NEW RESOURCES

New York Magazine: The City Just Released a Massive NYPD-Misconduct Database. “While much of the information contained in the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s database was made last summer by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the CCRB’s release of records marks the first time a city or state agency has made such a database available in compliance with last summer’s repeal of 50-a, the state law that had long shielded police-misconduct records from public scrutiny.”

SHAPE: This Woman Created a “For Us, By Us” Platform to Connect BIPOC with Culturally Competent Physicians. “African Americans are more likely to die of natural causes at any age and younger Black people are experiencing diseases and disorders that are most commonly diagnosed amongst the elderly, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and strokes, according to the CDC. In an effort to address these health disparities, Kimberly Wilson created HUED, an online database that connects Black and Latinx patients with doctors of color.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Bing Blogs: Microsoft Bing delivers more visually immersive experiences that save you time. “At Microsoft Bing we’re looking for ways to give you back time so you can focus on the things that really matter. We’re also looking for ways to move thoughtfully beyond a list of links, to a world of search results that seamlessly combine information with visually rich imagery in a single beautiful view. With that in mind, we’re excited to announce several new search experiences that quickly deliver information in a way that’s intuitive and engaging. The result is a visually rich format that allows you to quickly find what you are looking for without having to sift through large blocks of text.”

Emory News Center: New consortium will ensure future of SlaveVoyages database. “The new consortium, organized by Emory, will function as a cooperative academic collaboration through a contractual agreement among six institutions: Emory, the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture at William & Mary, Rice University, and three campuses at the University of California that will assume a joint membership: UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine and UC Berkeley. Membership is for a three-year term and is renewable.”

Ubergizmo: Twitter To Introduce Automatic Blocking And Muting Of Abusive Accounts. “If someone is sending you harassing or abusive messages on Twitter, you can block them. Unfortunately, this is a manual method and if you’re someone with a lot of followers, this could be a rather tedious process, but that will change soon as Twitter will be automatically blocking and muting those people for you.”

USEFUL STUFF

Lifehacker: How to Make Your Hashtags More Reader-Friendly. “Communicating in the language of hashtags is an annoyingly universal aspect of social media. But if you’re using hashtags on your Instagram posts, tweets, or Facebook status updates, you should make sure they’re readable for people with visual and cognitive disabilities.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

WKRN: Tennessee Tech archivists reuniting tornado survivors with precious memories. “A group at Tennessee Tech University is connecting tornado survivors with personal belongings they lost in the devastation. The project started just days after an EF4 tornado touched down in Cookeville. Thousands of precious memories were lost, but Archivist Megan Atkinson is making sure they’re found.”

New York Times: The Era of Audio Creators Has Arrived. “Audio creators are a new kind of influencer, born of the meteoric rise of the audio-only chat app Clubhouse. Together, they are pulling in millions of weekly listeners and building online followings. Now, with Clubhouse booming and other social apps, like Twitter, taking cues from its success, they are banding together and working with big brands. Audio Collective is one outgrowth of the audio boom.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Post & Courier: SC could punish social media sites for suspending accounts under new proposal. “In the two months since Twitter banned President Donald Trump from its platform, leading Republican voices have lambasted the company for what they called acts of censorship — including U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Now, a freshman Upstate state lawmaker wants to go even further, requiring social media companies to inform holders of suspended Palmetto State-based accounts why they’ve been booted within 10 days or face punishment under the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.”

Military .com: Pentagon Eyes Plan to Intensify Social Media Screening in Military Background Investigations. “The Defense Department ‘is examining a scalable means of implementing social media screening in conjunction with background investigations,’ Pentagon officials said in suggested training materials distributed for a stand-down to discuss extremism. The military-wide pause in operations was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.”

The Connexion: French tax office trials social media checks to detect fraud. “French tax authorities will now be able to use data published online to cross-check tax declarations. This includes text, images, videos and photos published on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as online sales platforms including Leboncoin, Vinted and Ebay. The new measure is being introduced on a trial basis, for three years.” French authorities have already used Google Maps to find evaders of swimming pool taxes.

RESEARCH & OPINION

Poynter: It’s time for data visualizations to be more inclusive of gender information. “For decades, visualizations that display gender data have promoted a binary mindset, which marginalizes and excludes those who don’t identify as strictly male or female. Nonbinary concepts of gender are becoming more and more accepted, and the distinction between assigned sex and gender is finally being recognized on a societal scale. Our data should reflect this.” Good morning, Internet…

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