What you need to know about Facebook’s battle with drag queens

Maybe you’ve seen RuPaul’s Drag Race, the flagship show on Logo TV, where men (dressed as women) compete to become America’s next drag superstar. At the end of each show, the lowest-scoring competitors “lip sync for their life” in order to stay on the show another week. Now, some drag queens are fighting for their social media lives.

In mid-September, Facebook started deleting profile pages belonging to drag queens like Trannyshack founder Heklina. Why? According to Facebook’s “real names” policy, the use of any name other than your legal name isn’t allowed. Despite a face-to-face meeting with influential drag queens, Facebook won’t cave to the pressure.

Considering anyone can make a Twitter profile and a Google+ profile with whatever name they want (the latter ditched its own “real names” policy in July), why is Facebook refusing to budge and let its users be their true authentic selves?

WHAT IS IT?

Facebook says that its service is a “community where people use their real identities,” and requires everyone to provide their real names in order to keep its community “safe.” What constitutes a legal name to it is one that matches the user’s “credit card, driver’s license or student ID.” The policy goes on to say you can include an “alternate name” next to your legal name, which it says could be a “maiden name, nickname or professional name.”

In the drag community, a queen’s “stage name” is their identity. It’s who they are and represents their personality that they’ve grown into — and it’s certainly not a nickname. If RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Latrice Royale (above with Jennifer Hudson) were to walk down the street in “boy clothes” and you wanted to say hello, you’d likely address her as Latrice, not by her legal name: Timothy.

Facebook is the one social network that generally controls your experience, whereas on Twitter, you’re in control. Facebook decides what it thinks you want to see based on its mysterious EdgeRank algorithm. Reports from March show that less than 7 percent of fans see content from a Facebook page organically (fancy social media lingo for not being promoted with money). Naturally, Facebook is a big corporation that needs to keep its investors happy — and to that end, it expects page owners to spend money to make sure their content is seen.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Drag performers aren’t businesses that sell products and they’re not in a very lucrative line of work (not to mention those outfits can be expensive). On Facebook, they really just want to keep their friends and fans updated with what they’re up to, such as performances and charitable causes. And they also make plenty of room for your everyday status updates, too.

A performer will set up their account to let others follow them and selectively accept friend requests. It makes sharing news about events (using Facebook’s events mechanism) significantly easier. And most importantly, this allows for a more intimate connection.

The other challenge some performers encounter is safety and security. Most drag queens are wide open about who they are, but as San Francisco supervisor Scott Wiener reminded us, “Not all drag queens have that luxury.” They might live in a place that’s not super diverse like San Francisco or need to keep their drag life separate from possibly judgmental family and coworkers.

Let’s say I had one Facebook profile using my legal name and another with the drag persona Edwina Gadgetina. Maybe I don’t want Engadget’s readers or my mom to know about the secret persona I go by at night in Palo Alto’s hottest nightclubs. With current rules, I’d be forced to rename my “drag” persona account to “John Edwina-Gadgetina Colucci.” When someone looks me up by my legal name, both profiles will appear in search and I might not want them to see my other life.

WHAT’S THE ARGUMENT?

Facebook’s names policy is really what the company thinks constitutes a legal name. When Heklina spoke to a Facebook rep, she was told an algorithm discovered the drag queens and started going after them. Let’s break that down: There’s an algorithm within Facebook that’s trying to figure out which names are real and which are fake. Sure, this algorithm could take out the “Seymour Butts” of the world, but why drag queens, and why now?

With its “real names” requirement, Facebook is in effect telling drag queens that they can’t be their authentic selves on the service. Why, for the limited group of people Facebook serves up your content to, should it be in the business of censoring your identity and way of being? Social media is supposed to be about being yourself and saying what’s on your mind, in the manner in which you choose to do so.

Back to my example about tech journalism’s first drag queen, Edwina Gadgetina. Complying with the policy and changing my name to the one I’m born with won’t work, and converting said profile to a “page” (rather than personal profile) isn’t going to work, either. Facebook could easily have come up with a way for those who have a chosen name to use it, while still being able to weed out fakes or impersonators, but they chose to remain bullish and tarnish its image in the process.

