Ads in the test enable viewers to skip in-stream video ads after five seconds.

Facebook said that during the first five seconds, an inactive skip button and countdown timer will appear, and once five seconds have passed, the button will turn opaque, giving viewers the option of skipping the ad and resuming the video they were watching.

Mid-roll videos of 10 to 15 seconds will be eligible for the test, including existing ads, and all objectives and optimizations currently available for in-stream placements are supported.

Mid-roll ads are the only type involved in the test.

A Facebook spokesperson said, “We’re testing skippable mid-roll in-stream ads and evaluating whether these ads are beneficial for people and businesses before deciding whether to expand it further.”

The series kicked off Thursday, with Brittany Xavier giving viewers a crash course on adulting.

Friday (May 15) at 8 p.m. ET, Alex Ojeda will present a do-it-yourself style guide to help students prepare for graduation night.

However, the big event is set for Saturday (May 16) at 8 p.m. ET.

TikTok teamed up with the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the LeBron James Family Foundation and XQ Institute on a livestreamed ceremony with special guests including Bad Bunny, Loren Gray, H.E.R., LeBron James, the Jonas Brothers, the Obamas, Ben Platt, Megan Rapinoe, Yara Shahidi, Lena Waithe, Pharrell Williams and Malala Yousafzai.

Once the ceremony ends, graduation parties hosted by Dillon Francis and other special guests will happen on the @GraduateTogether TikTok handle, and creators can receive a virtual diploma via the new TikTok Graduation creative effect.

Our guide will show you how to create your Avatar in the Facebook mobile application.

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

Step 1: Tap the three horizontal lines in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Step 2: Scroll down and tap “See More.”

Step 3: Tap “Avatars.”

Step 4: Tap “Next.”

Step 5: Tap “Get Started.”

Step 6: Tap one of the skin tone options (you can scroll to see them all), and then tap “Next” at the bottom of the screen.

Step 7: From there, you can customize your Avatar in a variety of ways by choosing their hairstyle, hair color, hair length, face shape, eye shape and color, makeup, eyebrow style and color, nose shape, mouth shape and color, facial hair, body shape, outfit and more. Tap the buttons across the top of the Avatars menu to switch between these different customization areas, and then tap one of the options to preview it on your Avatar. Note: You can tap the mirror icon near the top-right corner of the screen to open your device’s front-facing camera, which will allow you to look at yourself as you create your Avatar.

Step 8: When you’re done customizing your Avatar, tap the checkmark icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 9: Tap “Next.”

Step 10: Tap “Done.”

Now that you’ve created your Avatar, you can leave this menu and start using your personalized Avatar stickers in comments, Stories and more throughout the Facebook app.

Our guide will show you how to use the Support Small Business sticker in Instagram Stories.

Note: These screenshots were captured in the Instagram application on iOS.

Step 1: Once you’ve taken or imported a photo or video in Stories, tap the stickers icon at the top of the screen.

Step 2: Tap the Support Small Business sticker.

Step 3: Type the Instagram username of the business you want to support.

Step 4: As you type, Instagram will show you accounts that match what you’ve typed so far. When you see the business you want to support, tap its picture.

From there, you can rotate, resize and move the sticker around the screen to best fit your post before sharing it. Note: Depending on the business you’ve selected, you may also be able to tap on the sticker to view two different versions of it (one with pictures and one without).

Relay for Relief will feature 48 consecutive 30-minute fitness classes curated by the editors of Men’s Health and Women’s Health and the team at Mindbody, and people can register for any of these classes, with the $10 fee going to support United Way Worldwide’s Covid-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund and the global fitness community.

The two magazines began programming daily workouts via Instagram Live in March.

Mindbody said that since March, more than 7,000 studios have held their first virtual classes, with booking via the Mindbody app up 88.3% and up a whopping 1,655% via its website.

The company added that 70% of its customers are using prerecorded video, compared with 17% in 2019, and 75% are using livestream classes, up from 7%.

Relay for Relief kicks off Friday, May 15 at 7 a.m. ET. Degree is the event’s presenting sponsor and Athleta is a supporting sponsor.

Participating trainers include: Allison Felix (Olympic athlete), Angela Gargano (three-time American Ninja Warrior), Julianne Hough (KNRGY), Anna Kaiser (AKT), Maria Kelling (Tracy Anderson Method), Kaisa Keranen (KaisaFit), Brooks Laich (Open Gym), Devon Levesque (Performix House), Megan Roup (The Sculpt Society), Don Saladino (Drive 495), Ebenezer Samuel (Men’s Health fitness director) and Peter Lee Thomas (celebrity fitness trainer).

And classes will come from studios including CorePower Yoga, Exhale, Modo Yoga, Physique 57, Shred 415 and Switchplayground.

The social network detailed improvements that it is testing in SDK 5.9 in a blog post, saying that they will start out being shown to a limited number of users and will be extended further should they prove successful.

Application install ads were redesigned, displaying more of the advertiser’s information within the ads to increase engagement and improve the experience. And for Android, the new experience for rewarded video and interstitial ads mimics the design of the Google Play Store.

