Reddit Bans One of Most Popular Users for Vote Manipulation

Reddit user Unidan, known off of the Internet as biologist Ben Eisenkop, has been shadowbanned from the site due to vote manipulation.

Reddit administrators discovered that Eisenkop maintained five side accounts, which he used to both upvote his own submissions and comments, and downvote opposing comments.

See also: Reddit's Newsgathering Comes of Age After Growing Pains

Shadowbanning is a form of banning in which all submissions and comments from a particular user are immediately flagged as spam — making it impossible for users other than the poster to see them

Considering that before the incident, Unidan had the second highest total comment karma out of all Reddit users, this was kind of a big deal. Read more...

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Facebook Updates Slingshot With Unlimited Reactions

Facebook's photo messaging app Slingshot was updated Thursday with new features for the first time since it launched last month

Users can now react to reaction messages — somewhat of a departure from Slingshot's signature "shot-for-shot" dynamic.

See also: Facebook's Slingshot: A Prettier, More Desperate Version of Snapchat

Previously, a single reaction was the only way users could view a message without having to send one of their own first. While this still applies to regular messages (users are still required to "unlock" new slings with replies), users can now exchange an unlimited number of reaction messages. Read more...

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It's a Twitter Feeding Frenzy: Internet Reacts to 'Sharknado 2'

Days after the original Sharknado took the Internet in its jaws last year, Syfy confirmed a sequel for the cultural phenomenon: Sharknado 2: The Second One .

The film premiered on Wednesday night, and like its predecessor, Sharknado 2 made similar waves on Twitter.

See also: Run for Cover: 'Sharknado 3' Is Happening

For the uninitiated, Sharknado's plot involves — yes, you guessed it — a tornado of sharks terrorizing Los AngelesSharknado 2 moved one the absurd meteorological disaster to the East Coast, wreaking havoc on an unsuspecting New York City.

Much of the online discussion Wednesday night centered on an insane opening sequence, impressive cameos — featuring Kelly Ripa, Al Roker, Kelly Osbourne and Mark McGrath — and an absurdly catchy theme song that spells out the doom that is sharknado. Read more...

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This Algorithm Tells You Whether A Twitter Account Is a Spam Bot

Back in 2011, a team from Texas A&M University carried out a cyber sting to trap nonhuman Twitter users that were polluting the Twittersphere with spam. Their approach was to set up “honeypot” accounts which posted nonsensical content that no human user would ever be interested in. Any account that retweeted this content, or friended the owner, must surely be a nonhuman user known as a social bot.

The team set up 60 honeypots and harvested some 36,000 potential social bot accounts. The result surprised many observers because of the sheer number of nonhuman accounts that were active. These bots were generally unsophisticated and simply retweeted more or less any content they came across. Read more...

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Former Vampire Julie Benz Took Over Mashable's Snapchat at Comic-Con

Emeli Sandé Asks Social Media Followers to Help Her Write a Song

Before Scottish singer Emeli Sandé sits at home behind her piano to construct the melody and lyrics for her next song, she needs your assistance in finding inspiration. This is your chance to help an artist write music

Sandé is asking fans to use the hashtag #FeelXE on social media to submit photos, words or sounds that represent the feeling of "exhilaration." That's the theme for her new collaborative song, which is part of Jaguar's Feel XE campaign aimed at promoting creativity and its XE sports sedan

See also: Listen to Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Jessie J's Chart-Topping 'Bang Bang'

"I always thought It'd be cool to interact with the fans to create," Sandé, 27, told Mashable. "The challenge is I don't know what's going to come at me, but it's kind of like live music — when you get on stage, you don't know how it's going to go. My eyes are open to different feelings of exhilaration." Read more...

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Instagram's Answer to Snapchat, Bolt, Is Here — But There's a Catch

Instagram's latest app is Bolt— a disappearing messaging app that first leaked last week— and it's launching in three countries: New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa.

It isn't clear yet when the app will roll out to other countries, but the Facebook-owned company says it will be "coming soon."

See also: Facebook's Bolt Faces Challenges Over Its Name Before It's Even Launched

Instagram chose to roll the app out to those three countries first as a test before it does a full release to the rest of the world, an spokesperson said in a statement to Mashable.

Bolt is the fastest way to share an image or a video — just one tap to capture and send. We decided to start small with Bolt, in just a handful of countries, to make sure we can scale while maintaining a great experience. We expect to roll it out more widely soon. Read more...

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Reddit Shows Redditors How to Reddit

Reddit's plain interface and long strings of conversation can be intimidating at first. That's why more than 200 subreddits joined forces to create an official guide to the news and information aggregation site Monday, with the goal of educating new Redditors on the site's guidelines

Although Reddit is almost 10 years old, new users — some more mainstream than others — discover it every day. Frequently asked questions, rules and etiquette tips (cheekily called "reddiquette") are currently posted at the bottom of its homepage. But Redditors wanted to put all the rules in one place. (You can also take a look at Mashable's Reddit guide for beginners. Read more...

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Twitter Shares Soar on a Surprise Profit and Strong User Growth

Twitter bounced back from a rough start to 2014 with a second-quarter earnings report that showed a surprise profit and user growth that beat expectations

Second-quarter earnings of $312 million in revenues and a profit of $0.02 per share beat analysts' expectations, which forecast revenue of $283 million and a loss of $0.01 per share

See also: 10 Must-Follow Breaking News Accounts on Twitter

Most companies would be pleased with an unexpected profit, but growth in monthly active users, which hit 271 million, proved to be the real headline. Investors had grown cautious that Twitter's slowing growth limited the company's future upside, but the 24% year-over-year rise in users has put the company back in Wall Street's good graces Read more...

