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Why Startups Shouldn't Rely Solely on Gig Marketplaces for Developers

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Title: Why Startups Shouldn't Rely Solely on Gig Marketplaces for Developers
Author: Me
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

You’ve got a big idea for the next best app, and want to get a piece of the 2016 tech economy pie: The problem is, you’re not a develo...

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You’ve got a big idea for the next best app, and want to get a piece of the 2016 tech economy pie: The problem is, you’re not a developer, and you lack the financial resources to hire someone full-time to build your app. As someone already involved in the startup world, you turn to your contacts.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Related: <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/251198" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2093d2; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">How Much Support Do Employers Owe Contract Workers?</a></span></div>
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But their three pieces of advice don't work out: 1) None of your friends are developers. 2) You search for a technical co-founder, without finding a good fit. </div>
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And, 3) when you investigate their third piece of advice, <a href="https://www.fiverr.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2093d2; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Fiverr</a>, the marketplace for professional services, that doesn't turn out well, either. </div>
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Not that things don't seem promising, initially. “Get the next Zuckerberg to work for you,” touts the marketing copy on the website's Programming & Tech landing page. And, indeed, you believe you’ve found the silver bullet to app development for non-technical founders. After all, the prices are dirt cheap. The developers on the site claim to have deep expertise. And you're convinced you can get a minimum viable product (MVP) delivered to you within days. What could be better?</div>
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But hiring a contractor for all of your initial app development isn't that easy. I've run an app development firm for years, so no one is a bigger proponent than I am of startups working with remote technical teams. The problem is that contract developers work best when they augment, not replace, internal employees.</div>
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Entrepreneurs who hire someone from a gig marketplace to build their app very simply put themselves at risk of a series of issues associated with intellectual property, product quality and developer continuity that can significantly hurt their ability to grow their businesses. Here are those issues:</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">1. Intellectual property complications</span></h2>
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Many of the developers available on gig marketplaces are based outside the United States, which can add complications to ensuring the safety of intellectual property. Even if you ask a contract developer to sign an NDA, agreements with freelancers in foreign countries can be difficult, if not impossible, to enforce.</div>
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Relying solely on contractors can also add complications to the process of raising money. If you plan to look for outside funding after building an MVP, angel investors or VCs will look into who built your product, as part of their due diligence. Any investor will want assurance that there won’t be intellectual property issues down the road, and NDAs that seem minimally enforceable at best may well scare them off.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">2. Lack of continuity for ongoing development and maintenance</span></h2>
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Even if a contractor does a good job building the MVP, you can run into a variety of issues related to updating and maintaining the app, in the event the contractor doesn’t wish to continue working with you. Hopefully, the code is clean, and the person you hired to build the app has kept thorough documentation of the development process.</div>
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Otherwise, transitioning the work to another developer will likely be incredibly inefficient, with a new engineer taking days or weeks to fully understand the app depending on its complexity. In a worst-case scenario, your new developer may suggest rebuilding the app from scratch.</div>
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Development-continuity issues can also occur if you decide to scale your technical team. Even if the original contractor is still working with you, there’s no guarantee that this person has done a sufficiently good job maintaining development documentation to help ramp-up additional developers on the project.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Related: <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/229835" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2093d2; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">7 Steps to Hiring the Perfect Mobile App Developer </a></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">3. Technical issue management</span></h2>
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While many non-technical founders are great communicators, and can give developers a clear idea of what they’re looking for in an app, difficulties can arise when it comes to managing the project. Without at least some knowledge of code structure, it’s hard to know whether the developer is doing a good job, and even harder to address issues in the event something goes wrong.</div>
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For instance, if you don’t feel that the app is as fast as you’d like it to be, a contract developer might say, “There’s very little I can do to make this app faster because of the nature of your project.” If the app seems unstable, the engineer could respond, “This is good enough for the MVP. It would take me weeks or months to build a more stable app.”</div>
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Since you can’t evaluate the code, and the person you’re trusting to see the project through is someone who is not directly invested in the company, the way a technical co-founder or friend would be, it can be hard to push back effectively on technical issues.</div>
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Founders often hire outside developers to build their MVP, not because it’s the only option but because it seems like the fastest, easiest and cheapest way forward. But before you rely solely on contractors to build your app, leave no stone unturned in your network looking for someone you trust who is not only willing to build your MVP at a reduced rate or in exchange for equity, but excited about what you’re trying to accomplish.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Related: <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244312" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2093d2; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">3 Must-Use Ways to Find an App Developer</a></span></div>
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Beyond alleviating concerns associated with intellectual property, continuity in development and technical issue management, a person who shares your vision for success will do a much better job developing the app than someone who is just doing it for the paycheck.</div>
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@ https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/269735</div>
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Why Startups Shouldn't Rely Solely on Gig Marketplaces for Developers

