Twitter

After a dustup over pornography showing up on Vine, the Twitter-owned video-sharing app has added an age rating for possible adult content.

The app for iPhone and iPod Touch, which lets anyone create and share six-second clips, quickly became a popular venue for pornography after its release last month. Twitter responded by trying to make it harder for users to find the adult videos, blocking a number of porn-related search terms such as "#porn."

The microblogging site initially added a warning still to the beginning of videos in question that users would have to bypass to see the … Read more

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said that the social-networking giant won't "make the kind of sacrifices" necessary to be allowed to work in China and Iran.

In an interview with the The Wall Street Journal published today, Costolo addressed the question of whether Twitter would like to be available in China and Iran by replying that the company is not willing to filter out the kind of politically sensitive material that government officials in those two countries would require in order to be allowed to function there.

Costolo also said a Twitter IPO is "not necessarily inevitable&… Read more

Twitter said today that it has bought Bluefin Labs, a company specializing in social TV analytics.

The deal, first reported by Business Insider, would give Twitter the inside scoop on information such as which Super Bowl commercials drove the social conversation. It would likely also help Twitter become more of a media company as it tries to bolster its advertising revenue by working hand-in-hand with brands and with TV networks.

In its blog post today, Twitter said, "We believe that Bluefin's data science capabilities and social TV expertise will help us create innovative new ad products and consumer … Read more

What if the Arab Spring, or Hurricane Sandy had been Vined?

Much has been made over the years about how Twitter is one of the world's most important new tools for reporting breaking news. But with the launch of Vine, has Twitter now expanded its control over citizen journalism to video?

Until now, most of the conversation about Vine has been around the service's ability to capture life's quirky moments, or as a way to create interesting (and sometimes artistic) stop-motion video. And of course, everyone knows that there's plenty of porn to be found.

Today, … Read more

Although Twitter hasn't revealed who may have been victimized in last week's suspected massive account hack, an analysis suggests that accounts with high levels of influence may have been among those affected.

Within days of accusations that hackers in China were responsible for network breaches at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the microblogging site revealed Friday that about 250,000 accounts might have been compromised. In e-mails to affected users, Twitter said it reset passwords for accounts it suspected of being compromised after identifying unauthorized attempts to access Twitter user data.

"This attack … Read more

Twitter may have two-factor authentication in the works for its micro-blogging platform to increase its security.

According to a job advertisement first spotted by The Guardian, Twitter is looking for a software engineer to fit in to its product security division.

One of the responsibilities for the new engineer will be to "design and develop user-facing security features, such as multifactor authentication and fraudulent log-in detection." The job listing also says that the new engineer's work will "directly impact the security of hundreds of millions of Twitter users."

Other companies have been gradually introducing multi-factor … Read more

Twitter has reportedly acquired BlueFin Labs, which generates social TV analytics, in a deal which is said to be the social-networking giant's biggest-ever.

According to Business Insider, Twitter has closed a deal to buy BlueFin, a company that specializes in helping media companies understand how people use social media in conjunction with their TV watching.

As Business Insider wrote, "Twitter's move into social TV makes a lot of sense. It hired a Head of TV last fall and there's a strong correlation between people watching shows and tweeting about them. Just look at last night's … Read more

Internet usage dropped 15 percent during the Super Bowl as the football-obsessed and casual fans alike huddled around their TVs to watch the showdown between the eventual NFL champion Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers.

That was the conclusion of a study released this morning by Sandvine, a firm that analyzes traffic on broadband networks.

And while hordes of people were pounding out tweets and Facebook status updates by the millions with their impressions on the Super Bowl ads, the blackout during the game -- and the companies that best leveraged social media during the power outage -- and, … Read more

Anyone watching the Super Bowl this evening saw a great game -- and one of the greatest embarrassments in pro sports history: a power outage that halted play for a full half-hour.

As the eventual champion Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers -- and tens of thousands inside New Orleans' Superdome and millions watching on TV -- waited, Oreo came up with an idea so brilliant and bold that it out and out won the night.

"Power out? No problem," the tweet read, along with a hastily put-together image of an ad showing an Oreo and the … Read more