NEW YORK — The New York Times is reaffirming its support for new hire Sarah Jeong after social media criticism of her tweets from several years ago that were derogatory of white people. Both the paper and Jeong have issued Twitter statements saying the comments were Jeong's response to online harassment she had been receiving, but that she regrets her language. The paper announced Wednesday it was hiring Jeong, a tech writer, to join its editorial board. Soon after, mainly conservative social media took issue with the tweets which seem to date to 2013 and 2014, and include statements like "Oh man, it's kind of sick how much joy I get out of being cruel to old white men." The Times says it reviewed Jeong's social media during its vetting process. … [Read more...] about NY Times stands by new hire Sarah Jeong over Twitter furor
Congress to press Facebook, Twitter on lack of coordination against Russian troll threat
The apparent lack of coordination between Facebook and Twitter regarding the threat posed by Russia will come under scrutiny when Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee next month, a congressional source with knowledge of the situation told CNN. After its stock plunged last week, Facebook earned some much-needed positive publicly on Tuesday when it announced it had detected and removed a network of suspicious accounts from its platform that were organizing political events across the United States. However, sometime after Facebook's announcement, Twitter reached out to lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee questioning why it had taken Facebook so long to remove the accounts, the source said. The source said that lawmakers investigating the malicious use of social media platforms by Russian trolls had seen some improved coordination between the companies … [Read more...] about Congress to press Facebook, Twitter on lack of coordination against Russian troll threat
RBS customers take to Twitter to complain of card payment problem
LONDON (Reuters) - Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland's <RBS.L> NatWest brand complained on Twitter on Thursday that they were unable to make debit card payments, with their cards being repeatedly declined. An RBS spokesman apologised for the inconvenience caused and said debit card payments were now being processed as normal. But at 1240 GMT a number of customers were still complaining on the social media site. "Is there a problem now?" one customer, Andrew Gibson, asked in a tweet to RBS. "My card was declined via contactless and chip and pin." Others said the issue had embarrassed them at check out lines or left them unable to buy lunch. The RBS spokesman reiterated that the issue was fully resolved. "No customers will be left out of pocket," he added. The fault comes after an IT outage at mid-sized British lender TSB, owned by Spain's Sabadell <SABE.MC>, plunged the bank into crisis and brought into sharp focus the consequences for customers of lenders' technology … [Read more...] about RBS customers take to Twitter to complain of card payment problem
Someone made a hilarious meme of Roger Federer on Twitter — and it was so good the tennis star replied
Roger Federer was made into a meme on Twitter. The post was so bizarre it prompted a reply from the 20-time Grand Slam tennis champion himself. Federer is renowned for his sense of humour, and has left fans in stitches with self-deprecating Twitter posts in the past. Roger Federer was made into a meme on Twitter – and the post was so bizarre, the 20-time Grand Slam tennis champion personally replied. Twitter user “itscameliaaa” created a collage of four photographs and screenshotted them together on a mobile device. The collage is… interesting, to say the least. It starts with a normal head-shot of Federer, but it gets weirder the further you scroll, as there’s then a cartoon midriff, a tail, and Timberland-style boots. See for yourself here: The collage went viral very quickly and, at current count, has over 150 replies, 13,000 retweets and 60,000 likes. One of those to reply was Federer himself, who applauded the creativity. Federer is renowned … [Read more...] about Someone made a hilarious meme of Roger Federer on Twitter — and it was so good the tennis star replied
#WhichHillary? Twitter Users Voice Concerns with Clinton’s Record
On Thursday morning, Twitter users voiced their displeasure with presidential candidate Hillary Clinton using the hashtag #WhichHillary, which immediately became Twitter’s top trending topic. While some tweets use the hashtag to comment on Clinton’s record on Wall Street and economic reform, a larger contingent of users have instead focused on Clinton’s involvement in issues directly pertaining to racial injustice. [Related: [Op Ed] Race and Loathing in South Carolina Presidential Primaries] The viral hashtag appeared after Black Lives Matter activist, Ashley Williams was thrown out of a predominately white Clinton fundraiser by Secret Service. As reported by Huffington Post, Williams held up a sign depicting Clinton’s infamous 1996 statement “we have to bring them to heel.“ Clinton’s statement was made in support of President Bill Clinton’s 1994 crime bill. The bill has been a sore spot for the Clinton campaign’s quest for the … [Read more...] about #WhichHillary? Twitter Users Voice Concerns with Clinton’s Record