Tag: photos

Mobile technology may support kids learning to recognize emotions in photos of faces
TECHNOLOGY

Mobile technology may support kids learning to recognize emotions in photos of faces

The big idea An essential social skill is understanding emotion. Children learn about emotion even before language by paying attention to a caregiver’s face. Watching people around them provides children with essential facts for survival: Who will love me? Whom should I be scared of? These days everyone’s seen infants and toddlers, and their parents, with screens in their faces. So how could little ones be getting the critical in-person, face-to-face interaction they desperately need in those early years? Yet in today’s world, just about everyone uses devices to communicate with others, even face to face. Toddlers learn from video chatting with their grandparents, and teens devour image-driven social media on platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat. What if, rather than stunting the em...
If The Company Keeps Its Promises – Apple Can Scan Your Photos For Child Abuse And Still Protect Your Privacy
IN OTHER NEWS, TECHNOLOGY

If The Company Keeps Its Promises – Apple Can Scan Your Photos For Child Abuse And Still Protect Your Privacy

Mayank Varia, Boston University The proliferation of child sexual abuse material on the internet is harrowing and sobering. Technology companies send tens of millions of reports per year of these images to the nonprofit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The way companies that provide cloud storage for your images usually detect child abuse material leaves you vulnerable to privacy violations by the companies – and hackers who break into their computers. On Aug. 5, 2021, Apple announced a new way to detect this material that promises to better protect your privacy. As a computer scientist who studies cryptography, I can explain how Apple’s system works, why it’s an improvement, and why Apple needs to do more. Who holds the key? Digital files can be protected in a sort o...
Out-of-context photos are a powerful low-tech form of misinformation
Journalism

Out-of-context photos are a powerful low-tech form of misinformation

When you think of visual misinformation, maybe you think of deepfakes – videos that appear real but have actually been created using powerful video editing algorithms. The creators edit celebrities into pornographic movies, and they can put words into the mouths of people who never said them. But the majority of visual misinformation that people are exposed to involves much simpler forms of deception. One common technique involves recycling legitimate old photographs and videos and presenting them as evidence of recent events. For example, Turning Point USA, a conservative group with over 1.5 million followers on Facebook, posted a photo of a ransacked grocery store with the caption “YUP! #SocialismSucks.” In reality, the empty supermarket shelves have nothing to do with socialism; the p...
Why people post ‘couple photos’ as their social media profile pictures
LIFESTYLE

Why people post ‘couple photos’ as their social media profile pictures

As you scroll through your Facebook news feed, you see it: Your friend has posted a new profile picture. But instead of a picture of just your friend, it’s a couple photo – a picture of your friend and their romantic partner. “Why would someone choose that as their profile picture?” you wonder. We are social psychology researchers interested in understanding people’s behavior in close relationships and on social media. Our research and that of other scholars provides insight into why people use these types of “I’m part of a couple!” displays on social media. Choosing profile photos that include their romantic partner, posting their relationship status and mentioning their partner in their updates can all be signs of how people feel in their relationship – and may send an important messag...