Tag: Social

Google.org provides €500,000 to support Ireland’s social entrepreneurs

Google Ireland has today announced that its philanthropic arm, Google.org, is providing €500,000 in funding to Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) and INCO. The grants will support social entrepreneur-led organisations in Ireland to grow their impact and those interested in being considered can submit an expression of interest from today, 5 December.

Leveraging the funds from Google.org, SEI and INCO will support underserved social entrepreneurs to scale their organisations. SEI will use the funding to run the Changing Ireland Accelerator Programme (CIAP), a twelve-month initiative for underserved social entrepreneurs needing support to accelerate their impact. Running in parallel to the CIAP, INCO will disperse the funding as cash sub-grants administered to the participants.

Speaking at the announcement in Google’s EMEA HQ, Dublin, Adaire Fox-Martin, President of Google Cloud International and Head of Google Ireland said:

“Social enterprise is an increasingly crucial component of a resilient, equitable, and sustainable economy. By providing the sector better access to capital, talent, markets, and technology, businesses such as Google have the opportunity to meaningfully serve the communities they operate in and advance impactful humanitarian and environmental causes.  These grants reflect Google’s continued commitment to supporting social entrepreneurs around the world and to the principle that entrepreneurship can be the best way to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges. 

“We want to encourage ambitious change-makers to submit their expression of interest in the Changing Ireland Accelerator programme today.”

Tim Griffiths, CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland said:

“Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is thrilled to work with INCO and believe that this catalytic funding will help brilliant, social entrepreneur-led organisations to scale up and accelerate the impact they are having across Ireland reaching the most underserved communities.”

Mathieu Planchard, Global Head of Development at INCO said:

“This initiative represents a concrete step towards building a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem. The combination of capacity building support and strategic grant funding is the right recipe to break down the barriers faced by underserved founders in Ireland today. It’s a real privilege for INCO to work alongside SEI and to receive support from Google.org.”

Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is a not-for-profit organisation committed to the vision of accelerated social change through the power of people. Its mission is to harness the cumulative power of people through programmes, direct funding and an experienced community of alumni, funders, and sector leaders. Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported more than 550 social entrepreneurs across the country. Alumni of SEI programmes include Pieta House, AsIAm, Irish Community Air Ambulance, GIY, FoodCloud and the Irish Men’s Sheds Association.

INCO is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a more socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economy. Across 40+ countries around the world, INCO  accelerates the growth of impact-driven businesses, and offers free education programs to the workforce of tomorrow. Since 2021, INCO has been leading StartSocial, an initiative supported by Google.org, to provide funding and capacity-building to over 400 social enterprises across Europe.

Today’s announcement by Google is an integral part of its European-wide commitment to supporting Social Entrepreneurs building on a pledge of €20 million cash funding through the Google.org Social Innovation Fund to support underserved social innovators across Europe.

Expressions of interest in the Changing Ireland Accelerator Programme are welcome via the dedicated page on the SEI website from 5 December 2022. The selection process will launch in February 2023 with successful applicants appointed to the programme from June 2023.

Google.org will be fully funding the costs of this programme in 2023 with a grant of €500,000.

Rethink Ireland award €530,000 to 28 Social Enterprises across the country

Rethink Ireland has announced the 8 Awardees of its Social Enterprise Development Fund and 20 Awardees of its Social Enterprise Start-Up Fund at a lunch event at Airfield Estate, Dublin. These Funds aim to support and develop social enterprises across Ireland who work primarily to improve the lives of people and communities.

The Social Enterprise Development Fund (2018 – 2023) is a €4.4 million Fund created by Rethink Ireland in partnership with Local Authorities Ireland and funded by IPB Insurance and the Department of Rural and Community Development through the Dormant Accounts Fund that aims to discover and enhance social enterprises that are already creating a social and economic impact on their communities.

To date the Social Enterprise Development Fund has helped over 500 people gain employment through 112 social enterprises and has mobilised over 16,507 volunteers.

The Social Enterprise Start-Up Fund, now in its second year, is an €800,000 Fund developed by Rethink Ireland in partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund. The Fund aims to support social enterprises at the startup and early stage of existence, with organisations from 10 counties throughout Ireland recognised as Awardees.

