What drives Facebook’s relentless attempts to be cool

It would be easy to look at Facebook’s recent acquisition of the start-up Masquerade and scratch your head. Why, you might wonder, would a company worth roughly $300 billion dollars want to buy a company dedicated solely to putting goofy animations over people’s selfies?

But the answer is there if you look at how Facebook has evolved over the years. The social media network is dominant, but it’s also in a constant battle to be cool — or at least just cool enough to stay relevant without being confusing for the older people on the network. Snapchat can make a whole business basically designed to confuse most people over the age of 25, but Facebook’s audience doesn’t allow for that. Facebook may have started as a social network for college students, but those people are now in their 30s. And they’ve brought their parents to the party.

That’s worked out for Facebook, which has turned its broad base of users into a gold mine. But that doesn’t mean, however, that Facebook has resigned itself completely to being a social network for (relatively)old people. It’s proven through a series of acquisitions and experiments of its own that it’s looking closely at the competition to stay as relevant as it can.

Sometimes those experiments don’t succeed, which happened when Facebook tried to make its own version of Snapchat — Slingshot, remember? No? — and looked like it was a little desperate. What has worked, however, is acquiring companies that complement Facebook’s audience and its own functions. Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp are the prime examples of this. Both have been a good way for Facebook to infuse its brand with something new, without having to invest too much in a copycat product. The fact that Facebook has more or less let both companies continue to run on their own post-acquisition also helps those products retain their audiences. Panic that Facebook’s acquisition would dramatically change the culture of Instagram, for example, has largely subsided.

In that context, the Masquerade buy makes more sense, particularly because it lets Facebook take another step to go after a prime competitor for users: Snapchat.

In addition to being the one that got away for Facebook, Snapchat is an undeniable force with which Facebook must reckon. Snapchat sits at the center of several social media trends that are pretty important right now — photo-based messaging, popularity among teens, personalization and a more mobile mindset.

Does Masquerade make Facebook a Snapchat killer? No, obviously not. But it does help the company take a small piece of the goofy, loose and completely shareable part of Snapchat’s culture and incorporate it into its own massive social network. It gives it just a little bit of something new, and keeps it just in step with the most current culture — which is just what Facebook wants. In addition to buying Masquerade, for example, this week Facebook also patented an algorithm that is aimed at detecting slang words its users type to put into a social glossary — perhaps, reports said, for the hippest auto-correct feature ever.

Facebook’s pursuit of cool, however, must walk a fine line. If Facebook did use its glossary to suggest slang terms, it runs the risk of alienating parts of its audience by being too ahead of the curve, said Kirsty Waller, senior vice president at SDL, an online translation service. “If Facebook gets the prediction wrong, users will feel like the platform doesn’t understand them, which can be off-putting.”

With the Masquerade features, however, Facebook may face the opposite problem: Once you pull something into the mainstream, it can lose its appeal. Now that everyone — your fifth-grade teacher and your grandparents — will also be using filters to turn themselves into zombies or to face-swap with their cats, it may lose any semblance of cool.

Obama Argues Against ‘Absolutist’ Views Amid Apple-FBI Fight

President Barack Obama advised against adopting “absolutist” views about privacy and security when it comes to technology, addressing a crowd at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW) on Friday amid the ongoing Apple-FBI encryption battle.

“My conclusion so far is that you cannot take an absolutist view on this,” he said. “I suspect that the answer is going to come down to how do we create a system where the encryption is as strong as possible, the key is as secure as possible, it is accessible by the smallest number of people possible for a subset of issues that we agree are important?”

 His comments to the tech community at the festival come as Apple challenges a court order obtained by FBI investigators who say they need the company’s help in unlocking the encrypted iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. Apple has said unlocking the phone would set a dangerous precedent, and many in the tech community have sided with the company.

While declining to comment on the specific Apple case due to ongoing legal action, Obama said the country must seek to balance the rights and risks associated with privacy, security and technology. He said Americans make other concessions of privacy or convenience in the interest of security, including TSA screenings before flights and stops to screen for drunken drivers on the road.

“This notion that somehow our data is different and can be walled off from those other tradeoffs we make I believe is incorrect,” he said.

Obama said strong encryption is important for preventing terrorist attacks and stopping people from hacking and disrupting financial or air traffic control systems, which are increasingly digital. But he said even if devices are impenetrable because of encryption, there still needs to be a way to catch child pornographers or terrorists.

“If, in fact, you can’t crack that at all, government can’t get in, then everybody is walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocket, right? So there has to be some concession to the need to be able to get into that information somehow,” he said.

However, the President cautioned that oversight over government surveillance was also important.

“We don’t want government to be looking through everybody’s phones, willy-nilly, without any kind of oversight or probable cause or a clear sense that it’s targeted at somebody who might be a wrong-doer,” Obama added.

SNP To Launch Fresh Scottish Independence Bid

Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to launch a fresh bid for Scottish independence this summer, whatever the outcome of the EU referendum in June.

The Scottish First Minister is also promising a rethink on some of the arguments the Yes campaign made last time, in a bid to turn the 45% who voted Yes into a majority for independence.

Her pledge came as she addressed the SNP's spring conference in Glasgow with a new poll suggesting the party is on course to win an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament again.

After election pledges in her speech on health, education, tax and even a promise of broadband for all Scots, her independence vow electrified her audience of 3,500 SNP delegates.

She said one of her heroes was Eleanor Roosevelt, who once said: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Ms Sturgeon told the delegates independence was "a beautiful dream" and this summer the SNP would "embark on a new initiative to build support for independence".

And signalling a change of tactics and strategy, the First Minister admitted that, in 2014, many Scots didn't find the pro-independence arguments compelling enough.

"We will listen to what you have to say," she told the conference. "We will hear your concerns and address your questions - and in the process, we will be prepared to challenge some of our own answers.

