Tweet Is Now a Real Word, and the Oxford English Dictionary Says So

Which came first, tweet or retweet?
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A Closer Look at Microsoft’s FISA Disclosure Numbers

A little back-of-the envelope math shows some interesting patterns.
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News Byte

Twitter Backs Google, Says Facebook Made Mistake in Data Disclosure Deal With Feds

After Facebook came to an agreement with the Federal government in which the social giant could disclose information request numbers to the public, Google said Facebook’s deal wasn’t enough, condemning Facebook for agreeing to publish the data in aggregate. Twitter legal director Ben Lee chimed in shortly thereafter, siding with Google: “We agree with @Google: It’s important to be able to publish numbers of national security requests — including FISA disclosures — separately,” he said in a tweet on Friday evening. The back and forth comes in the wake of a week of intense scrutiny of the NSA and tech companies, after whistleblower Edward Snowden released a series of potentially damning documents suggesting a data-sharing relationship between the Feds and a number of Valley giants.

Google Calls Facebook’s Data Disclosure Deal With the Feds “A Step Back for Users”

Facebook may have provided data disclosures to users. But Google says Facebook didn’t push hard enough.
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Twitter Tries Harder to Explain Itself

The microblogging company aims to make clear just what Twitter is to mainstream audiences.
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FISA Request Data Could Soon Be Public, With Google Also in Talks With U.S. Government About More Disclosure

Secretive government process might become a little less secretive.
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News Byte

Twitter Touts #FollowMe, a Remixed Music Video of the Way You Tweet

Twitter on Thursday released a new feature, #FollowMe, in partnership with data visualization company Vizify, which lets users create short, remixed highlight reels about themselves based on the way they use Twitter. It’s cutesy, but it shows off interesting stats like the words you tweet the most, as well as the times of day you’re most active on Twitter, all set to the backdrop of the photos and Vine videos you tweet (plus music, too). It’s likely a simple, visual appeal to mainstream consumers who aren’t quite sure what to make of Twitter.

MTV Finally Brings Its Shows to Your iPhone and iPad

TV Everywhere still isn’t, but here’s another (partial) step forward.
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