 Awardees include:

  • An Mheitheal Rothar: An Mheithal Rothar focuses on providing bicycles to those who do not have access to cycling, particularly those who are unable to participate in the Bike to Work program, while also creating an impact on the areas of employment and sustainability. Their one-of-a-kind approach combines recycling and waste reduction with delivering affordable bikes, as well as personalised information sharing and problem solutions for each user.
  • Carrickmacross Toy Library: Carrickmacross Toy Library tackles the problem of toy waste by offering a toy lending service to their local area, and offering an affordable and sustainable service to families.
  • Common Ground: Common Ground Community-Led Housing has been working in response to the housing crisis in Ireland since 2018. The project offers a win-win solution for State bodies, households and the wider community for developing a new housing sector for our country. Their replicable and internationally proven model makes housing more attainable, community-focused and sustainable, for the benefit of everyone. They offer a viable proposal for a pilot scheme in North County Wicklow which aims to be the first of its kind in Ireland and to offer a template for other groups around the country to help achieve a similar goal.

Richard Gavin, Assistant Principal at Department of Rural and Community Development stated: “Recipients of this funding and support are playing a key role in developing communities nationwide and I want to extend my congratulations to all Awardees. With their commitment and dedicated work, these enterprises are making a true social and economic impact on their local communities, while also tackling key social issues that we face today. They are inspirations for the next generation of social enterprises and we look forward to continuing to support them as they progress and develop further.”

CEO of Rethink Ireland, Deirdre Mortell commented on the Awardee announcement stating: “This year Rethink Ireland published our 6 Year Impact Report, detailing the level of progress that has been made towards developing a more sustainable and fairer Ireland by supporting social enterprises.  I’m delighted to announce that Rethink Ireland is awarding additional support and funding to 28 social enterprises who are on their journey to creating a lasting positive impact on communities across the country.

“Social enterprises are part of the social fabric  of our communities as they play a key role in developing solutions to the biggest challenges we face on a daily basis. From a toy library that offers rental toys to families to reduce waste, to a therapeutic adventure group focused on tackling youth mental health difficulties, or a heart-warming community centre that is integrating and including immigrants and refugees into Irish society through support and learning opportunities, social enterprises show a deep level of care for everyone in a community across Ireland. We are so thankful to our supporting partners and are delighted to have the opportunity to support these wonderful organisations.”

IPB Insurance Chief Executive Michael Garvey said: “Working alongside our local authority Members, our collaboration with Rethink Ireland and the Department has proven hugely successful in attracting and supporting social enterprises that are making a real difference in addressing social needs in their communities. The social enterprise sector in Ireland is going from strength to strength and is playing an increasing role in strengthening the sustainability and resilience of communities across the country. It is important that social enterprises continue to be nurtured by recognising the importance of the sector and providing assistance through financial and business supports.”

Michael Nicholson, Deputy Chief Executive of Local Authority Wicklow County Council said: ‘We would like to extend our congratulations to each Awardee on their success in receiving a Social Enterprise Fund Award from Rethink Ireland. Coming out of an extremely challenging period for Irish society, we’re delighted with this good news story for Wicklow. Social enterprises have an important role to play in guiding Ireland to become a more inclusive and equal society. Organisations like Common Ground and Rise at the Cove are leading the charge by not only creating jobs but working towards bringing about positive social change.“

For more information on each Awardee please visit https://rethinkireland.ie/our-funds/social-enterprise/

Social Enterprise Development Fund

The Social Enterprise Development Fund is a €4.4 million Fund being delivered from 2018 – 2023 and has been developed by Rethink Ireland in partnership with IPB Insurance and the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund. The Fund aims to find and support social enterprises that add to the social and economic fabric of their community by way of social impact. Since the Fund began in 2018, it has supported social enterprises in each county of Ireland and has helped to enable 500 people to access employment and to mobilise 16,507 volunteers.

Awardees are:

Name County
Common Knowledge Clare
Together Razem Centre Cork
No Barriers Foundation Donegal
Books at One Dublin
KASI Kerry
Way 2 Work Dublin
An Mheitheal Rothar Galway
Generation: You Employed Meath

Social Enterprise Start up Fund

The Social Enterprise Start-up Fund is an €800,000 Fund to be delivered over two years: 2021 – 2022 and has been created by Rethink Ireland in partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund. The Fund seeks to support social enterprises at the startup / early stage of their life cycle and will support them to embed strong business principles and, in turn, deliver social impact, create jobs and inspire emerging, next generation Irish social enterprises.