You’ve got a big idea for the next best app, and want to get a piece of the 2016 tech economy pie: The problem is, you’re not a develo...

Facebook is looking into the possibility of buying its own video content from creative partners

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Title: Facebook is looking into the possibility of buying its own video content from creative partners
Author: Me
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Facebook is looking into the possibility of buying its own video content from creative partners, including original scripted and unscript...

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Facebook is looking into the possibility of buying its own video content from creative partners, including original scripted and unscripted shows, as well as sports. The desire is to help “kickstart” an overall “ecosystem of partner content,” according to College Humor co-founder and recent Facebook team employee Ricky Van Veen speaking to <a href="http://www.recode.net/2016/12/14/13955348/facebook-original-video" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Recode</a>.</div>
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This isn’t entirely new territory for Facebook; the company has done deals with media organizations that provides them revenue in exchange for using its Facebook Live video broadcasting platform, for instance. Those were aimed at getting outlets with audiences creating exclusive content solely for Facebook, as a way to drive eyeballs to the new format.</div>
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Facebook buying its own content, both from the outset and via licensing, which it also says it would  consider as part of its plans, could result in a more Netflix or Amazon Prime Video-style outcome, with owned content as a driver for the rest and vice versa. Facebook looks more inclined to use anything it produces as primarily a spark for getting third-parties creating, however.</div>
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But why even bother? Facebook has a lot of video on the platform already, and it’s user-generated content, which is low-cost and low intensity in terms of effort required in its creation.</div>
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The answer might be in the nature of the destination it wants video to be. Right now, it’s a pretty scattered experience; video is mostly interspersed throughout a user’s timeline, and on dedicated sections of individual pages. Facebook added a video tab to the site earlier this year, but it’s still not really a destination in the way you’d navigate to other video sites, apps or outlets.</div>
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Creating their own library of original content, including big audience draws like sports, could help Facebook chart a better path towards monetization on the platform both for itself and other partners who are already using the network to push their videos. And ultimately that will lead to more video content, which will in turn result in bigger, stickier audience and those lovely, lovely DAUs that FB loves so well.</div>
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Still, this isn’t a done deal, as Van Veen only said that they’re “exploring” the idea of funding original content. Even an exploration by Facebook in this area should be enough to make traditional cable and satellite providers stand up and start strategizing, however, since the social network’s outsized audience only stands to accelerate the general trend toward online viewing.</div>
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Of course, this also would make Facebook pretty irrefutably a media company, which is interesting given its stance on how its algorithms handle news distribution currently.</div>
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@ https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/facebook-exploring-creation-of-its-own-original-video-content/</div>
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Facebook is looking into the possibility of buying its own video content from creative partners

Facebook is looking into the possibility of buying its own video content from creative partners, including original scripted and unscript...

Facebook now flags and down-ranks fake news with help from outside fact checkers (FB add warnings to fake news)

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Title: Facebook now flags and down-ranks fake news with help from outside fact checkers (FB add warnings to fake news)
Author: Me
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Snopes, FactCheck.org, Politifact, ABC News, and AP will help Facebook make good on four of the six promises Mark Zuckerberg made abo...

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Snopes, FactCheck.org, Politifact, ABC News, and <a href="https://blog.ap.org/announcements/the-fight-against-fake-news" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">AP</a> will help Facebook make good on four of the six <a href="https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10103253901916271" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">promises Mark Zuckerberg made</a> about fighting fake news without it becoming “the arbiter of truth.” <a href="http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/12/news-feed-fyi-addressing-hoaxes-and-fake-news/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">It will make fake news posts less visible</a>, append warnings from fact checkers to fake news in the feed, make reporting hoaxes easier and disrupt the financial incentives of fake news spammers.</div>
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“We’re not looking to get into the grey area of opinion,” Facebook’s VP of News Feed Adam Mosseri tells me. “What we are focusing on with this work is specifically the worst of the work — clear hoaxes that were shared intentionally, usually by spammers, for financial gain.”</div>
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Facebook will now refer to fact-checking services that adhere to <span class="s2" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://www.poynter.org/fact-checkers-code-of-principles/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network fact-checkers’ code of principles</a> the most egregious and viral fake news articles flagged by users and algorithms. These include non-partisanship and fairness; transparency of sources, methodology and funding; and a commitment to corrections. Facebook is starting with the five above but hopes to grow that list to dozens to quickly get a consensus on a story’s accuracy. </span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="box-sizing: border-box;">If they confirm a story is fake, they notify Facebook through a special reporting website it exclusively built for them, and can include a link to a post debunking the article. Facebook will then show posts of those links lower in the News Feed. It will also attach a warning label noting “Disputed by [one or more of the fact checkers]” with a link to the debunking post on News Feed stories and in the status composer if users are about to share a dubious link, plus prohibit disputed stories from being turned into ads.</span></div>
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<img alt="sharing-disputed-story" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1428924" height="383" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/sharing-disputed-story.png?w=680&h=383" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/sharing-disputed-story.png?w=680&h=383 680w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/sharing-disputed-story.png?w=1360&h=766 1360w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/sharing-disputed-story.png?w=150&h=84 150w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/sharing-disputed-story.png?w=300&h=169 300w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/sharing-disputed-story.png?w=768&h=432 768w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="680" /></div>
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Facebook will only send the most popular potentially fake news stories to avoid inundating the fact-checkers; if publishers disagree with their labels they’ll have to take it up with the third-parties. Mosseri confirms that these fact-checking services won’t receive any payment from Facebook, but may get a traffic and branding boost from the debunk post links.</div>
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As for why services would do the fact-checking labor for free, Mosseri says, “We’ve been met with a lot of positivity. What we’re doing, we believe, is aligned wit their mission.” As for the risk of them too aggressively labeling stories as fake, Mosseri says. “I think that it’s going to be very public what they dispute, and it’s going to put them under healthy scrutiny. So If they just start disputing to try to get traffic, people will see what they’re disputing and call them out if there’s any issues…I think there’s checks and balances actually on both sides.”</div>
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Beyond warnings, Facebook is making it easier for users to report fake news with the top-right corner drop-down menu on News Feed. It will analyze whether people are significantly less likely to share an article after reading it, and use that as a signal that a post is low value and should be shown less prominently in the News Feed.</div>
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Spammy Facebook Pages that try to masquerade as legitimate publishers (think TechCrunch.co instead of the real TechCrunch.com) will have their stories shown less. And Facebook will continue to detect people commenting “fake” or “hoax” on links to power down-ranking and referrals to fact checkers.</div>
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Finally, Facebook is trying to hit purposeful fake news spreaders in the wallet. It will no longer allow domain spoofing in ads that previously spammers say an ad led to a legit publisher instead of their own site. Facebook will also scan landing pages of suspected fakers, and if they’re primarily just ad-covered spam sites potentially levy enforcement actions against them.</div>
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Mosseri admits that “We have multiple beliefs that are not at odds but do have some tension,” in reference to the balance between avoiding censorship of free speech and the need to thwart misinformation. “We believe in giving people a voice…but we also believe we have a responsibility to reduce the spread of fake news on Facebook.”</div>
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<img alt="report-story-as-fake1" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1428927" height="553" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/report-story-as-fake1.png?w=680&h=553" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/report-story-as-fake1.png?w=680&h=553 680w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/report-story-as-fake1.png?w=150&h=122 150w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/report-story-as-fake1.png?w=300&h=244 300w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/report-story-as-fake1.png?w=768&h=625 768w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/report-story-as-fake1.png 1328w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="680" /></div>
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The two areas for improvement Zuckerberg cited that Facebook is still working on are better classifiers to automatically detect fake news, and preventing fake news from appearing as “Related Articles” that appear below links. These updates will begin by rolling out in the U.S. where many of the fact checkers are based, but, Mosseri says, “we’ll be looking to expand this internationally as soon as we can.”</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Update</strong>: Zuckerberg has now<a href="https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10103338789106661?pnref=story" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> posted</a> some thoughts on today’s updates, noting that (emphasis mine):</div>
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“Facebook is a new kind of platform different from anything before it. I think of Facebook as a technology company, but I recognize we have a greater responsibility than just building technology that information flows through. While we don’t write the news stories you read and share, we also recognize we’re more than just a distributor of news. <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">We’re a new kind of platform for public discourse — and that means we have a new kind of responsibility</strong> to enable people to have the most meaningful conversations, and to build a space where people can be informed.”</div>
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As for how Facebook will handle all this on the backend, Mosseri says “There are both algorithms and humans involved.” Specifically, “a small team” of Facebook staffers will help check on fake news sites masquerading as real publishers, but “There’s no people involved in the sense that no one [from Facebook] is going to weigh in on whether these stories are true or false.” Algorithms will tally fake news signals and prioritize what’s sent to the fact checkers.</div>
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Disrupting fake news and banishing the most obvious cases from the feed is essential to keeping the world accurately informed. Indeed, 44 percent of U.S. adults have said they get news from Facebook, and its 1.8 billion users make the impact of hoaxes on the platform massive. Facebook will have to execute on these changes without appearing to lean to the left, as its leadership and employees are known to be liberal, exacerbating accusations that its Trends feature suppressed conservative stories.</div>
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If Facebook’s multi-prong approach can decrease the prevalence of fake news without becoming overbearing truth police, it could dismantle one of the greatest threats to its future as a core internet utility.</div>
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@ https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-now-flags-and-down-ranks-fake-news-with-help-from-outside-fact-checkers/</div>
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Facebook now flags and down-ranks fake news with help from outside fact checkers (FB add warnings to fake news)

