Twitter hacks and the Yahoo redesign: This week on Twitter

twitter white on blue logoEach week our very own Stephen Autar tracks the tech and journalism conversations on Twitter as he runs the @KnightLab handle. He offers a recap of the most intriguing and important stories each Friday.

If you’ve been paying attention on Twitter this week, you know there was a lot to talk about.


It wasn't journalism, but on Monday the Burger King Twitter account was hacked and “defaced,” according to CNET. The hacked tweets said the company had been sold to rival fast food chain McDonald’s. The account’s name was changed to McDonald’s and the account’s photo to the McDonald’s logo. On Tuesday, it was a repeat event when the Jeep Twitter account was hacked and tweets said Cadillac had bought the company.

The New York Times seemed to be more of a topic of interest than usual lately, and on Wednesday we got legitimate reason to talk about the Times when it was announced the New York Times Company was putting the Boston Globe up for sale. Could this be part of the “new strategy for the company” coming in the spring that CEO Mark Thompson coyly mentioned earlier this month?

The one thing I’ve been waiting for to happen finally did: the Yahoo redesign premiered to the world on Wednesday morning. It seems, however, my excitement about the project greatly over-exceeded what it should have been. The new design is far less unsightly and clunky but also very underwhelming. It looks a lot like the Microsoft 8 aesthetic, which isn’t awful but certainly not my favorite. Mathew Ingram of GigaOM adequately summed up why it just didn’t work like it desperately wanted to.

About the author

Stephen Autar

Undergraduate Fellow

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