iconic. Well, was iconic. Apparently Instagram thought it looked old, so the company rolled out a new one this week. It doesn't look like the old Instagram wordmark. It doesn't even look like it spells Instagram anymore. And we cannot figure out why Instagram decided to do this. On this episode of The Vergecast , David and Nilay start by discussing the new logo, the executive urge to redesign everything all the time, and whether new is always better. After that, they get into the other big Meta release of the week: Mark Zuckerberg's many-thousand-word missive on the future of AI. There are a lot of ideas and proposals … Read the full story at The Verge. * This article was originally published here

This is Instagram’s new logo

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It’s certainly… different. | Image: Meta Instagram has unveiled a new wordmark, moving away from the recognizable cursive typeface it's used over the last decade. The updated wordmark is a strange mix of half-cursive, half-print that's somehow less legible than its predecessor. Like, that totally says "Instagzam," right? "The wordmark at the top of the app hasn't changed in 10 years, so it was time for a refresh," Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced on his account . "Cleaner and more modern, with references to the original and the simplicity and craft that's always made it Instagram." Mosseri is seemingly aware that this will be a controversial change, because he also posted it … Read the full story at The Verge. * This article was originally published here

The vertical video takeover is here

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This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on all things vertical video, follow David Pierce . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started For a while, every social and media platform had its own identity. YouTube was for clips of TV shows and movies, and the home of so many members of a burgeoning creator community. Instagram was mostly pictures. Netflix was trying to be the on-demand HBO. Facebook was about friends. Twitter was about news. Snapchat was a messaging app. All these apps did have one important … Read the full story at The Verge. * This article was originally published here

Instagram will let users endlessly swap the audio on old posts

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There's a symbiotic - and sometimes frustrating - relationship between social media sites and the creators that depend on them. Platforms need influencers' and creators' content to keep consumers on their apps; the creators, in turn, need to be able to reach those audiences to justify creating their content in the first place. Creators want a seamless way to make and disseminate their content while being able to make money; audiences want a bottomless feed of entertaining things to look at. And platforms need to keep both parties relatively happy. Over the last few months, Instagram has added a slew of features that are helpful for creator … Read the full story at The Verge. * This article was originally published here

Instagram and Facebook will likely require a redesign after EU rules they’re ‘addictive’

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Meta is in breach of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), a preliminary investigation has found, over the "addictive" design of Instagram and Facebook. It's likely to be forced to redesign both apps and could face a fine of up to $12 billion. The European Commission said Meta "did not adequately assess the risks of its addictive design on the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults." It singled out features like personalized recommendations, autoplay, and infinite scroll, arguing that they "fuel the user's urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain into 'autopilot mode.'" The report also criticizes th … Read the full story at The Verge. * This article was originally published here

Instagram’s Adam Mosseri: If you don’t like AI, ‘then you shouldn’t have it in your feed’

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Though Instagram head Adam Mosseri doesn't want to filter out AI content on the platform, he argues that you "shouldn't have it in your feed" if you don't like it. "I don't think we should filter out AI content," Mosseri said during an interview on Lenny Rachitsky's podcast . "I think we should let you know if content is AI content or not." At the same time, Mosseri seems to be drawing a distinction between content-based sorting and banning AI from the platform entirely. In fact, he believes people who love AI content "should be able to have a feed that's just AI town." Instagram, like many other platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, and Fac … Read the full story at The Verge. * This article was originally published here