Snopes, FactCheck.org, Politifact, ABC News, and AP will help Facebook make good on four of the six promises Mark Zuckerberg made abo...

Facebook Messenger strikes at Skype with desktop group voice calling

Link Author

Title: Facebook Messenger strikes at Skype with desktop group voice calling
Author: Me
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

We might finally get to stop asking, “Wait, what’s your Skype name?” thanks to a test of new Facebook group audio calling on desktop. Fac...

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We might finally get to stop asking, “Wait, what’s your Skype name?” thanks to a test of new Facebook group audio calling on desktop. Facebook launched <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/22/facebook-voip-not-facebook-phone/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">group voice calls on its mobile Messenger</a> app in April, and now it’s working out the kinks to bring the feature to your home and office. It could become a useful alternative to traditional conference calls by piggy-backing on Facebook’s ubiquitous identity platform.</div>
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Facebook confirms to me that this is a small test right now. Those with access will now see a phone icon on their group chats that they can hit to instantly invite the members to join the call.</div>
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<img alt="screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-10-26-09-am" class=" wp-image-1429443 alignright" height="441" sizes="(max-width: 319px) 100vw, 319px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-10-26-09-am.png?w=319&h=441" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-10-26-09-am.png?w=319&h=441 319w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-10-26-09-am.png?w=108&h=150 108w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-10-26-09-am.png?w=217&h=300 217w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-10-26-09-am.png 548w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; float: right; height: auto; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em; max-width: 100%;" width="319" />As messaging evolves beyond text and towards rich media, chat apps are racing to embrace voice and video.</div>
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Oculus launched <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/16/facebook-social-vr-rooms/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">VR-to-VR user voice calling today</a> with a feature called Parties. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/29/snapphone/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Snapchat added audio and video calling</a> in March. Google recently <a href="http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/08/17/googles-video-chat-app-duo-will-support-audio-calls-soon/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">announced</a> it will add audio-only calls to its new Duo video chat product.<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/02/slack-calls/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Slack added voice calling</a> on desktop in March, and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/13/slack-swips-at-skype-with-video-calls-and-reaction-emoji/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">video this week</a>. WhatsApp launched <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/14/whatsapp-video-calling/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">video calling </a>last month, and was seeing <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/24/whatsapp-hits-100-million-calls-per-day/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">100 million audio calls per day </a>as of June after launching the feature in 2015.</div>
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Facebook first started offering audio calling on desktop back in 2013, but now it’s making VoIP more social. Group chat has come into the spotlight lately thanks to the rise of<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/21/the-internet-third-place/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Houseparty. We profiled this group video chat app</a> from the makers of Meerkat last month, calling it the place where teens “livechill” instead of having to give exhausting solo performances on broadcasting services like Facebook Live. Then last week, Houseparty hit #4 on the overall iOS app charts and raised <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/video-chat-app-houseparty-racks-up-vc-interest-1481310391" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">$50 million</a> led by Sequoia.</div>
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We’ve long speculated that Facebook Messenger should launch its own group video chat feature, but there’s no telling when that will happen.\</div>
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@https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/16/desktop-group-audio-calling/</div>
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Facebook Messenger strikes at Skype with desktop group voice calling

