Meta was hit with a fine of 265 million euros (roughly $275 million) by the Irish Data Protection Commission, the company’s lead regulator for the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, over an incident last year in which personal data from more than 530 million Facebook users was exposed online.

The DPC also imposed a range of corrective measures.

The regulator fined Meta $402 million in September for violations of the EU’s privacy laws protecting children online, including the default setting being set to public for users 13 through 17 and letting people that age operate business accounts, which reveal their email addresses and phone numbers.

Meta said in a statement, “Protecting the privacy and security of people’s data is fundamental to how our business works. That’s why we have cooperated fully with the Irish Data Protection Commission on this important issue. We made changes to our systems during the time in question, including removing the ability to scrape our features in this way using phone numbers. Unauthorized data scraping is unacceptable and against our rules, and we will continue working with our peers on this industry challenge. We are reviewing this decision carefully.”

The DPC said in a release that it began its inquiry April 14, 2021, following media reports on the breach, in which personal data including email addresses and mobile phone numbers for more than 530 million Facebook users were exposed online.

Facebook said at the time that the data in question was old data, and the issue had been fixed, adding that the data was scraped from its platform by malicious actors using a contact importer feature that it had offered up to September 2019.

The DPC wrote, “There was a comprehensive inquiry process, including cooperation with all of the other data protection supervisory authorities within the EU. Those supervisory authorities agreed with the decision of the DPC.

In addition to the fine, Meta was ordered to “bring its processing into compliance by taking a range of specified remedial actions within a particular timeframe.”

Hive is a social networking application that has recently grown in popularity due to an influx of users looking for a Twitter alternative.

Hive allows users to share text posts, as well as photos, videos, GIFs and more. Users can follow other users on Hive, and they can even add music to their personal profile through connectivity with Apple Music and Spotify.

Before someone can use Hive, they’ll need to sign up for an account. Our guide will show you how to sign up for Hive.

Note: These screenshots were captured in the Hive app on iOS.

Step 1: Open the Hive app and tap the “Create an Account” button at the bottom of the screen.

Step 2: You can create an account using your email address, Google or Apple account. Tap the button that matches your preference. For our guide, we’ll tap the “Sign up with Email” button.

Step 3: Enter your email address and desired password and then tap the “Next” button. Note: You can tap “Use phone number instead” at the bottom of the screen if you’d rather sign up with your phone number. Also note, if you chose to sign up with Google or Apple, you’ll see a different screen for this step.

Step 4: Tap the text-entry field under “Date of birth” and enter your birthdate.

Step 5: Tap the “Next” button to continue.

Step 6: Tap the “Name” and “Username” text-entry fields and enter your desired display name and username.

Step 7: Tap “Next” to continue.

Step 8: Tap at least three interests that match your preferences. You can also tap the search field near the top of the screen to search for interests manually.

Step 9: Tap the “Done” button at the bottom of the screen to finish creating your account.

Mastodon allows users to bookmark their favorite posts so that they can easily view them again later on.

Our guide will show you how to bookmark a post in the Mastodon mobile application.

Note: These screenshots were captured in the Mastodon app on iOS.

Step 1: Tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the post you want to bookmark.

Step 2: Tap “Bookmark.”

Heinz is asking loyal fans of its ketchup brand to put their money where their mouth is.

Starting Nov. 30 at 8 a.m. ET and running through Dec. 21, the “Tip for Heinz” campaign is encouraging Heinz fans to add an extra $1 tip for Heinz while dining out at restaurants not offering the brand and share a photo of their receipt displaying that tip on Instagram or TikTok with the #TipforHeinz hashtag, or via the Tip for Heinz website, which will go live Nov. 30.

The company committed $125,000 to the initiative, which will cover the full gratuity, up to $20 and, in the case of some lucky ketchup lovers, their entire tab.

Heinz will also give the first 10 restaurants that take the tip and commit to switching to Heinz one free year’s supply of ketchup.

The company teamed up with Starcom‘s Publicis 57 on an out-of-home buy covering billboards in Chicago and placements in New York’s Times Square to raise awareness of the Tip for Heinz initiative.

Heinz senior brand manager Jacqueline Chao said in a statement, “Gone are the days of subjecting delicious foods to subpar ketchup. We support Americans who demand more from the condiments restaurants serve, and Tip for Heinz aims to elevate fans’ voices for their preferred ketchup. Together with fellow ketchup lovers, we hope to work toward a future where fans can expect the unmistakably delicious taste of Heinz whenever they dine out.”

