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Roblox introduces new safeguards for teens, including age estimation tech | TechCrunch

Roblox introduces new safeguards for teens, including age estimation tech | TechCrunch

Roblox announced Thursday that it’s launching new safeguards for people who are between the ages of 13 and 18. The company is introducing “Trusted Connections” to allows these users to connect more freely with people they know, alongside age estimation technology, more privacy tools, and insights for parents of teens.

Roblox has come under fire in recent years for how it handles child safety. In April, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena to Roblox in response to reports that children were exposed to harmful material on the platform and that predatory adults were able to message minors on the app.

The changes announced Thursday are likely part of Roblox’s efforts to appease both lawmakers and parents. The teen-focused update comes eight months after Roblox launched protections for users under the age of 13.

Image Credits:Roblox

Roblox is renaming “Friends” to “Connections” and launching “Trusted Connections” to allow teens to communicate more freely in chat and voice with people they trust. With Trusted Connections, users can chat without filters.

“Users the system determines are 13+ will get access to more expressive chat features with their Trusted Connections,” said Ryan Ebanks, senior product manager at Roblox, in a briefing with reporters. “This additional freedom reduces the incentive for teens to move interactions off platform where they may be exposed to greater risk.”

Roblox notes that conversations between Trusted Connections are proactively monitored for critical harm (e.g., grooming). Plus, parents can view who their teen is connected to as a Trusted Connection.

To unlock Trusted Connections, users need to use the platform’s new age estimation technology to verify their age by taking a selfie video; they must receive an estimation of at least 13 years old to access Trusted Connections. Roblox notes that if the system is unable to verify age with high confidence, their age will remain unconfirmed. If the user doesn’t pass the age estimation, they can confirm their age with ID verification.

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Image Credits:Roblox

Users 13 to 17 who have their age confirmed can add each other as a Trusted Connection. Unfiltered communication between users aged 18 and above and teens is blocked unless a preexisting real-life relationship is verified via a QR code.

The company plans to use age estimation across its platform to support user access to age-appropriate features and content.

As for the new privacy tools, teens can now decide who can see if they’re online. They can set this to be visible to just their Connections, followers, no one, or everyone on Roblox. They can now also set a window during which push notifications from Roblox are silenced.

Image Credits:Roblox

Roblox is giving parents access to a suite of tools to understand their child’s usage and presence on the platform. Parents can now view who their teen is connected to, as well as how much time their teen spends on the platform and in which games. Plus, parents can choose to be notified when their teen makes a certain transaction on Roblox.

“We know that parents are extremely busy, and so we’ve designed these to really be quick at a glance insights that parents can hopefully fit into their busy schedules,” said Dina Lamdany, senior product manager at Roblox, in the briefing.

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#Roblox #introduces #safeguards #teens #including #age #estimation #tech #TechCrunch

For some social media users, Facebook may feel like an app left behind in an online era of the past. However, for others, Facebook has reinvented itself as the modern-day Craigslist with Facebook Marketplace.

Meta seems to have taken notice and is now releasing a standalone app for the Facebook Marketplace power users who keep the platform going: It’s sellers.

The new app, aptly named Seller, launched on Friday and provides Facebook Marketplace sellers with tools to list their wares and manage their current listings. 

Like Facebook Marketplace itself, the Seller app is free for users. Meta monetizes Facebook Marketplace with ads and does not take any percentage of its users’ sales. Users will be able to download the app and login with their Facebook account starting today.

Meta launches Seller, a standalone app for Facebook Marketplace sellers
                                                            For some social media users, Facebook may feel like an app left behind in an online era of the past. However, for others, Facebook has reinvented itself as the modern-day Craigslist with Facebook Marketplace.Meta seems to have taken notice and is now releasing a standalone app for the Facebook Marketplace power users who keep the platform going: It’s sellers.The new app, aptly named Seller, launched on Friday and provides Facebook Marketplace sellers with tools to list their wares and manage their current listings. 
Like Facebook Marketplace itself, the Seller app is free for users. Meta monetizes Facebook Marketplace with ads and does not take any percentage of its users’ sales. Users will be able to download the app and login with their Facebook account starting today.
        
            Mashable Light Speed
        
        
    

    
                    


            
            
            
            Credit: Facebook
        
    
Seller provides a tool to post new listings, a dashboard to manage their existing ones, an in-app inbox to reply to prospective buyers, and analytics for all of their old listings. Seller also introduces a few new tools for sellers as well. According to Facebook, Seller users will be able to scan their products with their smartphone, and AI will fill-out the listing details automatically.In an interview with the New York Times, Facebook head Tom Allison said that the app would be the Marketplace seller equivalent of a video editing tool for content creators. Allison also explained how Meta is experimenting with more standalone products for Facebook’s power users, which include Marketplace Sellers and Facebook Groups administrators.
As social media users move to competing platforms like TikTok and Meta’s own Instagram, Facebook has found new life within specific, once-niche features on the platform. In May, Facebook launched a standalone app called Forum for its Facebook Groups power users. Now, the company is doing the same for Facebook Marketplace sellers.Meta says that one-third of young adults who use Facebook also use Marketplace. And, every month, more than 420 million items are listed on the Marketplace platform. 

