Social Networks, Cryptocurrencies, Corona-Warn-App
YouTube and Reddit are the clear winners of the Corona pandemic among the social networks, according to a fresh US study by Pew: while the other networks have been relatively static through 2020, the video and the forum platform can show significant user growth.
Then, of course, there is TikTok, which also made a splash with the younger and youngest target groups in 2020; however, Pew still lacks the comparative figures here. - This, in turn, is provided by a British study on the topic of shopping trends: according to this, TikTok has knocked Instagram off its throne! Today, 41% are influenced by the TikToks of influencers, on Instagram only 27% by stale photos or stories.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies are becoming part of everyday commerce: globally and online as well as offline, it is now possible to pay with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ether via PayPal - at least by US PayPal users. Although the merchant receives the domestic fiat currency, the payment options with alternative currencies have increased enormously.
And Visa is also ensuring more acceptance of cryptocurrencies: For the time being, only the USDC stablecoin backed by US Dollars can be used, but the willingness of the traditional financial industry to open up to alternative means of payment is abundantly clear.
The Corona-Warn-App, meanwhile, integrates a check-in function to enable more focused contact tracking, while remaining anonymous and usable with a high level of privacy protection.
This is in contrast to the Luca app, which was licensed by some federal states without a call for tenders, although it is classified as insecure by experts - and on top of that has probably taken over source code from other apps without any indication and declared it as its own development.
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