We might finally get to stop asking, “Wait, what’s your Skype name?” thanks to a test of new Facebook group audio calling on desktop. Fac...

Facebook’s standalone Events app that launched in October on iOS is launching on Android today.

Link Author

Title: Facebook’s standalone Events app that launched in October on iOS is launching on Android today.
Author: Me
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

The Facebook Events app helps you browse nearby happenings, see the dates of your upcoming Facebook Events as well as imported calendars...

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 The Facebook Events app helps you browse nearby happenings, see the dates of your upcoming Facebook Events as well as imported calendars and aggregates wall posts and alerts from Events to declutter your main app’s notifications.</div>
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<img alt="facebook-events-android" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1427060" height="598" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/facebook-events-android.png?w=680&h=598" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/facebook-events-android.png?w=680&h=598 680w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/facebook-events-android.png?w=1360&h=1196 1360w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/facebook-events-android.png?w=150&h=132 150w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/facebook-events-android.png?w=300&h=264 300w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/facebook-events-android.png?w=768&h=675 768w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="680" /></div>
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The Events app hasn’t proven too popular on iOS, oscillating between No. 250 and No. 500 on the U.S. social networking apps chart, according to App Annie. But massive usage was never the goal. The app is designed to help Facebook’s extroverts and event promoters better discover and manage events. That trickles down to a better experience for everyone else as these users invite friends to events using Facebook.<img alt="screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-4-39-09-pm" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1427053" height="444" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-4-39-09-pm.png?w=680&h=444" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-4-39-09-pm.png?w=680&h=444 680w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-4-39-09-pm.png?w=1360&h=888 1360w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-4-39-09-pm.png?w=150&h=98 150w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-4-39-09-pm.png?w=300&h=196 300w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-12-at-4-39-09-pm.png?w=768&h=501 768w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="680" /></div>
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If Facebook can boost overall usage of its Events feature, no matter how people get to it, it could solidify one of its biggest differentiators versus competitors. No other social app has a vibrant events community, while event platforms like Eventbrite lack full-fledged social features. Plus, if Facebook can demonstrate that it’s the go-to place to discover what’s going on locally, it could attract more ad dollars from event promoters.</div>
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<complete id="goog_1207257923">@https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/12/facebook-events-android/</complete></div>
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Facebook’s standalone Events app that launched in October on iOS is launching on Android today.

The Facebook Events app helps you browse nearby happenings, see the dates of your upcoming Facebook Events as well as imported calendars...

Want to move to Android from iOS? Google drive can help you with that.

Link Author

Title: Want to move to Android from iOS? Google drive can help you with that.
Author: Me
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Getting people to leave behind their iPhones and move to Android is something Google has focused on more heavily in recent months. For ex...