Heinz also shared the results of a recent survey it conducted with 1,372 participants:

• 77% said Heinz is their preferred brand of ketchup when dining out.
• 48% prefer Heinz over generic ketchup.
• 44% said they feel like there is nothing they can do to change the condiment brands that restaurants carry.
• 40.3% said they would not feel comfortable bringing up their condiment preferences to restaurant staff if they did not carry it.
• “Disappointed” was the word most used to describe consumer feelings when a restaurant didn’t carry Heinz.
• 99.7% said they regularly enjoy ketchup.
• 56.94% somewhat or strongly agree that condiments can make or break their food experience when dining out.
• 70% somewhat or strongly agree that they want the restaurants they frequent (including fast-food) to serve high-quality condiments.
• 59.9% somewhat or strongly prefer brand name condiments over generic condiments.

Meta vice president and global head of safety Antigone Davis detailed several updates Monday geared toward keeping teems safe on Facebook and Instagram.

Mirroring a step the company took on Instagram in July 2021, anyone under the age of 16—under 18 in certain countries—who joins Facebook will be defaulted into more private settings, and users in that age group who are already on the platform will be encouraged to make their settings more private for categories such as:

• Who can see their friends list.
• Who can see the people, pages and lists they follow.
• Who can see posts they are tagged in on their profile.
• Reviewing posts they are tagged in before those posts appear on their profile.
• Who can comment on their public posts.

Meta is working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on a global platform for teens who are worried about intimate images they created being shared to public platforms without their consent.

Davis explained in a blog post Monday, “We’ve been working closely with NCMEC, experts, academics, parents and victim advocates globally to help develop the platform and ensure that it responds to the needs of teens so that they can regain control of their content in these horrific situations. We’ll have more to share on this new resource in the coming weeks.”

The company is also collaborating with Thorn and its NoFiltr brand on educational materials that help reduce the shame and stigma surrounding intimate images and empower teens to seek help and take back control if they’ve shared those images or are experiencing sextortion.

Davis wrote, “We found that more than 75% of people that we reported to NCMEC for sharing child exploitative content shared the content out of outrage, poor humor or disgust, and with no apparent intention of harm. Sharing this content violates our policies, regardless of intent,” adding that a new public-service announcement campaign is aimed at urging people to stop and think before resharing images of this sort and to report them to Meta instead.

She also pointed people seeking information or support to the Stop Sextortion Hub on the Facebook Safety Center and to the platform’s guide for parents on how to talk to teens about intimate images.

Meta began testing new ways to protect teens from messaging suspicious adults—an adult that may have recently been blocked or reported by a young person, for example—who they aren’t connected to, saying those accounts won’t be shown in People You May Know recommendations, and it is experimenting with removing the message button on teens’ Instagram accounts altogether when those accounts are viewed by suspicious adults.

Finally, Meta is introducing new notifications that encourage teens on its platforms to use the safety tools that are available to them, such as prompting teens to report accounts after they block them and sending them safety notices with information on how to navigate inappropriate messages from adults.

Newsletters have proven to be a tough sector to crack for social platforms, as Meta pulled the plug on its Bulletin off-platform newsletter offering last month, and turmoil-filled Twitter reportedly followed suit shortly thereafter. One platform, however, has seemingly cracked the code of working newsletters into its efforts: LinkedIn.

“Professionals have always come to LinkedIn to find and share their work-related content, and knowledge sharing is something LinkedIn is bringing to life,” product lead for creator strategy Keren Baruch told Adweek. “It’s really been just an explosion here. Members are looking for insights and knowledge to help them advance their careers.”

The Microsoft-owned professional network began rolling out access to newsletters for members using LinkedIn Creator Mode last November, and more than 49,000 newsletters currently reside on its platform, drawing over 150 million subscriptions.

“We continue to be focused on what LinkedIn has always been doing—tangibly helping other professionals on LinkedIn,” Baruch said. “The success of newsletters on LinkedIn speaks to the depth of that mission: Creating a space for professional conversation.”

Baruch highlighted four examples of newsletters thriving on LinkedIn’s platform:

“Newsletters are a way to connect to an audience that’s really supercharged,” Baruch said. “You’re not just sending out an email to an email list, but connecting into a professional network, showing up in someone’s feed and sending out notifications to your audience. The ability to connect into the professional network has truly been a valuable differentiator.”

LinkedIn added newsletters for pages in March, saying at the time that early adopter Insider tallied nearly 820,000 subscribers within 24 hours, while fellow early adopter Zoom saw 10% of its followers subscribe to its newsletter, also within 24 hours.

Later that month, the professional network introduced the ability for member with newsletters to showcase them in the Featured section on their profiles, with the aim of boosting discoverability and subscribers.

And in June, companies gained the ability to add mentions and hashtags in articles and newsletters on the platform. LinkedIn said at the time that when a member is tagged, they will be notified, increasing engagement and reach, while hashtags help push discoverability.

Then-Facebook introduced Bulletin in June 2021 with high-profile writers including Mitch Alborn, Erin Andrews, Tan France, Malcom Gladwell and Jane Wells.

However, parent company Meta said in October that Bulletin will shutter for good in early 2023, with writers able to continue earning subscription revenue up to that point and retain their subscribers’ email addresses, giving those subscribers a chance to follow the writers to different platforms.