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Meta #launches #Seller #standalone #app #Facebook #Marketplace #sellers

Credit: Facebook

Seller provides a tool to post new listings, a dashboard to manage their existing ones, an in-app inbox to reply to prospective buyers, and analytics for all of their old listings. 

Seller also introduces a few new tools for sellers as well. According to Facebook, Seller users will be able to scan their products with their smartphone, and AI will fill-out the listing details automatically.

In an interview with the New York Times, Facebook head Tom Allison said that the app would be the Marketplace seller equivalent of a video editing tool for content creators. Allison also explained how Meta is experimenting with more standalone products for Facebook’s power users, which include Marketplace Sellers and Facebook Groups administrators.

As social media users move to competing platforms like TikTok and Meta’s own Instagram, Facebook has found new life within specific, once-niche features on the platform. In May, Facebook launched a standalone app called Forum for its Facebook Groups power users. Now, the company is doing the same for Facebook Marketplace sellers.

Meta says that one-third of young adults who use Facebook also use Marketplace. And, every month, more than 420 million items are listed on the Marketplace platform. 

#Meta #launches #Seller #standalone #app #Facebook #Marketplace #sellers">Meta launches Seller, a standalone app for Facebook Marketplace sellers
                                                            For some social media users, Facebook may feel like an app left behind in an online era of the past. However, for others, Facebook has reinvented itself as the modern-day Craigslist with Facebook Marketplace.Meta seems to have taken notice and is now releasing a standalone app for the Facebook Marketplace power users who keep the platform going: It’s sellers.The new app, aptly named Seller, launched on Friday and provides Facebook Marketplace sellers with tools to list their wares and manage their current listings. 
Like Facebook Marketplace itself, the Seller app is free for users. Meta monetizes Facebook Marketplace with ads and does not take any percentage of its users’ sales. Users will be able to download the app and login with their Facebook account starting today.
        
            Mashable Light Speed
        
        
    

    
                    


            
            
            
            Credit: Facebook
        
    
Seller provides a tool to post new listings, a dashboard to manage their existing ones, an in-app inbox to reply to prospective buyers, and analytics for all of their old listings. Seller also introduces a few new tools for sellers as well. According to Facebook, Seller users will be able to scan their products with their smartphone, and AI will fill-out the listing details automatically.In an interview with the New York Times, Facebook head Tom Allison said that the app would be the Marketplace seller equivalent of a video editing tool for content creators. Allison also explained how Meta is experimenting with more standalone products for Facebook’s power users, which include Marketplace Sellers and Facebook Groups administrators.
As social media users move to competing platforms like TikTok and Meta’s own Instagram, Facebook has found new life within specific, once-niche features on the platform. In May, Facebook launched a standalone app called Forum for its Facebook Groups power users. Now, the company is doing the same for Facebook Marketplace sellers.Meta says that one-third of young adults who use Facebook also use Marketplace. And, every month, more than 420 million items are listed on the Marketplace platform. 

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Meta #launches #Seller #standalone #app #Facebook #Marketplace #sellers

releasing a standalone app for the Facebook Marketplace power users who keep the platform going: It’s sellers.

The new app, aptly named Seller, launched on Friday and provides Facebook Marketplace sellers with tools to list their wares and manage their current listings. 

Like Facebook Marketplace itself, the Seller app is free for users. Meta monetizes Facebook Marketplace with ads and does not take any percentage of its users’ sales. Users will be able to download the app and login with their Facebook account starting today.

Meta launches Seller, a standalone app for Facebook Marketplace sellers
                                                            For some social media users, Facebook may feel like an app left behind in an online era of the past. However, for others, Facebook has reinvented itself as the modern-day Craigslist with Facebook Marketplace.Meta seems to have taken notice and is now releasing a standalone app for the Facebook Marketplace power users who keep the platform going: It’s sellers.The new app, aptly named Seller, launched on Friday and provides Facebook Marketplace sellers with tools to list their wares and manage their current listings. 
Like Facebook Marketplace itself, the Seller app is free for users. Meta monetizes Facebook Marketplace with ads and does not take any percentage of its users’ sales. Users will be able to download the app and login with their Facebook account starting today.
        
            Mashable Light Speed
        
        
    

    
                    


            
            
            
            Credit: Facebook
        
    
Seller provides a tool to post new listings, a dashboard to manage their existing ones, an in-app inbox to reply to prospective buyers, and analytics for all of their old listings. Seller also introduces a few new tools for sellers as well. According to Facebook, Seller users will be able to scan their products with their smartphone, and AI will fill-out the listing details automatically.In an interview with the New York Times, Facebook head Tom Allison said that the app would be the Marketplace seller equivalent of a video editing tool for content creators. Allison also explained how Meta is experimenting with more standalone products for Facebook’s power users, which include Marketplace Sellers and Facebook Groups administrators.
As social media users move to competing platforms like TikTok and Meta’s own Instagram, Facebook has found new life within specific, once-niche features on the platform. In May, Facebook launched a standalone app called Forum for its Facebook Groups power users. Now, the company is doing the same for Facebook Marketplace sellers.Meta says that one-third of young adults who use Facebook also use Marketplace. And, every month, more than 420 million items are listed on the Marketplace platform. 

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Meta #launches #Seller #standalone #app #Facebook #Marketplace #sellers

Credit: Facebook

Seller provides a tool to post new listings, a dashboard to manage their existing ones, an in-app inbox to reply to prospective buyers, and analytics for all of their old listings. 

Seller also introduces a few new tools for sellers as well. According to Facebook, Seller users will be able to scan their products with their smartphone, and AI will fill-out the listing details automatically.

In an interview with the New York Times, Facebook head Tom Allison said that the app would be the Marketplace seller equivalent of a video editing tool for content creators. Allison also explained how Meta is experimenting with more standalone products for Facebook’s power users, which include Marketplace Sellers and Facebook Groups administrators.

As social media users move to competing platforms like TikTok and Meta’s own Instagram, Facebook has found new life within specific, once-niche features on the platform. In May, Facebook launched a standalone app called Forum for its Facebook Groups power users. Now, the company is doing the same for Facebook Marketplace sellers.

Meta says that one-third of young adults who use Facebook also use Marketplace. And, every month, more than 420 million items are listed on the Marketplace platform. 

#Meta #launches #Seller #standalone #app #Facebook #Marketplace #sellers">Meta launches Seller, a standalone app for Facebook Marketplace sellers

For some social media users, Facebook may feel like an app left behind in an online era of the past. However, for others, Facebook has reinvented itself as the modern-day Craigslist with Facebook Marketplace.

Meta seems to have taken notice and is now releasing a standalone app for the Facebook Marketplace power users who keep the platform going: It’s sellers.

The new app, aptly named Seller, launched on Friday and provides Facebook Marketplace sellers with tools to list their wares and manage their current listings. 

Like Facebook Marketplace itself, the Seller app is free for users. Meta monetizes Facebook Marketplace with ads and does not take any percentage of its users’ sales. Users will be able to download the app and login with their Facebook account starting today.

Meta launches Seller, a standalone app for Facebook Marketplace sellers
                                                            For some social media users, Facebook may feel like an app left behind in an online era of the past. However, for others, Facebook has reinvented itself as the modern-day Craigslist with Facebook Marketplace.Meta seems to have taken notice and is now releasing a standalone app for the Facebook Marketplace power users who keep the platform going: It’s sellers.The new app, aptly named Seller, launched on Friday and provides Facebook Marketplace sellers with tools to list their wares and manage their current listings. 
Like Facebook Marketplace itself, the Seller app is free for users. Meta monetizes Facebook Marketplace with ads and does not take any percentage of its users’ sales. Users will be able to download the app and login with their Facebook account starting today.
        
            Mashable Light Speed
        
        
    

    
                    


            
            
            
            Credit: Facebook
        
    
Seller provides a tool to post new listings, a dashboard to manage their existing ones, an in-app inbox to reply to prospective buyers, and analytics for all of their old listings. Seller also introduces a few new tools for sellers as well. According to Facebook, Seller users will be able to scan their products with their smartphone, and AI will fill-out the listing details automatically.In an interview with the New York Times, Facebook head Tom Allison said that the app would be the Marketplace seller equivalent of a video editing tool for content creators. Allison also explained how Meta is experimenting with more standalone products for Facebook’s power users, which include Marketplace Sellers and Facebook Groups administrators.
As social media users move to competing platforms like TikTok and Meta’s own Instagram, Facebook has found new life within specific, once-niche features on the platform. In May, Facebook launched a standalone app called Forum for its Facebook Groups power users. Now, the company is doing the same for Facebook Marketplace sellers.Meta says that one-third of young adults who use Facebook also use Marketplace. And, every month, more than 420 million items are listed on the Marketplace platform. 

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Meta #launches #Seller #standalone #app #Facebook #Marketplace #sellers

Credit: Facebook

Seller provides a tool to post new listings, a dashboard to manage their existing ones, an in-app inbox to reply to prospective buyers, and analytics for all of their old listings. 

Seller also introduces a few new tools for sellers as well. According to Facebook, Seller users will be able to scan their products with their smartphone, and AI will fill-out the listing details automatically.

In an interview with the New York Times, Facebook head Tom Allison said that the app would be the Marketplace seller equivalent of a video editing tool for content creators. Allison also explained how Meta is experimenting with more standalone products for Facebook’s power users, which include Marketplace Sellers and Facebook Groups administrators.

As social media users move to competing platforms like TikTok and Meta’s own Instagram, Facebook has found new life within specific, once-niche features on the platform. In May, Facebook launched a standalone app called Forum for its Facebook Groups power users. Now, the company is doing the same for Facebook Marketplace sellers.

Meta says that one-third of young adults who use Facebook also use Marketplace. And, every month, more than 420 million items are listed on the Marketplace platform. 

#Meta #launches #Seller #standalone #app #Facebook #Marketplace #sellers

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