Awardees are:

Name County
Clare Community Energy Agency Clare
KindFolk Cork
Saoirse Ethnic Hands on Deck Cork
The Dialogue Code Cork
Trauma Responsive Education Cork
Pocket Forests Dublin
Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality Dublin
The Bike Hub Dublin
The Good Summit Dublin
The Sustainable Life School Dublin
Community Retrofits Ireland Galway
New Wave Wild Project Kerry
Gorm Media Limerick
Health Hub Limerick
Carrickmacross Toy Library Monaghan
Open Food Network Monaghan
Cycle Up Roscommon
Common Ground Community-Led Housing Wicklow
Rise at the Cove Wicklow

New Privacy Features on WhatsApp

Today, Mark Zuckerberg announced that WhatsApp is bringing three new privacy features to users, giving them more control over their conversations and added layers of protection when messaging. Which ties in well with the news release as I had a new update noted on my phone.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Announcement & Quote: “New privacy features coming to WhatsApp: exit group chats without notifying everyone, control who can see when you’re online, and prevent screenshots on view once messages. We’ll keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.” – Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Meta

  • Leave Groups Silently: Users will be able to exit a group privately without having to notify everyone. Now, instead of notifying the full group when leaving, only the admins will be notified. This feature starts to roll out to all users this month.
  • Choose Who Can See When You’re Online: Seeing when friends or family are online helps us feel connected to one another, but we’ve all had times when we wanted to check our WhatsApp privately. For the times you want to keep your online presence private, we’re introducing the ability to select who can and can’t see when you’re online. This will start rolling out to all users this month.
  • Screenshot Blocking for View Once Messages: View Once is already an incredibly popular way to share photos or media that don’t need to have a permanent digital record. Now we’re enabling screenshot blocking for View Once messages for an added layer of protection. We’re testing this feature now and look forward to rolling it out to users soon.

These new updates join WhatsApp’s growing list of privacy features that users can take advantage of including end-to-end encryption, block and report, two-step verification, end-to-end encrypted backups, disappearing messages, and more.

The Importance of Music in Social Media Marketing: Jingles

Some music composers are specialized in what are called “jingles.” They are extremely short musical pieces, that have to be catchy to the ear, if they are to succeed. They become a reminder of a brand, once you have listened to them, a few times. People on the platforms of French train stations, all recognize the very few notes that ring out before an announcement. That is the power of a jingle. 

Add the Same Music to Your Stories and Posts

If you want to add one element that will help people remember you or your company, then you have to get to work on composing a small piece, that will play in all of your posts. If you want to use music that already exists, then you have to make sure that it is free of rights, or else you will have to pay to insert it into your posts. 

However, there is nothing better than creating one yourself. So, if you haven’t been playing your instrument for a while, download the easy learning music app at www.metronautapp.com. Practice with the orchestra that you will find on it, until you get good enough again, and then try your hand at creating your own jingle. Once satisfied, add it to all of your marketing posts, on every social media, from this point on.

A Different Theme for Your Various Products and Services

Although it is true that you should have one main music theme, under which your whole work should be recognized, it is also suggested to create variations for all the product lines and services that you offer. It is all about associations. This way, if the person going through its social media account rapidly goes over your post and recognizes the theme, he can stop on it right away, if it is one that he is interested in (in regards to the products and services, of course, not the music). 

The music you create for your theme and its variations, is not meant to be a song. These two only have one common goal: To stick in people’s head. Otherwise, they are completely different. A song needs to reach people in a variety of ways. The text will be important, so that people can relate to the subject. The melody will also be crucial, as it needs to be something you want to hum all day long.

A jingle only asks of you to create a hook. That thing that gets into people’s minds and that won’t come out, afterwards. So, every time they hear it, the link between the notes and the company that uses them will be evident. A jingle is pure and simply a reminder; and that is what you want for your stories and posts, on social media.

How to compose a Jingle?

Everyone can create a jingle today. There are various instrument-based sites, on the internet, that will let anyone compose them. Notes are just like words: All you need to do is place the right ones, one after another, to make it sound good. And in the case of a jingle, most importantly, to make it catchy. Even if you have never played music in your life, you can probably still create something that will get people’s attention. That is because music is mathematical. It enters your ears, just as an equation would. If you are able to understand the logic of numbers, then you should be able to do the same with the logic of notes.