A spokesperson for the company said at the time, “Bulletin has allowed us to learn about the relationship between creators and their audiences and how to better support them in building their community on Facebook. While this off-platform product itself is ending, we remain committed to supporting these and other creators’ success and growth on our platform.”

Twitter acquired newsletter publishing platform Revue in January 2021 and integrated Revue into its platform while letting it continue as a stand-alone service.

The ability to subscribe to Revue newsletters via Twitter profiles was introduced last September, with subscribing via tweets following one month later.

However, roughly one week after Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was finalized, Kaya Yurieff and Erin Woo of The Information reported that Twitter will discontinue its Revue offerings by the end of the year.

Baruch offered the following tips on how to create a great newsletter on LinkedIn:

• Focus on a topic you are truly passionate about. Creators take their core passion, bring it to life through a newsletter and connect with an audience that truly cares about it.
• Develop a consistent posting cadence, as doing so is good for accountability and helps creators continue driving value.
• Connect into the entire system of LinkedIn and leverage the Featured section on your profile to raise awareness of your newsletter.

Creators on subscription content platform OnlyFans can sell personalized merchandise to their fans following an integration with the Spring platform from Amaze Software.

OnlyFans creators with stores on Spring can connect those stores directly to their profiles on the platform and offer digital and physical merchandise such as calendars, puzzles and T-shirts directly to fans.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship fighter and model Paige VanZant was one of the first OnlyFans creators on board, and custom merchandise including apparel, backpacks, notebooks and stickers is available for direct sale to her fans via her OnlyFans profile.

OnlyFans CEO Ami Gan said in a statement, “Our creator community was looking for merchandise options to be able to share another side of their business with fans. As a creator-first organization, there are over 3 million creators on OnlyFans, meaning over 3 million small businesses now have access to a new monetization tool.”

Chief strategy and operations officer Keily Blair added, “Integrating a choice of ecommerce options for OnlyFans creators reflects the important role OnlyFans plays in the creator economy. By choosing to focus on integrations that support our creators’ businesses, we are ensuring a creator-first approach to strategic partnerships and platform growth.”

And Amaze CEO Aaron Day said, “Amaze cares about creator monetization and, by bringing new products and functionality, we put the power in the hands of the creator. This integration with OnlyFans enables a whole set of motivated creators with a new revenue stream and opportunity to connect with their fans in a new, innovative way.”

Tumblr is having some fun at Twitter’s expense.

Rather than paying $7.99 per month for subscription service Twitter Blue and its on-again, off-again verified checkmark, which only verifies that the account holder is paying $7.99 per month, Tumblr is offering a double blue checkmark for a one-time price of $7.99.

Tumblr said on the order page, “This is not a verification status; it’s an Important Blue Internet Checkmark, which, in 2022 is just as legit. Also, the Important Blue Internet Checkmark may turn into a bunch of crabs at any time.”

Important Blue Internet Checkmark stickers are also available for pre-order at $3 apiece—” six inches by four inches of pure, uncut, glossy unverified verification you can stick on anything”—as are enamel pins for $6.

Top executives continued to flee Twitter last week, including one who had been front and center since Elon Musk took over the company Oct. 27, and another who left, pulled a 180 and returned to the company.

Speaking of pulling a 180, after several tweets seeking to reassure people about the social network’s moderation efforts and its capacity to maintain them, as well as serving as a moderator of a Twitter Spaces audio session in which Musk shared his vision for Twitter going forward, head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth resigned last Thursday.

Roth had been with Twitter for more than seven years, joining the company in July 2015 as senior program manager, product trust.

His co-host for Musk’s Twitter Spaces session, vice president, U.S. client solutions Robin Wheeler, a nearly 11-year veteran of the company, reportedly also resigned last Thursday, but said in a tweet later that day, “I’m still here.”

Wheeler joined Twitter in January 2012 and served as global commercial head of its MoPub mobile monetization platform, which was acquired by AppLovin in January, before ascending to her current role in March.

Chief information security officer Lea Kissner also revealed their decision to leave the company last Thursday, saying in a tweet, “I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter. I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing people, and I’m so proud of the privacy, security and IT teams and the work we’ve done.”

Kissner joined Twitter in April 2021 as head of privacy engineering, and they were followed quickly out the door by chief privacy officer Damien Kieran and chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty.

Kieran had been with the company just shy of seven years, starting out as global litigation counsel in January 2016, while seven-plus-year Twitter veteran Fogarty came on board as director, legal, compliance in August 2015.

Musk assumed control of Twitter Oct. 27 and gutted its C-suite that evening, firing CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, legal, public policy and trust and safety lead Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sean Edgett.

Chief customer officer Sarah Personette revealed Nov. 1 that she had resigned effective Oct. 28, and Nov. 1 was also the departure date for chief marketing officer Leslie Berland and vice president of global client solutions Jean-Philippe Maheu.