Internet

Viewers would rather watch video at slightly lower speeds than endure rebuffering, according to new research from Lancaster University. The study investigated how dynamically slowing down or speeding up playback is perceived by viewers, and how playback speed changes compare to other ways of overcoming viewer internet slowdowns—such as reducing... Read more

In a survey study of U.S. teens, more than half (55.3%) reported that they had created at least one image using nudification tools, which use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to show what an individual may look like without clothing. Chad Steel of George Mason University, Virginia, U.S., presents these findings... Read more

Google Maps will depend more heavily on artificial intelligence to help people figure out where they want to go and the best way to get there as part of a major redesign unveiled on Thursday.... Read more

Researchers at the University at Albany and Rutgers University have developed an early-warning framework that can predict harmful social media interactions before they erupt, paving the way for interventions that can minimize harm and make platforms safer for users. Using publicly available datasets from Reddit and Instagram, two social media... Read more

TikTok is built for people to create and share their own content, so dance music and indie artists fill the platform's Top 100. On Spotify, love songs and music from major record labels dominate its top charts. On both platforms, people's preferences only partly explain what songs become hits.... Read more

Why do you see the results you do when you search for information online? It's a complex mix of what the source is, its relationships to other sources online, and your own past browsing history and device settings.... Read more

A new study examining digital behavior in Taiwan suggests that simply having internet access is no longer enough to ensure digital inclusion—a finding with growing implications for the United States as governments, schools, and employers continue shifting services online.... Read more

Online chat service Discord has announced it will begin testing age verification for some users, joining a growing list of platforms trying to work out who is actually behind the screen.... Read more

Social media addiction has been compared to casinos, opioids and cigarettes.... Read more

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify Wednesday at a groundbreaking social media addiction trial, summoned by lawyers representing a plaintiff who alleges Instagram and other platforms were deliberately designed to make young users addicted.... Read more

YouTube said late Tuesday it had fixed a widespread outage that hit hundreds of thousands of users around the world.... Read more

Romance scams are among the most emotionally damaging forms of cyber crime because they combine carefully manufactured intimacy with financial theft—the scammers go after your heart, and then your wallet.... Read more

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is to be called to testify Wednesday in a Los Angeles courtroom by lawyers out to prove social media is dangerously addictive by design to young, vulnerable minds.... Read more

YouTube's legal team insisted Tuesday that the Google-owned video platform was not intentionally addictive or even technically social media, on the second day of a landmark U.S. trial targeting tech giants.... Read more

OpenAI has begun placing ads in the basic versions of its ChatGPT chatbot, a bet that users will not mind the interruptions as the company seeks revenue as its costs soar.... Read more