On the other hand, Facebook has been known to be an ally with the LGBTQ community, an example of which was rolling out about 70 different gender options for a user’s profile earlier this year. Last year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg marched in San Francisco’s Pride parade along with former Baltimore Ravens linebacker and prominent “straight ally” Brendon Ayanbadejo (pictured above). This names issue likely doesn’t mean that Facebook’s suddenly had a change of heart about the LGBTQ community, but it needs to be further educated on why this issue is so important. A protest is planned on October 2nd in San Francisco to push back on the policy, and plenty of people are changing their profile pictures to the purple #MyNameIs graphic throughout various social media channels as a sign of solidarity.

WANT EVEN MORE?

Another result of this is a mass Facebook exodus: Some drag queens (and others in the LGBTQ community) are fleeing en masse in protest, to Ello. Our own Nicole Lee walks through everything you need to know about this new social network.

The queen herself — RuPaul, also weighed in on the controversy. She told The Hollywood Reporter: “In showbiz, there’s no such thing as bad publicity as long as they spell your name right, but it’s bad policy when Facebook strips the rights of creative individuals who have blossomed into something even more fabulous than the name their mama gave them.” On that note, if you need some inspirational TV viewing and a good laugh, I highly recommend a few episodes of last season’s RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Finally, Edwina Gadgetina isn’t real yet, but if she were, she’d want to remind drag queens deflated by all of this to not let Facebook get them down. Put on that wig, your Pink Pebble and hear the gospel of Latrice Royale: “Get up, look sick’ning and make them eat it.”

[Image credits: Eric Risberg/AP Photo (Lil Ms. Hot Mess, Sister Roma and Heklina), Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images (Jennifer Hudson and Latrice Royale), Shutterstock (Facebook Menlo Park, California, Campus), Jason Agron/Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg and Brandon Ayanbadejo), Mathu Andersen/Logo (RuPaul), pic via Salon.com]

Filed under: Internet, Facebook

Comments

.CPlase_panel display:none;

The gospel of virtual reality according to Oculus

This past Saturday, I found myself in the front row of what felt like an old-time revival, only instead of religious zealots, I was surrounded by roughly 800 disciples of virtual reality. Onstage at the inaugural Oculus Connect VR developer conference, the high priests of the medium, Palmer Luckey, Brendan Iribe, Michael Abrash and John Carmack preached the gospel of presence — the Holy Grail of virtual reality. Presence is a simple concept to grok once you’ve experienced it, though describing the feeling can be difficult. Essentially, presence is shorthand for what results when you fool the human brain into perceiving a virtual world as it does the real one.

Oculus is closer than ever to delivering that experience with its latest prototype headset, code-named Crescent Bay, but a consumer version is still a ways off. According to Oculus founder Luckey, “All the tech needed to build the headset we want exists, but not all of it is in such a form that you can buy it in mass quantities.” So, while the world waits for manufacturing to enable a final consumer product, Connect attendees got a taste of what that commercially viable headset will deliver — thanks to handcrafted prototypes built with rare engineering-sample components.

And what an experience it is. Crescent Bay is the best VR headset I’ve worn, full stop. You can read all about it here, but regardless of its current, fixable flaws, the demo with that prototype has me believing in the power of presence. And I suppose that’s at least part of the reason why Oculus waited to hold its initial developer conference until now. VR’s time draws near.

“Imagine you had a pair of magical goggles that would take you anywhere, instantly.”

“We might as well be brains in glass jars with wires coming out of them.” I’m back in the front row at Connect, listening to Abrash, Oculus’ chief scientist, talk about direct brain stimulation and explain how humans perceive reality. He’s been thinking about creating virtual worlds since the early ’90s, and is a VR evangelist of the highest order. I mean that as a compliment. Abrash, while clearly awed and inspired by the technology’s potential, possesses a pragmatic attitude about the current challenges facing both Oculus and VR in general. His day job is running Oculus’ R&D operation, learning to understand human cognition and solving the most difficult problems facing VR. But what a salesman. He closes with: “Imagine you had a pair of magical goggles that would take you anywhere, instantly. Where would you go? … What would you do? … That’s a powerful thought, and that’s what VR can do.”