Most popular music is composed in 4/4. Musicians also know it as common time. Each measure, in such cases, are four quarter notes long. It is meant to describe how many notes you can put inside one measure. The brain of anyone will tend to think in 4/4, when it comes to music, naturally. So you should not worry about that part. In most cases, you will be composing on an electronic keyboard (when using apps online). Keep the sound of the notes as clear as possible while you are composing, and then you can play around with the way they sound, later on. You could change it for another instrument or simply add effects to the keyboard sound. One way or another, you first need to get a feel for the composition you have made, before worrying about arrangements. Act like a kid who is discovering an instrument for the first time. That means: Let your imagination roam free. If you don’t get to anything in the end, at least you should have fun while doing this. And if that is the case, then you need to reach out to a musician that specialized in jingles.

How do You find Someone who can write a Jingle for Your Company?

There are different ways to get in touch with a musician that can create a jingle for you. One of them is to contact a music studio in your city and ask them if they can refer you someone. They usually work with many of them, or they do it themselves, sometimes. Then, go and meet the person in the studio, to listen to what they have written before. If you are satisfied, start discussing your project with them. Don’t forget to talk about cost first, or else you could be providing info uselessly, if you don’t come to an agreement.

Today, there are also a lot of musician associations online. You can go through them. Most of the time, they will refer you to the composer’s website, where you will be able to hear some of the jingles and songs that they have composed, in the past. It is a great way to enlarge your search, since you can work with anyone in the world, today. However, if you do work with someone outside your country, make sure that the terms of the contract are clear and that you don’t pay in advance, for a jingle that you may never receive, afterwards. 

Music is crucial in marketing, in the age of the internet. Finding someone that could help you in all your projects, is a great way to get ahead of your competitors.

WhatsApp records a 41% Jump in its user engagement in Q1, 2022

Meta’s WhatsApp platform continues to enjoy adoption. The platform saw a 41 percent increase in users in the first quarter of 2022, as per a MoneyTransfers.com study. The study showed that the platform is ideal for families, friends, and colleagues to keep in touch.

The study also revealed that the 18 to 34-year-old age cohort had the most growth in WhatsApp platform usage. Besides, this cohort increased their use of Facebook and Instagram. Other social platforms that have seen growth include Facebook and China’s WeChat and Weibo.

In quarter one of 2022, 55% of WhatsApp’s monthly average users (MAUs) were “power users” who used the app daily. Among the top apps evaluated, WhatsApp had the highest percentage of power users. Moreover, it had the highest year-over-year growth in this category.

Ukraine invasion and Whatsapp usage

The Russia Ukraine war saw WhatsApp and Telegram increase in MAUs engaging with respective apps daily. Telegram had 15.5% of its MAUs open the app every day during the first quarter, up 9% in Q1 2021.

Besides WhatsApp, LINE had the highest percentage of monthly active users (MAUs) at 45% in the first quarter of 2022. A 10% increase from 35 percent in quarter one 2021. Messenger ranked third, with 16.4 percent of MAUs using the app daily in 1Q22, up from over 12 percent.

WhatsApp and Messenger are by far the most popular messaging apps in the United States, according to MoneyTransfers.com. However, data shows that competitors have gained market share in the last two years.

Other social platforms

WhatsApp and Messenger are the most popular platforms in the United States and worldwide. Yet, users are eager to try new sites and even switch in some cases, as shown by the retention of apps like Discord and Telegram. Meta hopes to recoup any ground it has lost to opponents in past years. They are expanding the feature set of its platforms, as shown by the first Conversations event.

In August 2021, there were 39 million WhatsApp installations. Most of these came through Google Play (29 million), with the App Store accounting for 10 million. After TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, WhatsApp was the fourth most downloaded app in September 2021.

Besides, people downloaded WhatsApp Business 18 million times on Google Play and App Store. Most of the downloads came through the android users.

Full story and statistics can be found here: WhatsApp records a 41% Jump in its user engagement in Q1, 2022

Socialising with colleagues is what employees miss most about working in offices

Auxilion, a leading provider of digitally transformative IT services and solutions, today announces the results of a survey* which reveals that the thing office workers miss most about the office is socialising and interacting with colleagues (53%).

This was followed by separation between work life and home life (40%), routine (35%), getting out of the house/apartment (34%) and the sense of team (28%).

The survey – conducted by Censuswide and involving around 1,000 office workers in Ireland – found that some 39% of office workers say the pandemic has had a negative impact on their company culture.

