This is in the web client (Firefox on Windows 11) I accidentally closed out my shorts recommendation as "Not Interested" on my home page and now no shorts show up in my recommendations ever. This would be a cool feature if I knew how to undo it.
How do I undo it?

For some reason when I try to post long posts from my tablet, I click post, go through the captcha, press submit. Then nothing happens. So I press post at the top again, do the captcha again, press submit, and nothing.
So I figured there is some error, so I've been wanting to post this here since I created my account, and it's been that issue each time
I specifiy VLC because it works on desktops Linux Mac Windows, and iOS android devices.
The interface doesn't at all match up, so I'll explain how to set it up right, with one option changed, and what the speed options are for desktop as they aren't labeled.
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It's not obvious what software allows turning off the special effect -- the one for speeding up a podcast and preventing the voice from sounding like helium was inhaled. Here's how to turn off that effect for smooth audio when using slower speeds, otherwise it will have a choppy sound.
As stated in the title, VLC works on many different systems, so I think it's the best candidate for this musical change. It's not obvious how to change the settings, and it's different on laptop or mobile tablet so here's how to do it on the two interface.
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desktop / laptap settings

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Tool preference audio tab, effect group
clear **time-stretch** save restart VLC
To keep selected speed between song skips, VLC already does this on desktop, but on mobile, it's a separate setting for audio and video each.
To change speed, play music, right click blank area or use menu at top. Playback > speed.
slow/fast makes a 33% change. Using that once, and using faster (fine) 10% changes, you can access 66 76 etc
slower twice, goes to 33% speed, faster (fine) can get you to 63 73 etc. Not great, but it's there, hope this gets updated in v4
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Mobile apple android playback speed

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First change the setting mentioned above:
more tab at bottom, setting at top left.
Advanced group.
clear **time-stretch**
No restart needed.
Also if you want the speed to be kept between skips and app restarts:
setting / audio:
save playback speed
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To access playback speed on mobile:
Play music, tap bar at bottom, and there will be a menu at top right. It also has equalizer and some other options.
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Nitpicks with the slider, there are a few:

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Slider dragging sticks until a large change is made, audio pauses / skips when doing so

Range is ridiculou, nobody want to listen to music at double triple quad speed

the two settings I had to explain how to find and set should be listed clearly on the speed bar instead, makes the most logical sense

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changing speed in a web page using open-source firefox web browser, works on all websites

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Global speed addon works great, but I don't understand most of the settings, so I hope that gets fixed. Like why are there multiple seek options, and multiple speed options that both have a + next to them? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Make sure to turn on allow pitch shift.
Honorable mention to addon ScrewMyCode . in
I hope that gets updated to work as this one does, just to have multiple options.
This is a copy from LofiHipHop because I'm tired of typing it out each time, and I think I have good formatting on it.