I’m sold and, at this point, I haven’t even strapped on that Crescent Bay headset yet. “This is what it looks like when opportunity knocks,” Abrash says. Everyone in the audience is ready to answer.

http://www.engadget.com/embed-5min/?sid=577&playList=518427968&responsive=false

Oculus has long vowed not to release a consumer headset until that hardware is comfortable, affordable and can deliver on the promise of presence. Luckey wants as many people as possible to reap the benefits of VR, and for that to happen it’s got to be a pleasant, desirable experience. Hardware’s only half the solution, however, and that’s where the developers come in. And by developers, Oculus means anyone making VR content. By and large, that’s game devs, but there are cinematographers and other film industry converts in the audience. It makes sense that Connect is taking place in Hollywood.

Now I’m listening to Carmack, Oculus CTO, explain how he built his working relationship with Samsung and the myriad technical challenges he grappled with when building Gear VR. I wonder how many other non-technical attendees there are, and if they’re having better luck keeping up with what he’s saying. Carmack, I imagine, is as persuasive and pragmatic as Abrash, were I able to fully comprehend his words. He’s speaking the language of coders and engineers at a pace that’s difficult for me to parse. He talks for over an hour and a half without pause. I am humbled by his intellect. He opens with: “I don’t actually have a presentation, but I can stand up here and talk about interesting things until they run me off the stage.” So it goes… I think?

Oculus wants as many people as possible to reap the benefits of VR, and for that to happen it’s got to be a pleasant, desirable experience.

The fact is, virtual reality is interesting, and has been for a long time. It’s been a part of the cultural zeitgeist since The Lawnmower Man introduced VR to millions of moviegoers in 1992. Many have tried, and failed, to take the technology mainstream. We’ve been here before, over 20 years ago. Seemingly on the cusp of revolution, many heralded the dawn of the VR age. It was a false prophecy, doomed to remain unfulfilled thanks to hardware that couldn’t deliver a truly immersive VR experience.

Abrash, Carmack and Luckey all believe that the work they’re doing is hugely important and will change the world. It remains to be seen if VR will do so, but if it does, you can bet that Oculus will play a big part in the transformation.

On my flight home, it feels like Connect is the catalyst to make it happen.

Filed under: Wearables, Facebook

Comments

.CPlase_panel display:none;

Say Ello to the anti-Facebook

Ello seems to have come out of nowhere.

The creators are designers and artists. Its CEO, Paul Budnitz, makes toys. There’s no big marketing push and no obvious ties to Silicon Valley. These are not the typical building blocks of a hot new social network.

Yet, people are joining it in droves. In the past few days, Ello has seen an incredible influx of new users. Its network more than quadrupled in size and there’s no sign of it slowing down. As I’m writing this, I’m told that Ello has gained nearly 20,000 new users in just the past hour. A quick scan of my Twitter and Facebook feeds reveals a whole slew of my friends have joined the service, which is a remarkable achievement considering Ello is still at the invite-only stage. Only existing users can invite those looking to sign up, which means it’s mostly spreading by word-of-mouth. Ello had to stop taking invites because its servers were slammed. People are even selling Ello invitations on eBay for $100 a pop.

So what’s the big deal with Ello? And why is it so popular all of a sudden?

The short answer: It’s not Facebook.

In the past couple of weeks, Facebook has been on the receiving end of negative press for deleting profiles of drag queens for not following its “real names” policy. The company has stated that it’s not targeting them in particular and is applying this rule to everyone, but it’s enough to tarnish Facebook for some members of the LGBTQ community, many of whom have safety and personal reasons to hide their real names from public view. It’s also a genuine concern for anyone who’s a victim of stalking or online harassment.