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Getting people to leave behind their iPhones and move to Android is something Google has focused on more heavily in recent months. For example, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/18/google-pixel-xl-review/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">its new Pixel smartphones</a>ship with a “Quick Switch” adapter that let you easily transfer data between your iPhone and your new Pixel phone. For everyone else, Google has just released a tool that turns Google Drive into a useful utility for backing up data to Google’s cloud before switching devices.</div>
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The feature was <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/13/13941052/google-drive-iphone-backup-android-switching" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">spotted by The Verge</a> on Android’s “<a href="https://android.com/switch/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Switch” page</a>, which is where you’ll find instructions on how to transfer your digital life from iOS to Android. A section on that page describes how to use Google Drive on iOS to back up your data, including your Contacts, Calendar, Photos and Videos.</div>
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The data from these services are backed up to Google Contacts, Google Calendar, and Google Photos, respectively.</div>
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<img alt="googledrive-switch" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1428096" height="680" sizes="(max-width: 453px) 100vw, 453px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/googledrive-switch.png?w=453&h=680" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/googledrive-switch.png?w=453&h=680 453w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/googledrive-switch.png?w=100&h=150 100w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/googledrive-switch.png?w=200&h=300 200w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/googledrive-switch.png?w=768&h=1154 768w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/googledrive-switch.png 792w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="453" /></div>
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The service warns that a backup of this size could take “several hours” so it’s something you would want to do when you have time, access to power, and a Wi-Fi connection. The app also must stay open and on the screen during the process.</div>
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While a handy addition, the backup process misses some of the content that people are hesitant to leave behind, like their music collection as well as their iMessage and SMS text messages. Those items, however, are handled by<a href="https://madeby.google.com/phone/switch/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> the Pixel’s Quick Switch adapter,</a> which makes that phone the better choice for newcomers who are making their first move to Android from an iPhone.</div>
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Google isn’t the only company trying to smooth the transition between devices, of course. Apple, too, released <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apple.movetoios" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">an Android utility called “Move to iOS” </a>which performs this same process in reverse.</div>
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<complete id="goog_1207257920">@https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/google-drive-can-now-help-you-move-to-android-from-ios/</complete></div>
</div>

Want to move to Android from iOS? Google drive can help you with that.

Getting people to leave behind their iPhones and move to Android is something Google has focused on more heavily in recent months. For ex...

Facebook Messenger’s artsy new camera turns any text into filters

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Title: Facebook Messenger’s artsy new camera turns any text into filters
Author: Me
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

What’s better than a few geofilters? A billion algorithmically generated filters. That’s Facebook Messenger’s strategy to steal ...