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Facebook Is Forcing Messenger on Users and They Aren't Happy About It

If Foursquare's attempt to force users into Swarm taught us anything, it's that people really don't like being forced into using apps.

Facebook, never one to heed the lessons of history, will soon be forcing its iOS and Android users over to Facebook Messenger, and many users aren't happy about it.

See also: The Top 10 Reasons You're Still Clinging to Facebook

Facebook sent an email to users Monday, alerting them that messages will soon be disappearing from Facebook's iPhone and Android app (for now, messages will remain available in the iPad and Windows Phone app, as well as on the mobile web and desktop.) Read more...

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Blend Reality With Illusion for Our Photo Manipulation Challenge

As editing software and apps drop costs and become more readily available, digital photo manipulation — commonly referred to as 'photoshopping' — has turned into a popular hobby for amateur and professional photographers alike

Although post-process work traditionally went against the rules of photography, creatively altering an image is now an art and a true skill in itself.

See also: These 24 Unexpected Photos Will Inspire You to Bend Your Fashion Rules

We partnered with Hewlett-Packard once again for this week's Mashable Photo Challenge. Instead of limiting yourself to minor tweaks like cropping or adjusting brightness and contrast, use editing software such as Photoshop and Paint Shop, or apps like Snapseed and Afterlight to give your images a whole new look. Read more...

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Sit Back and Enjoy These 6-Second Remakes of Classic Movies

You know you've seen creativity at its finest when 120-minute movies are condensed into six-second segments

Last week, we challenged our Vine community to recreate movies in short-form videos. Submissions ranged from comedies like Office Space and Do the Right Thing to cult classics like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and science fiction films like Back to the Future. We saw a good mix of stop-motion animation and live-action Vine videos, some illustrating overarching themes using everyday objects and others acting out a line or two from film scenes.

See also: Six-Second Vine Videos That Run in Endless Loops Read more...

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Why Money and Inexperience Are Escalating Sexism at Startups

It’s a story we’ve come to know well: A freewheeling, young startup founder captures the zeitgeist with a smart idea and attracts investors who are willing to stake him with millions of dollars. Then one day, his private views about gender and sexuality become public, go viral and bring a new kind of scrutiny to his company and career

This might sound familiar to Justin Mateen, the 28-year-old cofounder and chief marketing officer of dating app Tinder. Mateen stands accused of sexual harassment and sex discrimination, according to a lawsuit filed recently in California by Whitney Wolfe, a former Tinder employee Read more...

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7 Things We'd Change About LinkedIn

You didn't really think sending the recruiter at your dream company a Facebook message would work, right?

That's why you have LinkedIn, the definitive online platform for networking and finding new career opportunities. The website has effectively cornered the market on adapting social networking to the professional space, but it can use a few upgrades to make the most of its unique place in the virtual world.

See also: How LinkedIn Found My 'Future' Self

While one of its most frustrating defaults — allowing other people to see that you've visited their profiles — is easily fixed, there are still a few things the company can do to streamline the experience for the average user. Read more...

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LinkedIn Redesigns Mobile Profiles to Put Relationships Into Context

LinkedIn's flagship app has gotten a major overhaul.

The company rolled out an update to its app Tuesday morning, unveiling completely redesigned user profiles that focus on adding contextual information. The extra info aims to make it easier to initiate conversations with other users — even if they're not connected.

See also: 8 Lesser-Known Strategies to Get More Out of LinkedIn

Profiles now have a completely overhauled "in common" section that displays contextual information about experiences, connections or groups you share with other users — including those who are not part of your connections. (Previously, this section only displayed shared connections.) "In common" may display whether you and another connection went to the same college, for example, or are members of the same LinkedIn group. Read more...

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10 Rising Social Networks You Should Explore

Had enough of Facebook and Twitter? It may be time to switch up your go-to social network

With the daily explosion of startups, there are plenty of new social media tools popping up. These newer platforms could be working on the next big thing, so you'll want to keep an eye out.

See also: 10 Must-Follow Breaking News Accounts on Twitter

Here's a look at 10 up-and-coming social networks you should know.

Editor's note: Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore's personal investment in Shots and Secrets in no way influences the decisions of editorial coverage or analysis.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Read more...

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'Supernatural' Star Misha Collins Wants You to Beat William Shatner for Charity

It's a special year for Supernatural star Misha Collins' worldwide charity scavenger hunt, GISHWHES. (Short for the modest title, Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen.) It's their fourth year, they're looking to add three more world records to their existing five, and this is the first year the event features celebrity-led teams

The latter point is arguably the most thrilling, because no longer are the teams competing against fellow fans — they're up against the likes of William Shatner

See also: William Shatner: My Problem With Twitter's Verified Accounts

"He’s got some heavy hitters; it’s no joke," says Collins, who runs the annual event via his charity Random Acts. "He basically had people apply to be on his team. It was a full-on recruitment drive." Read more...

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Buzz Aldrin: We'll Be on Mars 'Before 2040'

Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin has walked on the moon, and now he's touched down in Menlo Park.

Aldrin, one of three astronauts who were part of the historic Apollo 11 space mission that successfully landed on our gravitational neighbor on July 20, 1969, stopped by Facebook headquarters for a Q&A on Friday.

See also: 'The Eagle Has Landed:' The Apollo 11 Mission, 45 Years Later

Post by Buzz Aldrin.

Aldrin responded to all sorts of questions from Facebook users — ranging from technical questions regarding NASA's past and current space endeavors to the future of traveling to Mars to what his favorite sandwich is (note to Buzz: we're not sure a quesadilla really counts as a sandwich, but they are definitely the most delicious). Read more...

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