Intended major: biochem or neuro (only neuro bc I have done research in neuro, had bad migraines for a bit missed about 20% of sixth grade, researched the mutated gene that is thought to cause migraines, have a couple of neuro doctor mentors, wrote book on brain, genuinely really really love!!) and then coupled with a minor or double concentration in writing (have always adored writing, want to pursue in some aspect, think I could combine science and writing to have a difference in making scientific concepts more comprehensible to all). Genuinely am very passionate about both like a lot! If I do not pursue writing will definitely pursue it in ecs in college.
I genuinely love everything I do and could talk about it for forever.
1) co-president of an international 501c3 writing competition nonprofit that receives over 200 submissions from all continents (and >15 countries) and reaches up to 70k people through marketing; started a science platform for kids to submit their work (since beginning of sophomore year). Have insta, TikTok, website, podcast, and newsletter platforms. Started middle of sophomore year.
2) international 501c3 health nonprofit founder and president. post blogs to teach kids about health and medicine (over 300 posts by submissions). additionally have 25 international club chapters from 10 states and 6 countries (3 continents), will have raised more then $10k for our internationally known partner, affiliated w a t10, by college apps through our chapters and donations. Starting chapters at two t25 universities, trying to establish more at others. Also talking to two more people from 2 other countries (and one other continent) to start chapters. Have website and instagram platforms (reaching over 5k different users from 18 countries). Started summer going into junior year. Over 1k followers on Instagram. Selected for innovation internship with ivy league alumni. Started chapter at my school (founder and president), helped partner teens w doctor mentors and secured them shadowing opportunities.
3) Founded and president of a biology club at school to redistribute resources only given to certain students. have over 130 members and 50 active members. host seminars with 4 professionals (including renowned doctor that worked with one of the people who discovered dna structure), four free dissections so far (since beginning of sophomore year). provide academic to ap bio classes with testing treats (during midterms, finals, ap exams, and national science day). established bulletin board at school to post all science opportunities. started resource hub for kids at my school (~600 enrolled students).
4) Executive manager of school newspaper, started a science column to explore themes in science (head writer and editor), expanded distribution to whole district and local businesses, wrote over 26 articles (basically almost every edition since my first month of freshman year). Participated all four years of high school, heavily involved. Went from writer to small leadership role to exec board (4 selected) for 2 years (first to be a 2 year exec).
5) EMT - EMT certified, hoping to work over 100 hours by submissions. Completed >20 hours of shadowing, completed 40-module course with an A. Created online website resource hub for people trying to become an EMT. Inspired to try to start an AP Anatomy course at the high school (currently working to integrate). Started middle of junior year.
6) Research - cold emailed over 20 research professors from universities to find opportunities. assisted an ivy league doctor with a literature review (published and listed in acknowledgments), wrote and published (in peer-reviewed academic journals) two review papers on migraines and hemophilia (under mentorship of T30 PhD student and T10 pharmaceutical company doctor). Additionally attending research program over the summer (~8% acceptance rate) where I will continue to research. Through research, discovered education barrier, influenced to begin creatively writing (start science blog to explain complex topics?????). Started research pub platforms bc hard to find free ones! Started all research beginning of junior year.
7) Curriculum Council (started beginning of junior)- chosen by admin and staff as one in four (out of >1200) to represent student body in council of school board and admin. led an initiative to start a science research course at school (which will be implemented next year). Part of committee since beginning of junior year.
8) Student government (all 4 years of hs) - chosen as one of fifteen (out of 350 in class) to be student rep, as one in ten (out of 350 in class) to directly advise the principal in event and school planning matters in Principal advisory committee, and as one in eight (out of ~1000) to be on the Student ambassador exec board. Participated in all three of them since 9th grade (4 years).
9) three season varsity athlete. Have participated in every fall season of field hockey since second grade (11 seasons) and play for my high school and in middle school. Have additionally played field hockey in club for eight seasons (total of 19 seasons). Varsity defensive starter. Led clinics for youth to learn field hockey. Also, varsity track and field runner for spring and winter seasons (have participated all four years of high school, 8 seasons by the end of high school).
10) service: do not know which to include,
Girl Scouts - earned Silver award and earning gold award. have earned over 150 service hours and over 50 badges. Girl Scout for ten years.
Service club - leadership in a club that raises over $100,000 for cancer research (small role)
other:

• wrote and published a children’s book on how the brain works (read more in awards section)
  
• service (earned congressional award gold medal so 400+ hours)
  
• horticulture: intern at one of the most renowned botanical gardens for a year, have a garden, wrote blog abt it (essay related to flowers/gardening)
  

