Twitter

Twitter reportedly in talks for video content from Viacom, NBC

Twitter is in talks with TV networks Viacom and NBC to bring more video content to the microblogging site, according to a Bloomberg report.

The deals under discussion would allow Twitter to stream videos to its users in exchange for splitting the resulting revenue with the TV networks, sources told the news outlet. The deals could be finalized as early as next month, with arrangements with other TV networks to follow, sources said.

CNET has contacted Twitter for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

So far, Twitter's video experience has been limited. It launched Vine, … Read more

Boston police turn to Twitter for tips after twin bombings

In the wake of today's deadly twin bombings at the Boston Marathon's finish line, the Boston Police has turned to Twitter to disseminate information and gather potential evidence.

Not long after the explosions killed two and injured dozens, the Boston Police Department's official Twitter feed was devoted to information about the attacks, including giving frequent updates on casualty and injury counts and asking people not to congregate in large crowds.

The police also used its feed to allay fears that an incident at the John F. Kennedy Library in south Boston was related to the marathon explosions. … Read more

Twitter's music site goes live, kinda

Twitter's new music site went live this morning.

Well, almost. Users can currently log in with their usual Twitter credentials, but there are no features as of yet.

According to AllThingsD, only a select few will get access to the service over the coming days, with Twitter planning a more extensive rollout after that.

Reports that the service was set to go live began circulating last night, and were fueled earlier in the week by celebrity Ryan Seacrest, who bragged about having access to it in a series of tweets.

Twitter yesterday confirmed that it had purchased music discovery … Read more

Twitter will reportedly launch music app this weekend

Twitter is rumored to be preparing for the launch this weekend of its much rumored Twitter Music app.

The microblogging service plans to launch its standalone music app tomorrow, sources familiar with the matter tell AllThingsD. Still other sources say the app will launch during this weekend's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, but not necessarily tomorrow.

CNET has contacted Twitter for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

The report comes on the heels of Twitter confirming that it has purchased music discovery service We Are Hunted. CNET reported in March that Twitter … Read more

Twitter confirms acquisition of music service We Are Hunted

We Are Hunted announced today that it has been acquired by Twitter, confirming a CNET report that the music discovery service was already being integrated with the microblogging site's music products.

In a tweet, Twitter also confirmed the acquisition.

Welcome to Twitter! "@wearehunted: We want to share some news with you. We Are Hunted has joined Twitter. wearehunted.com"

— Twitter Comms (@twittercomms) April 11, 2013

As a result, Wearehunted.com will shut down and user accounts will be closed, a note on the music site's home page explained.

"While we are shutting down wearehunted.com, … Read more

Twitter Trends now tracking trends in 160 more locations

The San Francisco Giants are currently trending on Twitter in my neck of the woods, but it's a pretty safe bet that people in the Ukraine, Greece, or Kenya don't give a spitball about the team. To better serve the localized interests of its users, the microblogging site announced today that it has added more than 160 locations to the list served by its Trends product.

In addition to residents of the countries mentioned above, the people of Belgium, Norway, and Portugal are among those who will now have access to tailored results based on their location, Twitter … Read more

Twitter links fail for short time as t.co experiences outage

Twitter's t.co link shortener feature experienced a brief outage today, preventing users from accessing other sites when clicking on hyperlinks in tweets.

Instead of directing users to the link they chose, it sent them to a page with an error message that "something is technically wrong," and an image of a robot that had lost one of its parts. It's unclear what caused the problem, but the outage appears to have started at about 6:45 a.m. PT. The links were working again by 7:10 a.m. PT.

Twitter acknowledged the issue through a blog post, … Read more

Yokohama misfires tweet about North Korea missile launch

The city of Yokohama in Japan has had to offer up some quick apologies to its nearly 42,000 followers for erroneously tweeting that North Korea had launched a missile at its homeland.

Earlier today, the Crisis Management Office Affairs Bureau for Yokohama tweeted that North Korea had launched a missile at Japan. The tweet stayed up for 20 minutes before being taken down and replaced with an apology from the city, saying that its tweet was sent out in error.

Yokohama acknowledged the error on its Web site (Google Translate), saying it created the tweet in advance to inform … Read more

Twitter, hate speech, and the costs of keeping quiet

This is a guest column. See below for Greg Lukianoff's bio.

Last month was a bittersweet seventh birthday for Twitter. The Union of Jewish French Students sued the social-media giant for $50 million in a French court in light of anti-Semitic tweets that carried the hashtag #unbonjuif ("a good Jew"). In January, Twitter agreed to delete the tweets, but the student group now wants the identities of the users who sent the anti-Semitic messages so that they can be prosecuted under French law against hate speech. Twitter is resisting. It claims that as an American company protected … Read more