Ello, however, does not have a “real name” policy. You can be whomever you want on it. Not only that, but it’s also vehemently anti-advertising. Its manifesto ends with: “You are not a product.”

“We want you to be exactly who you are,” said Todd Berger, one of the designers for Ello. “We don’t really care — we don’t want the data associated with the name because we’re not selling it.”

The recent dustup over real names is just another in a long line of complaints in Facebook’s history. The splintering of Messenger into its own app, the increase in autoplay video ads on mobile, its past experiments on users and a generally sketchy track record when it comes to privacy have done plenty to damage Facebook’s reputation over the years. While the exodus of many in the LGBTQ community might have been the catalyst for Ello’s popularity, it appears that the very idea of a Facebook alternative is attractive enough to entice new users.

Paul Budnitz, founder of Kidrobot, is also one of the minds behind Ello

That also happens to be the reason Budnitz and his friends created Ello. “We had just become really sick of other social networks,” said Budnitz, who’s also the founder of Kidrobot, a producer and retailer of designer toys. “We didn’t want a place that was run by advertisers, a place that would mine our data. We just want a place that’s simple and beautiful.”

So Budnitz and a group of designers and developers (from Berger & Föhr and Mode Set respectively). created a private social network about a year and a half ago just for themselves and a few friends. But there was so much demand for it that the team decided to build a version for the public.

“When we started building Ello, we started with a few principles,” said Budnitz. “The first is: no ads. A social network doesn’t have to be complicated and it especially doesn’t have to be that way if it doesn’t have ads.” He went on to say that when a network like Facebook shows ads, the advertiser is the customer, not you. “The thing that’s being sold is the user,” he said.

Additionally, because Budnitz and his team have strong design and art backgrounds, they wanted the site to look good. “I wanted something really clean and very different,” he said. “I also wanted to deal with clutter.” Berger added that Ello was also intended as a shared art space, and that’s apparent almost immediately. It has a minimalist interface, with plenty of white space and a wide layout that really lets art and photos take center stage. And for all you GIF-lovers out there, Ello supports those animated images out of the gate. In my first few hours with it, Ello feels a lot more like Tumblr than either Facebook or Twitter, but even that is not an accurate comparison. On the whole, Ello is just very different from any of the other social networks I’ve seen.

You can move people between two streams: Friends and Noise. The Friends stream features large photos and long-form text, while the Noise feed is a fluid grid layout designed for browsing information quickly. So the folks you’d add to your Friends stream would be people you’re really interested in, while Noise is just for quick news consumption. Similar to Twitter, you don’t have to follow someone who follows you and vice versa. In fact, by default, Ello is completely open and anyone can follow anyone else.

That openness has resulted in the first big criticism against Ello: It doesn’t have any privacy settings. So if I want to block someone or flag inappropriate content, I can’t. That’s an especially big pain point considering the reasons many flocked to it in the first place. However, Budnitz said privacy controls are coming soon.

“We were going to roll it out eventually,” he said. “But with so many people joining, especially since we have all these new users where that sort of thing matters, we’ve pushed up the schedule.” Plus, Budnitz said that Ello has a pretty strict set of rules already. “We have a zero-tolerance policy around hate, trolls, stalking and hurtful behavior.” Still, it seems that the rules aren’t entirely set in stone. In the initial policy, there was a statement of “No porn.” Now, however, it’s been reworded to allow for NSFW content, as long as it isn’t something illegal, like child pornography.

Indeed, Ello is still very much in beta. Notifications, for example, currently clutter up the Friends stream and the Discover/Search feature is slow and buggy. The team is hard at work to fix these issues and introduce new features, many of which are listed in the publicly viewable Feature List. Several upcoming features include private messaging, bookmarking and the ability to embed SoundCloud audio and video from Vimeo or YouTube. As for mobile apps, those are coming too, but only after the team is happy with its web product. In the meantime, you can view Ello on your phone via a mobile browser.