With a lot of browsing, I finally bit the bullet and purchased Atticus yesterday. So far, it's been wonderful, but it has some limitations. I was able to import my manuscript from Word (.DOCX), however I found that if you have spaces between sections of your book, they don't translate well to Atticus. For example:
"...John and Cindy were together until the end of the day. No one knew how their event went and so far no update has been received.
It was a challenging day for Debra. She had finally completed all her chores."
Atticus will ignore that space. You'll have to manually review your manuscript on Atticus and find those sections to add those spaces back in.
Also, as far as the previewer goes, it doesn't follow your cursor. You have to manually scroll through the previewer to find where you are in the manuscript in order to see those changes. You can preview how your book looks on many devices as well as print.
I appreciate that you can set your trim size for print with the click of a button. It automatically sets it for use with Amazon when exporting it via PDF. You can also add custom chapter header art; however, the feature for setting chapter header art for different pages doesn't work.
If you are importing from Word, be sure to disable all of the drop caps. Atticus will treat them like headers to chapters.
Grammarly works well with this since it is web-based. Unfortunately it DOES NOT have word processing capabilities.
You can export only .PDF, .EPUB, and .DOCX. When exporting .DOCX it does not format anything---it'll give you a simple manuscript.
Also, it has a feature that allows you to add text chat bubbles if you have that sort of dialogue in your book. Just thought that was neat!
"Find and Replace" exists on Atticus as well.
All in all, it's definitely better if you're looking to get away from Kindle Create. It has formatting options, the ability to place and manipulate images, a way to export your print version, and a way to preview it before uploading. It's not the end-all program in the slightest, but it definitely gets the job done, especially if you're like me and need to get your book out there. It's a one-and-done price, not subscription-based, and totally worth it, in my opinion. If anyone has anything to add that I am missing, please feel free.

Hi everyone,
I've been having a really annoying issue with Chrome for a while now, and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has a solution. The problem is that on some websites, even though I've previously accepted the cookies, every time I visit the site, the cookie consent banner briefly appears for about half a second and then disappears. The worst part is that after it disappears, I can't click on anything or interact with the page at all.
I've tried refreshing the page, but the only way to navigate is by refreshing and spamming the click exactly where the accept cookies button is, so I can accept them before the banner disappears. Obviously, this is not a practical solution.
Has anyone encountered this issue or know how to fix it? Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
A video showing the problem

Our company has a few website projects. I recently rebuilt our front end website with the new Blazor Web App template to get my feet wet before doing the same for a more complicated project. This template excited me because my initial thoughts were that I would be able to have SEO compliant pages load interactive components utilizing wasm. This would allow me to replace the in-house Web Components we build with Vue.js.
Unfortunately, as I now understand, we can't have a SSR page (InteractiveServer) load just a portion of the dom (say a calculator component) with WASM (A component with rendermode WebAssembly or InteractiveAuto). I hope you tell me I am wrong.
My takeaways and issues were these (maybe you can offer a better way):
1 SEO pages (requiring SEO content rendered server side) that had an interactive search bar that loaded results as they typed needed rendermode InteractiveServer so that the SEO content would be SSR'd. This caused some JS libraries within the template to need special changes for two reasons: - document.ready functions that replaced dom content did not find the dom elements re-rendered client side (in our case a JS library that animates background images of divs) - the animation effects fired twice, and sometimes the page flashed showing clearly the page was being re-rendered client side immediately (in our case, text that slides in on page load and as you scroll down)
2 Non SEO pages that had interactive components would be placed in the Client project folder using rendermode WebAssembly. No SSR for SEO would be available
3 Sitewide global data I was passing to all routes via CascadingParameter was null on the rendermode InteractiveServer (I was very much surprised by this limitation)
Now I need to decide if I can use Blazor Web App template to replace a similar project that has some SEO pages that need InteractiveServer, BUT also a full SPA application that paying members log into to update their profiles.
If you could provide your own experiences, here are my concerns:
1 AOT compiling always fails so I haven't figured that out, but if I do I've read about the initial page load taking forever. I believe this is also the insane delay when going to some of the Blazor component library websites. It just shows a loading splash screen and never seems to continue. With a SPA/WASM application is this going to be my fate or are there ways to load parts of the component as needed and perhaps show a bytes download progress bar like we used to have with Adobe Flash?
2 Does the blazor component ecosystem and nuget library have enough to build my application without me needing to load a javascript component (fullcalendar.js for example). Although I have figured out how to debug and interact with javascript, it is very cumbersome and the point of blazor is of course not to need JS
3 I don't know what I don't know. What else am I not thinking of that may bite me in the end? Max connection limits being hit?