"And, patiently and respectfully, we will seek to convince you that independence really does offer the best future for Scotland.

future shaped not by perpetual Tory governments that we don't vote for, but by our own choices and our own endeavours.

"That is how we will turn the 45% of September 2014 into a strong and positive majority for independence."

The First Minister's announcement was immediately condemned by Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who said: "It's clear the SNP - from top to bottom - just isn't prepared to let this go.

"People voted decisively to remain part of the UK and it's time Nicola Sturgeon respected it."

Teen Girls Accused Of Concert Hall Attack Plot

Two teenage girls have been charged in France with allegedly plotting to attack a Paris concert hall four months after the city's massacre.

The suspects, aged 15 and 17, exchanged messages on Facebook where they claimed they wanted to launch an assault similar to those in the French capital on 13 November, according to the police.

Some 130 people were killed when terrorists targeted a rock concert at the Bataclan music hall, where 90 people died, as well as bars, restaurants and a football stadium.

The girls were arrested on Wednesday and appeared before an anti-terror judge on Friday on charges of criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist undertaking.

The younger suspect was to remain in custody while the 17-year-old would be released under judicial supervision, the prosecutor's office said.

The discussions about the attack were in the preliminary stage and "neither weapons, nor explosive substances have been discovered", prosecutors added.

Two other girls, who allegedly joined in the conversations, were questioned but released without charge.

France remains under a state of emergency and on high alert after last autumn's atrocity by Islamic State-linked extremists.

Sasha Obama Met Ryan Reynolds and It Was Adorable

Sasha Obama was all smiles when she met actor Ryan Reynolds at a state dinner on Thursday—and Malia Obama responded as only a sister could, giving her an encouraging, if slightly sarcastic, thumbs-up in the background.

Reynolds, who stars in Deadpool, attended the dinner with wife Blake Lively.

It was the first state dinner for President Barack Obama’s daughters, who were featured prominently in the speeches given by their father and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“It’s also touching to meet Malia and Sasha, who are here at their first State Dinner,” Trudeau said. “And quite frankly, the memories for me of being a kid and not being old enough to attend these kinds of events with my father almost makes me wish I had gone through my teenage years as a child of a world leader—but not quite.”

Trudeau was a child when his father served as Canada’s prime minister.

“I admire you very much, both of you, for your extraordinary strength and your grace, through what is a remarkable childhood and young adulthood that will give you extraordinary strength and wisdom beyond your years for the rest of your life,” he said.

But even as daughters of a world leader, their response to Reynolds was universally relatable.

Trump Shaken As Protester Tries To Storm Stage

Donald Trump appeared shaken after a protester tried to storm his stage in Ohio a day after he cancelled a rally due to security concerns.

The presidential hopeful's Secret Service detail swarmed around Mr Trump while the protester was detained and escorted from the rally.

Mr Trump then continued, telling the audience: "I was ready for him, but it's much better if the cops do it, don't we agree?"

Secret Service agents detain the man after the disturbance in Ohio

Authorities have identified the man as Thomas Dimassimo from Fairborn, Ohio. He has been charged with inducing panic and disorderly conduct.

Speaking at a later rally in Kansas City, Mr Trump said Dimassimo had ties to Islamic State, a claim which has not been supported by law enforcement agencies.

Experts who watched a video Mr Trump tweeted as evidence have also called the allegation "utterly farcical".

"Trump's accusations about it being linked to ISIS serve only to underline the totality of his ignorance on this issue," said Charles Lister, a fellow at the Middle East Institute.

Minutes before the Ohio incident, Mr Trump spoke about the scuffles that led to a rally in Chicago being cancelled on Friday, saying it was a "planned attack" by "professionals".

Punches were thrown between supporters of the Republican front runner and protesters. Five arrests were made and two police officers were injured.

Protester Jedidiah Brown, who stormed the stage on Friday, told Sky News that Trump supporters told him to "Go back to Africa".

In announcing the cancellation, the Trump campaign said he met with law enforcement officials after arriving in Chicago.

But Chicago police denied they were consulted and claimed they had the resources to cope.

Superintendent John Escalante said: "The Chicago Police Department had no role, we were not consulted or provided an opinion as to whether or not the event should be cancelled.

"In fact we did assure the Trump campaign that we had more than adequate resources.”

In the hours after the cancellation, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: "The organized group of people, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago, have totally energized America!"

However, Republican rival Marco Rubio said Mr Trump needed to take responsibility for what was happening at his rallies.

"Forget about the election for a moment," Senator Rubio told a news conference in Florida.

"There's a broader issue in our country and this is what happens when a leading presidential candidate goes around feeding into a narrative of anger and bitterness and frustration."

Paris attacks: Girls quizzed over 'Bataclan-style plot'

authorities have opened a criminal investigation into two teenage girls suspected of planning an attack similar to the one on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris in November.

The girls, aged 15 and 17, had been exchanging messages on Facebook about the planned assault, police said.

Both girls appeared before an anti-terrorism judge on Friday. 

Prosecutors said the alleged plan had been at an early stage and that neither weapons nor explosives had been found.

France remains on high alert following the Paris attacks in which 130 people died, including 90 at the Bataclan.

The Paris prosecutor's office said the 15-year-old would remain in custody while the 17-year-old would be released under judicial supervision.

The girls, who have not been named, were arrested on Wednesday by counter-terrorism agents. 

They are suspected of criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist undertaking, prosecutors said. 

Two other girls have been questioned by police and released.

Three gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed the Bataclan concert hall on 13 November 2015 during a rock concert. All three were later killed by security forces.

Other gunmen attacked cafes, restaurants and the Stade de France stadium.

France remains under a state of emergency following the attacks.