PM Narendra Modi the most talked about person on Twitter: Report

 With more than 34 lakh tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the most talked about person on Twitter in India, according to data compiled by social media analytics firm Blueocean Market Intelligence. Politics, sports and Bollywood led the chatter in India, the study shared with ET showed. Modi led with 34,16,000 tweets, followed by actor Salman Khan with 27,29,000. The India vs Pakistan Cricket World Cup match had 17 lakh tweets, the Indian Premier League almost 15 lakh and the intolerance row 800,000. According to the study, social media users relied heavily on the micro-blogging site this year to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments and expressed their opinions through quick and witty hashtags. US President Barack Obama's visit to India as the Republic Day chief guest was considered a major coup for Modi, who generated positive chatter with his continuous engagement with world leaders and CEOs for his "Make-in-India" and "ease of doing business" pitches. He also stayed in the limelight due to campaigns such as Digital India and Swachh Bharat. Modi also attracted criticism from Twitterati for his trips to countries ranging from Seychelles, Mongolia and Mauritius to the US, UK, UAE and China. His leadership was often seen as raising people's expectations and hopes and reflected in online conversations. In terms of media distribution, 94% of the conversations on 'Namo' were on Twitter, with the remainder generated publicly on other social media platforms such as Facebook.

Twitter acts to curb 'abusive,' 'hateful' content

Twitter was take new steps to stem "abusive behavior and hateful conduct" on the global messaging platform. The move comes with social networks under pressure from the US and other governments following attacks in Paris and California to do more to weed out those plotting violence. "We believe that protection from abuse and harassment is a vital part of empowering people to freely express themselves on Twitter," said Twitter's director for online trust and safety, Megan Cristina. "Today, as part of our continued efforts to combat abuse, we're updating the Twitter Rules to clarify what we consider to be abusive behavior and hateful conduct. The updated language emphasizes that Twitter will not tolerate behavior intended to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence another user's voice." The new rules say Twitter users "may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism" and "may not incite or engage in the targeted abuse or harassment of others." The update also states that users "may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease." Twitter said it would ban "accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories" and would also suspend multiple accounts created to evade temporary or permanent suspension.

Unlock OnePlus X invites with Twitter's 'Flock to Unlock'

All those looking for OnePlus X invites, here's an easier way to get one. OnePlus has announced a new campaign with Twitter which uses micloblogging platform's 'Flock to Unlock' tool to unlock invites for OnePlus X. Wonder how it will work? All OnePlus Twitter fans need to do is visit OnePlus' exclusive online partner, Amazon India's official twitter handle @amazonIN and tweet or retweet the following message: "Tweet to us using #UnlockOnePlusX for a chance to get your hands on a OnePlus X invite. 5000 invites up for grabs!" The campaign starts at 11:00am today and will run until 5:00pm. Amazon India will 'unlock' 5,000 OnePlus X invites, once the set number of tweets/retweets is reached. Karan Sarin, head of marketing, India, OnePlus said, "There is a certain pride in owning a OnePlus device and our fans love to share their experiences on social media. Twitter's 'Flock to Unlock' is an exciting way for the OnePlus community to engage in the campaign and to rally together to unlock invites."

Twitter CEO reveals the most important question he asks new employees

Jack Dorsey is a busy man. As part of the elite group of tech CEOs who have run two companies simultaneously, Dorsey works up to 18 hours a day. With such a packed schedule, Dorsey likely doesn't personally interview anyone but candidates for top positions at Twitter or Square. But, when he does, there's one question that's most important, Dorsey revealed during a Q&A session on the site Product Hunt. The question: "Why Twitter?" or "Why Square?" Latest Comment i ll answer that very well provided jack hires me....vgohills "I look for passion," he writes. "Only thing that can't be taught." If he hears "passion for the purpose" in the answer to his question, he'll actually consider a candidate. "Then I look for leadership and skill," he continues. "Passion and purpose and principles first though!"

How the internet misled you in 2015

It was another busy year for journalists debunking fake or misleading images on social media. In 2015, many pictures and videos went viral, some for all the wrong reasons. There were deliberate fakes created to deceive the public and then there were misleading images shared, often during breaking news situations, that were entirely unrelated to the story. Were you caught out by any of these? The haunting picture shared during the Nepal earthquake Image copyright NA Son Nguyen This was one of the most shared photos in the wake of the Nepal earthquake in April. It's not a fake, but misleading nonetheless. Labelled as showing a "two-year-old sister protected by four-year-old brother in Nepal", it was shared across Facebook and Twitter and prompted calls for donations. The photograph was actually taken in a remote village in Vietnam back in 2007. "This is perhaps my most shared photo," says the photographer Na Son Nguyen, "but unfortunately in the wrong context."

Twitter is winning war on trolls and extremists, says its Europe chief

 These are critical times for Twitter. The social media giant, which is 10 years old in March, has amassed 320 million users and a valuation of more than $33bn (£22bn). But it desperately needs to turn back waves of negative headlines and to find ways to engage more deeply with the margins of its audience. Twitter's recent history has been beset by stories of trolling and extremism. Celebrity users, the great cheerleading asset for the platform in its fledgling years, have been closing their accounts. Many of them have been women. As damaging has been the supposed use of the site by Islamist jihadis and their recruiting sergeants. But Twitter is fighting back. Boosted in October by the return of its founder Jack Dorsey, now permanent chief executive, it believes it is winning its war on trolls and clearing its decks of violent extremists. Speaking to The Independent ahead of the company's tenth anniversary, Bruce Daisley, head of Twitter in Europe, said: "We have spent longer and put more effort into user safety than any other issue. The measures we've taken correlate directly with a reduction in the amount of bad behaviour on the platform." The site's agents have been targeting suspected abusive users by "asking more people" that they identify themselves. "If someone is behaving in a way characteristic of a bad actor, we send them a phone verification," said Mr Daisley. "That allows us to tell the user that what they do here exists in the real world. It normally acts as a stark reminder. Secondly, it allows us to see whether that user has already got other accounts set up on their phone that have been suspended."

'The schlong and short of it'

And so, an unlikely year in US politics nears its end with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump sparking a debate about Yiddish semantics. It all stems from his use of the word "schlonged" when talking about Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton. Referring to her defeat by Barack Obama in the 2008 primary race, he told supporters in Michigan: "She was favoured to win and she got schlonged, she lost." Use of the word, which is from the Yiddish slang for penis, has been criticised but Mr Trump hit back on Twitter. "Once again, #MSM [mainstream media] is dishonest. 'Schlonged' is not vulgar. When I said Hillary got 'schlonged' that meant beaten badly," he wrote. Advertisement So was he correct to suggest it is a neutral, commonplace saying? Mr Trump tweeted that the phrase had been used in politics before, to refer to an earlier Democratic campaign.