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What’s better than a few geofilters? A billion algorithmically generated filters. That’s Facebook Messenger’s strategy to steal the visual communication crown from Snapchat, thanks to <a href="http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/12/messenger-announces-global-launch-of-a-new-powerful-native-camera-just-in-time-for-the-holidays/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">its new camera feature</a> that rolls out today. Well, actually, “a billion” is selling it short.</div>
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Messenger’s camera can make an infinite number of overlaid graphics to jazz up your photos and videos. It takes anything you type, then programmatically spawns art that blows up those words in goofy fonts that you can splash atop your imagery. If Messenger recognizes the meaning of your text in any of 15 different popular languages, it will even offer up filters with related art.</div>
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Plus, it’s got augmented reality selfie lenses, holiday-themed masks, props to paste on, Prisma-esque style transfers, influencer-suggested filters and art that helps you tell friends what you’re doing or ask them to hang out. This camera is a swipe away or tap away at all times, living a layer beneath the rest of Messenger.</div>
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<span class="embed-youtube" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" class="youtube-player" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OyOAtq9fRAE?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe></span></div>
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“A lot more conversations are starting from photos,” Facebook’s head of Messenger David Marcus tells me. Around 10 percent, in fact. “We wanted to make sure we could be a first-class citizen when it comes to visual messaging, and naturally for that you need a good camera.”</div>
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Indeed, 2.5 billion photos, videos, emoji and stickers are already sent each day on Messenger, now that emergent behavior is getting the product support it deserves. The new features are rolling out to all users today and tomorrow on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/messenger/id454638411?mt=8" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca&hl=en" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Android</a>, and the holiday effects should be available for everyone by December 21st.</div>
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TechCrunch got a deep look inside the creation of the new Messenger camera, speaking with execs and artists to learn why and how the texting app is redefining itself in the age of chat via images.</div>
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MessengArt</h2>
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For a social network that’s really just a skeleton brought to life by the media its users share, Facebook has always had a penchant for art. As I walk the immense length of Facebook’s new 430,000-square foot Menlo Park office building, it’s hard not to stop and gawk at the posters. Facebook’s Analog Research Lab screen printing room churns out motivational banners with wild colors and bold text.</div>
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<img alt="14241438_1269615539717158_1031267838915871823_o" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1428787" height="453" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/14241438_1269615539717158_1031267838915871823_o.jpg?w=680&h=453" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/14241438_1269615539717158_1031267838915871823_o.jpg?w=680&h=453 680w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/14241438_1269615539717158_1031267838915871823_o.jpg?w=1360&h=906 1360w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/14241438_1269615539717158_1031267838915871823_o.jpg?w=150&h=100 150w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/14241438_1269615539717158_1031267838915871823_o.jpg?w=300&h=200 300w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/14241438_1269615539717158_1031267838915871823_o.jpg?w=768&h=512 768w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="680" /></div>
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Now Facebook is bringing that flare inside Messenger. “At first we didn’t have any art so we had to work to assemble an art team,” Marcus explains. They were tasked with turning the most commonly expressed feelings, activities and questions into images people could stick on their Messenger photos. And not just in English.</div>
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“We work with creators all over the world for people all over the world,” says Jennifer Whitley, Messenger’s Creative Director. “One-third of our library is created for specific regions and demographics.” Both social media influencers and local graphic designers were recruited to give Messenger a diversity of iconography.</div>
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<img alt="messenger-camera-art" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1428703" height="445" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messenger-camera-art.png?w=680&h=445" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messenger-camera-art.png?w=680&h=445 680w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messenger-camera-art.png?w=1360&h=890 1360w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messenger-camera-art.png?w=150&h=98 150w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messenger-camera-art.png?w=300&h=196 300w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messenger-camera-art.png?w=768&h=502 768w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="680" /></div>
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That comes with risks, though. Snapchat was criticized for offering a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/10/snapchat-racist-asian-filter-yellowface" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">“yellowface”</a> selfie filter that looked like an Asian stereotype. Whitley tells me that when Messenger’s team made art for countries like Thailand, “we vet that and get that reviewed by people who speak the language. We don’t want to help self-expression that could be dangerous.”</div>
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Meanwhile, design and engineering teams worked to extract meaning from common phrases, and link them to different art so Messenger can create “programmatic frames” that scale to 15 languages, with more coming. And by collaborating with the<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/09/facebook-acquires-video-filter-app-msqrd-to-square-up-to-snapchat/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> MSQRD artificial intelligence selfie filter team Facebook acquired this year</a>, they built out a slew of new masks to make you look funny, or just more comfortable, on camera.</div>
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display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="8" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/allychen.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="9" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/carrieliao.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="10" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/griffinarlund.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="11" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/griffinarlund2.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="12" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/kathycanomurillo2.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="13" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/natalietashathompson2.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="14" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/holidayframe-cheers.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="15" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/holidayframe-merryandbright.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="16" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/holidayframe-mistletoe.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="17" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/holidayframe-ornaments.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="18" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/holidayframe-dreidle1.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="19" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/holidayframe-christmaslights.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="20" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/natalietashathompson.png?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">A gallery of all the different Messenger art</em></div>
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Facebook Camera 2.0</h2>
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Before Facebook suddenly acquired Instagram in 2012, it was building its own photo editing app called… <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2012/05/24/facebook-camera/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook Camera</a>. Before getting shut down to give Instagram room to breathe, it taught the company about multi-image uploads and color filters.</div>
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Now Facebook is reviving the project. It’s <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/28/the-new-facebook-camera/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">testing some of the same features in Facebook proper</a> as are launching today on Messenger, in a multi-pronged attack on Snapchat, which has become its most cunning competitor. The new camera is also at the heart of Messenger’s direct Snapchat Stories clone called <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/30/messenger-day/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">“Messenger Day”</a> that debuted a few months ago in Poland and is now testing in 15 countries.<img alt="newsroom-2" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1428718" height="510" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/newsroom-2.gif?w=680&h=510" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="680" /></div>
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Here’s a crash course in all the new Messenger Camera features:</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Swipe to Access:</strong> Just pull down from anywhere on the Messenger app’s inbox, hit the overlaid shutter button, or the camera icon in threads, to open the camera. It sits behind your inbox, as well as individual threads so you can instantly capture those spontaneous moments.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Stylized Shutter Button:</strong> To tip you off if there’s new seasonal creative tools you won’t want to miss, the normally transparent shutter button that sits atop your inbox will occasionally get bedazzled with holiday gift wrapping or other effects to let you know there are Santa hats and reindeer antlers to try on.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Shoot First, Pick Friends Later:</strong> Now instead of having to a pick a thread, then shoot a photo, you capture content first, then select all the different friends or group chats you want to send it to in a distribution screen reminiscent of Snapchat.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Selfie Masks, Style Transfers and Effects: </strong>Before you shoot, you can add different Snapchat-style 3D selfie masks, filters that make your images look like paintings and environmental effects.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Art Picker:</strong> After you shoot, tap on the Smiley icon atop the camera screen and you’ll pull up a tray of all the different art you can add. They’re divided into categories like “I’m Doing,” “I’m Feeling” and “Who’s Up For?,” which combine art and utility to turn boring text messages into eye-catching imagery so you’ll be more social.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Programmatic Frames:</strong> Type words into the Art Picker’s search box and you’ll see pre-made art related to the meaning of your text. And if it’s a name, gibberish or something Messenger doesn’t understand, it will algorithmically generate stylized filters that incorporate your words in fun fonts.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Props:</strong> Add some eyeglasses, a hat or a beard with prop stickers you can paste on your face. Grab a multi-piece disguise and resize different pieces separately to fit your head.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Type, Doodle or Sticker:</strong> You can also spice up your images the old-fashioned way with overlaid text, drawing or any of Facebook Messenger’s popular stickers.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Blank Canvas:</strong> If you don’t want to take a photo, you can swipe sideways or hit the palette button to create a solid color canvas to write on top of or adorn with stickers that are already sent 2 billion times per day.</div>
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<img alt="messengercamera-3" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1428717" height="407" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messengercamera-3.png?w=680&h=407" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messengercamera-3.png?w=680&h=407 680w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messengercamera-3.png?w=1360&h=814 1360w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messengercamera-3.png?w=150&h=90 150w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messengercamera-3.png?w=300&h=180 300w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/messengercamera-3.png?w=768&h=460 768w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="680" /></div>
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The human behind the text message</h2>
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“When I already know what I want to say, how do I personalize what I’m saying?” That’s how Messenger Director of Product Management Peter Martinazzi describes the intent of all these new features.</div>
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<img alt="artpicker" class="alignright size-large wp-image-1428719" height="680" sizes="(max-width: 357px) 100vw, 357px" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/artpicker.png?w=357&h=680" srcset="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/artpicker.png?w=357&h=680 357w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/artpicker.png?w=714&h=1360 714w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/artpicker.png?w=79&h=150 79w, https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/artpicker.png?w=157&h=300 157w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; float: right; height: auto; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em; max-width: 100%;" width="357" />There are plenty of visual “communication” apps, from Snapchat to Instagram and beyond. But they were all built off a base of photo sharing, rather than messaging. So while other apps might focus on showing friends something fun, Messenger’s camera has a practical bent. It wants to help you make plans, express what’s on your mind and inform close friends what you’re up to.</div>
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“At its core it’s a messaging app, so we want to make sure if you want to communicate ‘who’s up for drinks?’ you can do that in a really cool, engaging way,” Marcus concludes. “The main use case we’re trying to power is people communicating with their friends and families, expressing themselves when they’re apart.”</div>
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This is the latest of a dozen attempts by Facebook to copy Snapchat’s top features and prevent more users from straying there. Facebook appears undaunted by criticism of it stealing ideas, hoping its versions will stick even if they make it look unoriginal or uncool to some.</div>
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Maintaining Messenger’s efficiency as a utility is critical. More thaner one billion users rely on it to handle the normal conversations that get them through the days. Messenger can’t stray too far from the mission or people will ditch it for more spartan chat apps. That’s why it’s worked to embed the new art features without obstructing the speed of text if people want to keep it simple.</div>
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And that’s where the true opportunity for Messenger is. Rather than ham-handedly trying to force the logistics of your life through an ephemeral content platform like Snapchat or a photos-first app like Instagram, its camera is designed to augment words rather than replace them.</div>
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That could even make us less lonely. Tossing a drab “who wants to hang out?” text into a group chat can seem desperate, discouraging the shy. But if Messenger makes that same question fun to look at it, we might not be so apprehensive to reach out.</div>
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@https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-messenger-camera/</div>
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