Wexford ranked the highest county in this regard, with 55% of office workers from this area saying the pandemic has had a negative impact on same. This was followed by Kilkenny (53%), Laois (52%), Cavan (50%) and Meath (50%).

Despite this, just over a fifth (21%) of all survey respondents would like to be in the office full time going forward. The highest demand for a return to the office was among workers from Monaghan (56%), Kerry (35%) and Louth (32%).

The study also revealed the biggest challenges for office workers when working from home. These are less separation of personal and work lives (42%), being unable to talk to colleagues face-to-face (40%), loneliness/isolation (39%), a lack of motivation (30%) and non-work distractions (30%).

To break this down generationally, Gen Z respondents say the biggest challenge when working from home is lack of motivation (44%). Meanwhile, Millennials find loneliness/isolation (40%) the most difficult aspect and Gen X say it’s being unable to chat to colleagues face-to-face (46%).

For the Boomer generation, the top challenges were non-work distractions, lack of suitable technology/equipment and loneliness/isolation (36% respectively).

Furthermore, the research found that almost a fifth (18%) of those surveyed took a career break to look after children, parents, or other dependent relatives during the pandemic. In fact, almost half (47%) of Gen Z respondents took a career break for this reason.

Niamh Cray, Head of People and Talent at Auxilion, said: “Hybrid work is still a new concept and one that many Irish companies still have to figure out in terms of best practice. Employers have to be mindful that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work, with some thriving at home and others craving a return to the office.

“Organisations need to get the balance and their approach right. While greater flexibility is a major benefit for people, businesses must ensure that this doesn’t have an impact on the ability of people to be collaborative, interactive and productive – or jeopardise work/life balance.

“Putting the practical tools and well-thought-out strategies in place to empower workers will be the way forward and will help to create the new workplace. For example, more effective communication tools might be needed or flexible start times could prove beneficial.

“Listening to people is also key and understanding their challenges, whilst helping to overcome them, will also help to rejuvenate company culture. In fact, you could say that these challenges are opportunities to make the employee experience even better than before.”

About the survey

All statistics relate to the office workers/respondents who completed this survey. The research was conducted by Censuswide between 19.01.2022 and 26.01.2022. The survey reached 1,001 Office workers in the Republic of Ireland. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.

How to Find Anyone Online with Just a Name

Have been looking for your long lost high school pal? It can be difficult to find people if you have limited information about their identity. Fortunately, there are many online resources that can guide you to the person even if all you’ve got is a name. 

The beauty of all search engines is that they will provide information from all sorts of websites. For instance, the results will show you the profile of your subject if he has registered in the best casinos in Ireland. Below we will discuss the social networking portals and search engine tricks you can use.

Find Someone without the Last Name

The probability of finding someone is higher if you know their city, last name and first name. However, online searches can still produce results if you know their city and first name.

Search engines are recommended for searches that are limited to the first name. Below we’ll discuss how to find someone with just a first name.

The first name might be enough when finding a popular or famous individual like Tupac or Neymar. However, it won’t be enough if the name is common. It’s therefore advisable to also include other details like their profession, their hometown or where they study. Type these details into Yahoo, Bing or Google and go through the search results.

Alternatively, you can click on the Images tab if you know how the individual looks like. This method is quite effective when normal searches fail. Other effective search engines include DuckDuckGo, Monster Crawler, DogPile, WebCrawler and WayBack Machine.

Facebook Search by Name

It’s advisable to use websites that carry personal information when seeking for someone. Some of these popular sites include LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Facebook is the oldest of these sites and it contains the most subscribers.

It is smarter to start with a Google/Facebook combined search before going for the Facebook internal search. For instance, you can type in “Christian Maguire site:facebook.com” and go through the search results. You can also click on the images tab if you want a thorough search. This trick works even better when your search string also includes location.

The second method is to enter Facebook and type the individual’s name into the search box. You can improve the quality of the search results by making a few tweaks. It’s possible to narrow down results by manipulating the filters to match specific times and places.  These filters will expose older posts even if the person hasn’t posted in a long time.

Other Apps, Sites, and Online Records

Use ZabaSearch to Search for Addresses and Phone Numbers

You can look for your old friend by tying in his/her address or phone number using this unique search engine. It comes with an index that has information about unlisted and listed addresses and numbers. You can start by typing in your own name to see the results. You’ll be creepily-impressed by its accuracy.