Of course, Ello is not the first social networking alternative. Remember App.net and Diaspora? They’re still around and certainly have their fair share of fans, but they didn’t quite take the world by storm. Ello has the buzz, but it takes resources to harness and sustain that momentum. If Ello doesn’t plan to show ads, how will it make money?

Well, as far as initial financing goes, Ello did actually take some funding in the form of $435,000 from FreshTracks Capital, a VC firm in Vermont. That might sound some alarm bells regarding the direction of Ello and if it’ll really remain true to its ad-free goals, but the VCs in question appear to be relatively hands-off, telling GigaOm that it’s perfectly fine with Ello’s current business plan.

And how does that plan go? Well, Ello will be free to use if you want the simple, no-frills experience, but if you want something extra, you’ll have to pay for it. So, for example, if you wanted to manage multiple Ello accounts with a single login, that feature would cost you something like $2.

“Ello isn’t designed to be perfect for everyone, and it’ll never be perfect for everyone” said Berger. “But we’re going to let you customize the environment that’s suited for you and we’ll sell that to you.”

“We’ve already had thousands of different suggestions for premium features and a lot of them overlap each other,” said Budnitz. “We already have people who are interested in paying us for them. Just based on that, we know that we can be profitable.”

Even so, Budnitz has no plans to compete with Facebook.

“We’re not trying to rule the world,” he said. “We’re not competing. We’re just building this thing that we really want to use … We don’t need or want to be a $30 billion company. We just want to build a great business.”

[Image credit: Getty Images]

Filed under: Internet

Comments

.CPlase_panel display:none;

Facebook offers more details on its internet-beaming planes

We’ve known about Facebook’s ambitious plans to bring internet to developing areas via drone for a while now. At the Social Good Summit this week, Facebook Connectivity Lab’s Yael Maguire revealed more details about what the social network is hoping to accomplish. Speaking with Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore, Maguire said that the UAVs would need to be able to fly for months, or even years, at an altitude “above the weather, above all airspace.” For those counting, that’s around 60,000 to 90,000 feet. Luckily for Facebook and the Internet.org initiative, it has already looked into solar-powered options that can make trips lasting up to five years. Maguire went on to say that a regular-sized drone won’t suffice, so the “planes” will have to be “roughly the size of a commercial aircraft, like a 747.” As you might expect, the effort is certain to face regulatory hurdles, including how many of the vehicles a single pilot can oversee. Eventually, the goal is to have one person steering “up to 100″ of the internet-carrying planes at a time. “We can’t have one person per plane if we want to figure out how to connect the world,” Maguire explained. For now, there’s a three to five year window for employing the UAVs, and the lab hopes to see the first one take flight for testing next year.

Filed under: Internet, Facebook

Comments

Source: Mashable

.CPlase_panel display:none;

Oculus lets you tinker with the code and design of its first VR headset

If you’ve ever wanted to modify a virtual reality headset (or even create one from scratch), Oculus VR just gave you a big head start on your project. The Facebook-owned firm has opened up the code, mechanical elements and design for its first VR wearable, the Oculus Rift DK1. Provided you have the know-how and tools, you can now build upon everything Oculus learned in its early days about screens, head tracking and ergonomics. The source material won’t help you recreate the more advanced technology of newer Rift kits or the Gear VR, but it should be worth a look if you’re curious about the inner workings of immersive displays.

Filed under: Displays, Wearables, Facebook

Comments

Source: GitHub

.CPlase_panel display:none;

You got served … on Facebook :(

It’s made you distrustful and toyed with your emotions and now a Staten Island Support Magistrate has deemed Facebook an acceptable vehicle for your legal woes. According to the New York Post,
Gregory Gliedman ruled that Noel Biscocho could use the social network to serve his ex, Anna Maria Antigua, with a legal notice that he no longer wishes to pay child support for their 21-year-old son. The ruling reportedly came after Biscocho attempted to reach Antigua multiple times in the real world. And here we thought breaking up via text message was bad.

[Image credit: Peter Dazeley / Getty]

Filed under: Internet, Facebook

Comments

Via: Gothamist

Source: New York Post

.CPlase_panel display:none;