Facebook is also introducing Instant Storefront ads within the interstitial experience, allowing advertisers to build mobile shopping experiences that let viewers browse product catalogs.

A new Watch & Browse experience for rewarded video and interstitial website conversion ads brings an in-app browser to ads so users can click through to the destination while keeping the video in context, extending app session engagement.

Playable ads were the subject of improvements, as well, including to the impression rate.

The social network said in a tweet Tuesday that retweets with comments can be seen in one place by clicking on retweets.

Users can now delete comments in bulk, as well as block or restrict multiple accounts that are behind those comments.

Tapping on a comment and then clicking the three dots in the top-right corner, and then selecting Manage Comments, enables users to choose up to 25 comments to delete at once. Tapping More Options on iOS enables Instagrammers to block or restrict accounts in bulk, while Android users must press and hold on a comment, tap the three dots and then choose Block or Restrict.

Instagram said in a blog post Tuesday, “We know it can feel overwhelming to manage a rush of negative comments, so we’ve been testing the ability to delete comments in bulk, as well as block or restrict multiple accounts that post negative comments … Early feedback has been encouraging, and we’ve found that it helps people, especially with larger followings, maintain a positive environment on their account.”

Speaking of positive environment, Instagram will begin testing Pinned Comments, which let users “set the tone for their account and engage with their community” by highlighting positive interactions and displaying them atop their comments thread.

As for people who don’t qualify to appear in users’ Pinned Comments, Instagram is rolling out new controls that enable people to manage who can tag or mention them.

Users can determine who can tag or mention them in comments, captions or Stories, and the options are everyone, only people they follow or no one.

The Joseph Saveri Law Firm and Burns Charest revealed the terms of the settlement Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Facebook said, “We are grateful to the people who do this important work to make Facebook a safe environment for everyone. We’re committed to providing them additional support through this settlement and in the future.”

According to the two law firms, more than 10,000 current and former content moderators who worked for Facebook’s vendors in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas will receive $1,000 apiece.

In cases where class members were diagnosed with specified conditions due to the work they performed, they will receive payments that can go toward medical treatment for those conditions and, depending on the amount remaining in the settlement fund, they may be eligible for additional damage awards of up to $50,000.

Steps Facebook agreed to in order to provide a safer work environment for content moderators in the U.S. employed by its vendors include requiring those vendors to provide coaching sessions with licensed mental health counselors, other mental health support and enhancements to the reviewing tools they use to make their work safer.

The lawsuit, Scola v. Facebook, was filed in Superior Court of the State of California in September 2018, on behalf of lead plaintiff Selena Scola of San Francisco.

According to the suit, Scola worked as a public content contractor at Facebook’s offices from approximately June 19, 2017, through March 1, 2018, employed by staffing company Pro Unlimited.

Scola claimed in the lawsuit that she was formally diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing symptoms including fatigue, insomnia and social anxiety, and those symptoms are triggered by acts including touching a computer mouse, entering a cold building, seeing violence on television, hearing loud noises or being startled.

The suit also claimed that class members were denied protection against severe psychological and other injuries resulting from repeated exposure to graphic content such as child sexual abuse, beheadings, terrorism, animal cruelty and other disturbing images.

Co-lead counsel Steve Williams of the Joseph Saveri Law Firm in San Francisco said, “We are so pleased that Facebook worked with us to create an unprecedented program to help people performing work that was unimaginable even a few years ago. The harm that can be suffered from this work is real and severe. This settlement will provide meaningful relief, and I am so proud to have been part of it.”

Daniel Charest of Burns Charest in Dallas, another co-lead counsel, added, “This groundbreaking litigation fixed a major workplace problem involving developing technology and its impact on real workers who suffered in order to make Facebook safer for its users. Ultimately, the settlement is a great result for the class members.”

The company named Fei-Fei Li to fill the seat, effective immediately.

Li is the inaugural Sequoia Professor in the computer science department at Stanford University, as well as the Denning Family co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute.

She had been director of Stanford’s artificial intelligence lab from 2013 through 2018 and, during a stint at Google from January 2017 through September 2018, she served as vice president and chief scientist of AI and machine learning at Google Cloud.

Li joined Stanford as an assistant professor in 2009 after being on faculty at Princeton University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Twitter executive chairman Omid Kordestani said, “With unparalleled expertise in engineering, computer science and AI, Fei-Fei brings relevant perspectives to the board as Twitter continues to utilize technology to improve our service and achieve our long-term objectives. She shares Twitter’s passion for using technology to promote positive change, and her appointment aligns with our commitment to adding a director who reflects the diversity of the Twitter service and also possesses deep technology and AI expertise.”

Li added, “Twitter is an incredible example of how technology can connect the world in powerful ways, and I am honored to join the board at such an important time in the company’s history. AI and machine learning can have an enormous impact on technology and the people who use it. I look forward to leveraging my experience for Twitter as it harnesses this technology to benefit everyone who uses the service.”