Fast company - tech

Here’s your last-minute guide to holiday social media etiquette

There are certain social media rules we can all agree on: Ghosting a conversation is impolite, and replying “k” to a text is the equivalent of a backhand slap (violent, wrong, and rude). But what about the rest of the rules? When can we really remind someone of our old Venmo request? What happens when someone tries to flirt with you on LinkedIn?

Fortunately, terminally online writers Delia Cai and St

Swipe right on data privacy: What tech companies can learn about consent from dating apps

I’ve been in the data privacy field for over 15 years, but nothing could prepare me for the complications and complexities that AI has created for companies since it hit the mainstream in 2022.

Each week a new company is in the spotlight—from the backlash against Meta for using Facebook and Instagram users’ data for AI training, Microsoft’

For Black Friday deals, these 3 sites are all you need

I’m in my mid-forties. Things are going gray in places and my hips hurt for no reason. And back in my day, Black Friday was one day: the Friday after Thanksgiving.

You went to Best Buy (the actual store), stood outside in the cold, cold night, and tried not to get stampeded when they opened the doors at 5 a.m. Then you went to Circuit City and CompUSA afterward to see what was left.

Only one of those stores is still standing, and Black Friday now takes up multipl

Starbucks and other retailers hit with ongoing ransomware attack on software provider

Major supply-chain software provider Blue Yonder is working to restore its systems after a ransomware attack hit the Panasonic-owned firm last week. Blue Yonder, which counts Starbucks, major U.K. grocers, and other large retailers among its customers, said it wasn’t sure when it could restore services.

The attack didn’t hit systems run on its public cloud-based platforms. It’s unclear how many of its more than 3,000 customers have been impacted. No group has yet

This TikTok user says a popular YouTube music channel is in fact AI

Are you really a student if you’ve not done a late night study session soundtracked to an unending lo-fi beats playlist on YouTube?

According to Google Trends, searches for the term “lo-fi” on YouTube have tripled since 2020. One of the most popular channels “Lo-fi Girl” attracts tens of thousands of viewers daily with their stream “ ">lofi hip hop radio beats to relax/study to.” However, fans of the genre may be disappointed t

Influencer houses are dead. Welcome to the production studio era

Influencers today look a lot more like Hollywood executives than ragtag social media users. And they’re buying up the real estate to prove it.

A slew of creators have been buying plots of studio land to film and edit their content. That marks a shift from the influencers of yesteryear, many of whom purchased or rented mansions to act as their internet-fueled fraternity houses. Often, those mansions housed 10 or so different influencers, acting as a pseudo-collective for the viral e

10 ways AI can make farmers’ jobs easier

For those who work the earth, AI can be an invaluable tool for making that work more efficient, sustainable and productive. AI helps farmers use the same tools they have been using for centuries, but with improved efficiency and focus. Here are 10 tips for farmers looking to use the new wave of AI-assisted farming. 

LET ROBOTS DO THE WEEDING

It may look like a Mars rover, but the BoniRob system is much more down

This free time-zone conversion tool blows other clock apps out of the water

You’d think by this point in our lives, we’d have the whole time-zone-conversion thing figured out. It isn’t all that complicated, right?!

And yet—well, trying to keep such calculations straight often feels like performing advanced algebra. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve tried to convert something from my own local time into another time and ended up screwing it up somehow (and I’m only moderately pea-brained, thankyouverymuch).

Today, I want to show you

This tiny design tweak made YouTube a more palatable place for women creators

It doesn’t take a genius to know that it’s hard to be a woman on the internet. From the sexism that mirrors women’s offline experiences to the objectification that’s part and parcel of being online, the environment for women is challenging at best.

But a new study shows that even small tweaks can make the web a more

These digital product trends will define 2025

Consumer preferences, technology innovations, and emerging market forces—from AI capabilities to platform shifts and sustainability imperatives—shape how we build digital products and their success in the market. While it’s impossible to predict with certainty, our teams foresee these four trends catering to consumers in 2025 and beyond.

1. Audiences are more selective about platforms


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