Use Pipl to Explore the “Deep Web”

Pipl will help you dig deeper than Google. Pipl’s search results are impressive because they contain information from the “invisible web.” The information includes Amazon wishlists, MySpace pages, press mentions and personal web pages. It’s a search engine that provides accurate information about people with “real” online names. You can use country, state, and city information to filter results for common names.

Wink Helps you to Search Numerous Social Websites

It’s easy to get results from many social sites using Wink. It’s easier than looking through each site on an individual basis. Wink will give you comprehensive search results for sites like Xanga, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and Friendster. The results will be provided in one search.

ZoomInfo Will Help you Get Employment Results

This search engine is normally used to provide information about individuals and companies. The information is normally useful in matching people with the best possible jobs. ZoomInfo will provide you with a person’s current job title and employment history. Type in the individual’s full name and search. It’s advisable to use geographical filters to reduce unnecessary results.

Search for the Phone Number

Search engines can be helpful when finding information attached to a certain phone number. This is usually a straight-forward method if an individual’s phone number is advertised or listed online. It works best if you separate the numbers by experimenting with parentheses, periods and hyphens. You can also place the number in quotes. You can pay a fee to find cell phone information through reverse-tracking.

How to Find Someone by Username?

This is how to find someone if you don’t know their last name. The best way to unearth someone’s identity is to start with Google. It’s as simple as looking for the individual’s username to reveal their social media profile.

The username can be complemented with quotation marks to decrease unnecessary search results. This means you should type in “username” into the search bar. The results will be specific to what you’re looking for.

People search engines are also effective if social networks and Google don’t give you the desired results. Sites like Spokeo and BeenVerified have a reputation of providing verified and updated information.

There are other alternatives such as Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

Finding Friends of a Friend

You can use recommendations from various social networks to track down the individuals. These recommendations are usually profiles of people who are connected to the main subject. You can gather clues from the person’s inner circle. It’s therefore possible to find someone without a last name.

This method works very well in Facebook because the site exposes you to mutual friends and it allows you to send a friend request. You can also speak to a person using direct messages.

Conclusion

Search engines and social media platforms have made it easy to find long lost friends even if we don’t have sufficient information. In fact, search engines like WayBack Machine are so powerful that they can recover information that has already been deleted on the internet. You might need some luck and perseverance but you will find your subject if you use the above methods. You can even use professionals to help you locate the person you want.

#Facebook acquires MSQRD to compete with Snapchat by @Tiwaash

Snapchat has become uber popular with people to chat off late and has become the talk of the town giving tough time to competitors. Recently Snapchat acquired an app that is specialized in selfie animations called Looksery. Now, Facebook has taken up the challenge dominated by Snapchat by acquiring a similar app that goes by the name of MSQRD to bring similar features to its messaging service as well.

When Snapchat acquired Looksery, the app disappeared from app stores and instead showed up within the Snapchat app as a feature called Lenses. Now, Facebook has apparently acquired Masquerade which is often stylized as MSQRD. The startup also specialized in filters and lenses of sorts for selfies but instead focuses more on video rather than still images.

After the takeover, the key members of the startup which was originally based in Belarus will start working out of Facebook’s London office.

In the past, Facebook had tried to acquire Snapchat for a sum of US$ 3 Billion and when that deal fell through, they brought out similar features on their messaging platform. So this acquisition too should be a move to bring their messaging service to the same level or take it one step higher. Not sure just how and when Facebook is planning to implement this into their own products but, this giant is on the quest of getting everything under one umbrella.

Stay tuned for more tech buzz.

High Quality format #Vine for #iOS and #Android by @Tiwaash #Social

Good news for Vine users, Vine has a new, beautiful high quality format. Starting today, the stories you watch and share will look better than ever. Vine upgraded the existing 480 p format to 720 p which makes Vine experience lot better almost High Definition.

Left: 480p; Right: 720p. Image source: Brittlestar’s Vine.

“When you watch Vines on the app on iOS and Android , you’ll see these quality improvements — they are rolling out over the coming days. You’ll also see higher quality Vines embedded in sites across the web” read the blog.

The blog also read “If you have an iPhone, the posts you create and upload will support our new high quality format. For those with an Android device: rest assured, you’ll soon be able to create and upload posts with the same quality as well.”

Unfortunately no news on the WindowsPhone version of Vine which is still in Beta since it was launched to this platform. Hope WindowsPhone version scores an update soon.

Stay tuned for more tech buzz.

Source : Vine Blog