Open-source microblogging platform

An open-source microblogging platform has been grabbing the world’s attention. It’s an app-and-service suite which mirrors the upsides of Twitter without its known downsides.

Called “Mastodon,” the online platform holds features and highlights similar with that of Twitter, except that “Mastodon” posts aren’t limited to 140 characters but to 500. And members/users have the option to make posts private.

Developed by 24-year-old Eugen Rochko, tech pundits and journalists note that the service has been getting more membership signups since Twitter implemented an algorithm-based timeline that’s akin with Facebook’s post-hierarchy classification scheme. In the midst of the widespread eagerness to sign up, Mastodon had to halt new user signups due to increasing member registrations in order to assure quality of service.

Though it is not the first “Twitter clone” to have cropped up after the success of Twitter, the service has been steadily gaining a following; it’s branded as a Twitter alternative that’s not rooted towards business, but on the premise of social media interactions and engagement. More details on the service are hosted on mastodon.social.

Apple’s new video-sharing app

Apple recently released a new video-sharing application that bears Snapchat-like features and functions. Dubbed “Clips,” the app is mainly a video editing suite that is not exactly tied-down to a particular social network – it can be used to record and add video enhancements like stickers, filters and effects. The suite also features novel automatic caption-rendering features, which have been widely praised as its most standout feature.

Fairly easy to use, “Clips” can be used to send videos over popular instant messaging platforms like Messages, or share videos over social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. More information on “Clips” is hosted on its official App Store page.

Google’s fact-checking feature goes liv

As a move against the proliferation of “fake news,” Google recently activated a fact- checking feature which can be accessed via its main search engine portal.

The feature displays search results with information from fact-checking sites like Snopes and PolitiFact – mainly presenting search results with ‘counter-checked’ data that verifies the validity of information on a certain page or news story.

The service doesn’t exactly affect search rankings, nor does it function as a filter. Rather, it gives a search entry’s counter-checked information on a Google “featured snippets” panel. More information on the new feature is hosted on Google’s official online channels.