Techmeme
October 25, 2021, 3:10 PM

Top News

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Internal documents show Facebook is struggling to attract US users under the age of 30, with US teenage users of the Facebook app declining by 13% since 2019  —  The world's largest social network is internally grappling with an existential crisis: an aging user base
Leah Nylen / Politico:
Internal Facebook docs: employees touted its scale and dominance in presentations, including showing 78% of US adults and nearly all US teens use its services  —  Documents collected by whistleblower Frances Haugen could give the company “a lot to regret” in its fights to prove it's not a monopoly.
Alexandra S. Levine / Politico:
Internal documents show Facebook had no clear playbook for handling the dangerous content delegitimizing the US elections ahead of the January 6 riots  —  Facebook's rules left giant holes for U.S. election falsehoods to metastasize.  On the day of the Capitol riot, employees began pulling levers to try to stave off the peril.
Bloomberg:
Emily Birnbaum / Politico:
Washington Post:
Sources detail Zuckerberg's decisions to put growth over safety, like to ban anti-state posts in Vietnam and to halt a WhatsApp US voting info center in Spanish  —  Late last year, Mark Zuckerberg faced a choice: Comply with demands from Vietnam's ruling Communist Party to censor anti-government dissidents …
Associated Press:
Facebook docs detail issues with moderating non-English speech, leading to inflammatory language in Afghanistan, bans on common words in Palestine, and more  —  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As the Gaza war raged and tensions surged across the Middle East last May …
Casey Newton / The Verge:
New York Times:
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
MacBook Pro (2021) hands-on: bringing back ports and removing the Touch Bar is welcome, mini-LED display looks great, and the 1080p webcam is an improvement  —  New chips, familiar ports, and actual volume buttons — it might be love  —  It's easy to be excited about the new MacBook Pros …
Andrei Frumusanu / AnandTech:
Apple M1 Pro and Max review: CPU and GPU improvements offer an unparalleled combination of raw performance, unique acceleration, and power efficiency  —  Last week, Apple had unveiled their new generation MacBook Pro laptop series, a new range of flagship devices that bring with them significant updates …
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft says the Russian-backed Nobelium group, responsible for the SolarWinds hack, is still targeting global IT supply chain with 14 breaches since May 2021  —  Microsoft says the Russian-backed Nobelium threat group behind last year's SolarWinds hack is still targeting the global IT supply chain …
Steven Levy / Wired:
Internal docs reveal farewell posts of some Facebook employees disillusioned with a company unwilling or unable to change  —  The “badge posts” of the company's former researchers offer the parting thoughts of the disillusioned.  —  The Facebook Papers  —  “Hi, all,” reads a note …
Gilad Edelman / Wired:
Leaked docs detail staff's suggestions to solve Facebook's problems: deprioritize engagement, reduce AI reliance, and focus on safety in developing countries  —  Internal research documents provide a blueprint for solving the company's biggest problems.  —  The Facebook Papers
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Pixel 6 Pro review: an impressive flagship with excellent cameras, all day battery, and charging speeds up to 30W, but fingerprint sensor is “not super quick”  —  2016 marked a major year for Google, with the launch of Assistant and its first self-made smartphone, the Google Pixel.
Sam Rutherford / Gizmodo:
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Internal docs: Facebook tested hiding the Like button to alleviate stress and anxiety, which didn't work and caused users to interact with and share fewer posts  —  Likes and shares made the social media site what it is.  Now, company documents show, it's struggling to deal with their effects.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
AirPods (third-gen) review: less conspicuous design, IPX4 water resistance, and improved sound quality, but spatial audio is inconsistent and no ANC  —  The new regular AirPods get a lot right even before the gimmicky spatial audio part  —  For the first time since their introduction in 2016 …
Shiyin Chen / Bloomberg:
PayPal says it is not pursuing a Pinterest acquisition “at this time”; sources say PayPal discussed paying ~$70/share, valuing Pinterest at ~$45B  —  - Potential deal would have valued Pinterest at $45 billion  — PayPal is seeking to grow beyond payments into a super app

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Ben Smith / New York Times:
Ben Hubbard / New York Times:
Richard Lawler / The Verge: