On the face of it, posting a picture of an egg on social media and achieving a record number of “likes” appears to be little more than a harmless stunt.
When, at the turn of the year, a London-based creative director did just that, via the Instagram photo-sharing app, the storm of controversy he whipped up was as unforeseen as it was harsh.
The egg was liked more than 50 million times. As the creators of the account hoped, this figure surpassed the previous most-liked image, which was posted by the model and influencer Kylie Jenner, by a huge margin.
Within weeks, Chris Godfrey, the man behind the idea, outed himself in a New York Times interview. "An egg has no gender, race or religion," said Mr Godfrey. "An egg is an egg, it's universal."
Alissa Khan-Whelan, a partner in the project, even gave the egg a name. “Eugene is really global all over the world,” she said. “He likes football. Or she, sorry. Or it.”
The reason for this statement was that the team had produced a commercial, featuring Eugene, which was aired during the Super Bowl – by far the year’s most prestigious and visible slot for American TV advertising. In it, the egg spoke of the impact of going viral on its wellbeing, directing viewers to the charity Mental Health America.
However, the use of Eugene’s enormous following to promote good causes has been questioned. Mr Godfrey’s career in advertising certainly didn’t help perceptions in many quarters. Meanwhile, the growing lack of trust in social media and digital marketing also overshadowed the original simplicity of his plan.
One marketing expert said the account could generate revenues of $10 million. Another described it as “basically a licence to print money”.
"Now [Eugene's] creators, whatever their initial motivations, have chosen to celebrate their victory by revealing themselves as masterminds and leveraging the attention they have earned for more attention still, plus some cash," said the Washington Post.
Others have made the project a lightning rod for wider problems of the internet. Many of those who engage with Eugene’s account appear to be school age – a peak occurs between 3pm and 4pm, when children have finished school. The egg has also enjoyed its breakthrough moment amid rising concern about the impact of social media on young people.
Last week, Instagram boss Adam Moseri acknowledged the company's responsibilities to its users. Addressing the accessibility of images of self-harm on the platform – an issue that has been in the spotlight after the suicide of the 14-year-old British girl Molly Russell – he said: "We are not where we need to be on self-harm and suicide, and we need to do more to protect the most vulnerable… We will get better and we are committed to finding and removing this content at scale."
The UK government now faces calls to enact a duty of care obligation for social media companies to their users. “We were under-focused on the risks of connecting so many people,” Mr Moseri told one newspaper interviewer.
And Instagram's problems are not just confined to its effects on vulnerable young people. The sentencing of the organiser of the notorious Fyre festival – dubbed The Greatest Party That Never Happened by a Netflix documentary – to six years in prison shows what happens when fraudsters harness its power.
Billy McFarland lured music lovers, influencers and celebrities to sign up for an event in the Bahamas that turned out to be nothing more than a sham. The promotional Instagram video was viewed 300 million times in the first 24 hours after its release.
Pledges of increased vigilance, such as that of Mr Moseri, are only being made now that politicians and officials are paying closer attention to the social media industry.
This increased governmental focus also only came after the issues became too big for the authorities to ignore.
Last week, Germany’s national competition regulator, the Federal Cartel Office, prohibited the combining of data collected by Facebook with information from other sources without prior user consent. This particularly applies to WhatsApp and Instagram, which are both owned by Facebook.
The Federal Cartel Office also noted that these three companies represented 95 per cent of Germany’s social media market. Germany has a particular historical antipathy to the gathering and exploitation of personal data without individual consent.
The anonymity offered by algorithms has formed the foundations for lucrative business models, but it appears that the world is finally getting wise to its broader implications. Companies such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp must make good on their promises of a makeover, or lose the monopoly they presently enjoy.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
T10 Cricket League
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
December 14- 17
6pm, Opening ceremony, followed by:
Bengal Tigers v Kerala Kings
Maratha Arabians v Pakhtoons
Tickets available online at q-tickets.com/t10
Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20match%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2020%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%2016%20round%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%203%20to%206%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuarter-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%209%20and%2010%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESemi-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2013%20and%2014%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Match info
Huddersfield Town 0
Chelsea 3
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen), Pedro (80')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Tell the Machine Goodnight' by Katie Williams
Penguin Randomhouse
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
%3Cp%3EElena%20Rybakina%20(Kazakhstan)%3Cbr%3EOns%20Jabeur%20(Tunisia)%3Cbr%3EMaria%20Sakkari%20(Greece)%3Cbr%3EBarbora%20Krej%C4%8D%C3%ADkov%C3%A1%20(Czech%20Republic)%3Cbr%3EBeatriz%20Haddad%20Maia%20(Brazil)%3Cbr%3EJe%C4%BCena%20Ostapenko%20(Latvia)%3Cbr%3ELiudmila%20Samsonova%3Cbr%3EDaria%20Kasatkina%3Cbr%3EVeronika%20Kudermetova%3Cbr%3ECaroline%20Garcia%20(France)%3Cbr%3EMagda%20Linette%20(Poland)%3Cbr%3ESorana%20C%C3%AErstea%20(Romania)%3Cbr%3EAnastasia%20Potapova%3Cbr%3EAnhelina%20Kalinina%20(Ukraine)%3Cbr%3EJasmine%20Paolini%20(Italy)%3Cbr%3EEmma%20Navarro%20(USA)%3Cbr%3ELesia%20Tsurenko%20(Ukraine)%3Cbr%3EEmma%20Raducanu%20(Great%20Britain)%20%E2%80%93%20wildcard%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Previous men's records
- 2:01:39: Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) on 16/9/19 in Berlin
- 2:02:57: Dennis Kimetto (KEN) on 28/09/2014 in Berlin
- 2:03:23: Wilson Kipsang (KEN) on 29/09/2013 in Berlin
- 2:03:38: Patrick Makau (KEN) on 25/09/2011 in Berlin
- 2:03:59: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 28/09/2008 in Berlin
- 2:04:26: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 30/09/2007 in Berlin
- 2:04:55: Paul Tergat (KEN) on 28/09/2003 in Berlin
- 2:05:38: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 14/04/2002 in London
- 2:05:42: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 24/10/1999 in Chicago
- 2:06:05: Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) 20/09/1998 in Berlin
Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke
Two stars
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Brief scores:
Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf
Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)
Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17
Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)
Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group F
Manchester City v Hoffenheim, midnight (Wednesday, UAE)
Brief scores:
Kashima Antlers 0
River Plate 4
Zuculini 24', Martinez 73', 90 2', Borre 89' (pen)
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills