Inspired by the success of Motion Stills, Google is releasing more photography apps built on experimental technology. Today, Google is launching two new “appsperimentals” for iOS that take advantage of recent phone and computer vision advancements.

• Selfissimo! (iOS, Android) is an automated selfie photographer that snaps a stylish black and white photo each time you pose. Tap the screen to start a photo shoot. The app encourages you to pose and captures a photo whenever you stop moving. Tap the screen to end the session and review the resulting contact sheet, saving individual images or the entire shoot.
• Scrubbies (iOS) lets you easily manipulate the speed and direction of video playback to produce delightful video loops that highlight actions, capture funny faces, and replay moments. Shoot a video in the app and then remix it by scratching it like a DJ. Scrubbing with one finger plays the video. Scrubbing with two fingers captures the playback so you can save or share it.

Former FB exec and now venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya believes that social media is “eroding the core foundations of how people behave” and that he feels “tremendous guilt” about creating tools that are “ripping apart the social fabric.”

"You don't realize it, but you are being programmed … but now you got to decide how much you're willing to give up, how much of your intellectual independence," he warned the audience.

He said he didn't want to be programmed himself, emphasizing he "doesn't use this shit" and his kids are not allowed to use "this shit" either—also recommending that everyone take a "hard break" from social media.

Instagram today announced two new features and both of them have to do with the Stories. Stories are small video clips that stick around for 24 hours and then disappear to the aether. With the latest update though, you can store those memories forever.

Stories Highlights will enable more customization and self-expression on profiles than ever before – whether sharing the best moments with your dog, your recent family vacation, or a collection of your silliest selfies.

 The second feature that is coming to Stories is called Archive. This feature is passive and active all the time, so you don’t have to do anything special to take advantage of it. When your regular Stories expire after 24 hours, they will be automatically archived. On your profile there is an Archive button that will show you your post archive and allow you to switch to your Stories Archive.

“Those who tell you, ‘Do not put too much politics in your art’ are not being honest. If you look very carefully you will see that they are the same people who are quite happy with the situation as it is. And what they are saying is not don’t introduce politics. What they are saying is don’t upset the system. They are just as political as any of us. It’s only that they are on the other side.

Social media doesn’t just improve your business – it can help an entire business community! In Corvallis, Oregon, a group of local business owners called the Corvallis Social Media Brigade are working on projects that give the Corvallis business community higher visibility through the use of social media.
But many small business owners aren’t sure how to get involved, or what the benefit is to them and their companies. Here are five ways that use of social media can help business and things you can do to get started.

#1. Reviews of local businesses indicate a caring, involved community. So when a visitor comes looking for a restaurant or a place to stay or any other service, it’s evident that the city is an active and interesting place. This also doesn’t hurt when a community is seeking to attract other small businesses to locate here.
When you communicate to new people, you’re branding your business. You’re telling people what you do, how you treat customers and how you respond to both good and bad comments. As a part of the greater business community, you’re promoting the network of businesses too.
Action: Create a personal profile on Yelp.com. Commit to reviewing one business every month (every week is even better). Don’t just say you like the business; instead, cite specific things they do that are different from others or specific dishes you enjoy.

#2. Promote other businesses you work with and like. Share links and information on Facebook. Re-tweet what other local businesses are saying. Spread the word in a way that would be hard to do without the internet.
When you say nice things about others, they are likely to say nice things about you. That doesn’t mean that you want to say flattering things without cause. No, that’s not what this is all about – instead, it’s about using a different medium to share truthful information about your experiences with another local business.
Action: Go to the “Suggest to Friends” link under the logo on the top left and tell your Facebook friends about business pages you like, or that share useful information. (Not-so-subtle hint: Visual People has a Facebook fan page and we’d love to have you and your friends as fans.) Leave a comment on the wall of a business you appreciate.

#3a. Take advantage of new ways to reach a rapidly growing audience. In Corvallis, a college town, it’s important to communicate to the college-aged population through mutual use of the same technologies. But it’s not just kids who are using social media and mobile search – in fact, the highest adopters of social media right now are people in their 30s and 40s – those with money to spend at your business. The key is, to reach people using the tools that they are using, so you can appeal to them.

#3b. Be prepared to take advantage of your customers’ spur-of-the-moment needs. People are regularly using review sites like Yelp to check out local restaurants. It’s a huge relief to know what to expect at a dining establishment you’ve never tried. Other service-based businesses can take advantage of this too. Do you run a company that helps people with immediate needs – a mechanic, a plumber, a cleaning service? Make sure you are using social media tools, and ask customers and other business owners to become fans, review your business and share your tweets.
Action: If you don’t use social media for business at all, create a fan page or a profile on one service (we suggest creating a Facebook fan page or a business page on Yelp). If you’re using one but not others, explore what additional tools might help your business. Ask other small business owners what they are having success with or review Facebook, Twitter or Yelp to see how local businesses are using them.

#4. Blend your in-person and online interactions and networking. Online interaction only goes so far – you can meet and greet customers, potential customers and other business owners at the local events that are shared and promoted through social media. Network and meet business owners in person, then add them to your social network online.
Action: Use Facebook to tell others about an upcoming event you are having at your business or to plan your attendance at an event held at another businesses or local organization. 

#5. Realize that constructive criticism can help your business. It hurts to get a bad review or comment online, but if you can take any useful information from the critique and use it to improve, you’re going to be better off. And you can read reviews of your friends and competitors to find out what things they are doing right and wrong.
If you are going to leave negative feedback about a business, think carefully. More than the average citizen, a local business owner does have to exercise caution in how he or she reviews others. Here’s a good rule of thumb: Try telling the business about your experience before you post it online. Talk to an employee, a manager or the business owner and try to reach a resolution before
Action: Write a short plan (a page should do) for how you will respond to feedback, both positive and negative. Assign an employee – or yourself – to monitor social media and respond to reviews and comments.

Allo for web is here! Try it on Chrome today. Get the latest Allo build on Android before giving it a spin https://t.co/OPn6Q5hdkg pic.twitter.com/awxr9wFvoD

— Amit Fulay (@amitfulay) August 15, 2017

Modest improvements to comments has been something of a summer project for Instagram. In June, the company announced introduced new tools to block offensive comments and reduce spam.

Twitter has once again redesigned it's app, across mobile devices, desktop and the web application as a strategy to lure new users. Although Twitter retains its usual design but adds a gesture of something new.

The update involves a series of smaller tweaks to things like where your settings are located, the typography used, the shape of its icons, and more.

Above: “Order Food” on mobile

Instagram wants to be the photo app for the whole world, even if you can’t or won’t download it. In pursuit of international growth where networks are slow and data is expensive, Instagram has given its mobile website a massive upgrade that adds core features of the main app, including photo sharing and a lightweight version of the Explore tab.

You can now post photos from Instagram’s mobile website

Instagram mobile web now lets you post and check out a lightweight version of the Explore tab