Usually every 2 weeks I make a post going over my initial reactions to the newest episodes of DCAS as they come out. This time however, I decided to do something a little different and talk about my thoughts on the first half of the season and not just the newest episode, which I'll also bring up here. DCAS has a lot of potential to be the best Disventure Camp season yet, but is that potential being utilized to the fullest? In this post I'll go over a few main things that stick out to me as a viewer in the few last episodes and I think are worthy of bringing up for a discussion as the season moves forward.

PART 1 - THE CAST

I don't have any issues with the cast chosen at all. There are a few characters I wouldn't call All Stars myself (Ashley and Connor mainly) but I can see why they made the cut over characters like Dan or Rosa Maria (+ Karol, robbed queens and king 👑). The production staff being combined from both seasons we've had so far is nice and I especially enjoy the addition of Emily. Let's talk about what this cast does in the actual season so far.

PART 2 - THE PLOTS

The great cast we have is given barely anything to work with. The merge is the perfect example of it as out of the 10 contestants who did make it to the merge without the comeback only half of them are involved in an ongoing storyline. I'll get into that in a bit but first let's talk about the premergers: - I'll cut James and Lake the slack as they're the first 2 boots coming into the season with no plot. Cutting them early set things up nicely and spared us from them floating through the game for no reason, - Miriam is also spared as despite being the third boot, she still served a purpose, didn't overstay her welcome and did exactly what she needed to do, which was expose the villains alliance, - My issues start with Hunter's elimination. He gets no closure. He comes back for another season with Ally who he has relationship issues with and doesn't get to resolve them. The show acknowledges this with Ally saying she wishes they could've talked things out in episode 6 and yet, this went nowhere right as it was beginning to be interesting. He opens up to Tess about it and so does Ally through confessionals and whatnot but once again, it went nowhere. Aside from that Hunter bullies Fiore, which while entertaining, isn't much. He was definitely cut earlier than he should've been, - Connor is a support character to Riya and just like majority of support characters this season, fails to actually help the character he's supposed to grow. Unlike Hunter, he gets closure. He cuts Riya off, is unceremoniously voted out by the villains alliance, gives a little speech and leaves. This closure feels rushed because this plot lasts 6 episodes and spends 2 (episodes 4 & 5), which are 1/3 of its time, on pause, then ends in the next episode out of nowhere. What was even the point of bringing back Connor if the one plot he gets isn't even going to get a satisfying conclusion? I mean, him cutting off Riya is satisfying don't get me wrong, but the way it went down is rather disappointing. Why do you think he's a top contender for the comeback amongst the community? - Fiore also didn't do much. She wasn't going to make it far, we all knew it, and yet, she feels wasted despite those low hopes. The one thing she had going for her this season was to reconcile with Alec. That's what people wanted to see and the show built it up and hinted towards that being the case from E2-E6 but they never do. I know they're on different teams but we saw them sneaking off to talk to each other, why did they not reconcile then? Why did Alec not even care when she got voted off despite helping her stay in the game all this time? The problem with Fiore this season isn't that she went too early, its that they built up her story for 5 episodes only to forget about it, eliminate her unceremoniously and forget she even existed. She had one job and she didn't even do that. At least she was funny, I guess. (I just saw that one Fiore greeting lol, guess the Alec reconciliation ain't happening 😭), - Ellie... What a waste. I don't even like her all that much but MY GOD did they do her dirty. The first half of the season built up the Gabbellie angst only for it to go nowhere. Ellie's story was cut short right when it was beginning to be interesting. When we finally get to see more of Gabbellie and have a possibility of an Ellie redemption arc or her going full villain or whatever, she's out the same episode, that mind you, she's not even the main focus of. She had arguably the most potential going into the season and I knew she'd be a premerge boot, but damn, it still sucks to see her be so full of potential just waiting for her 5 minutes to shine and never get it, - The last premerger, Tess, comes into the season with the intention of being a support character for Hunter & Ally who are on the other team. Instead she screws Ellie over in a failed attempt at being a support character for the Gabbellie duo. Her voting off Ellie makes sense for her character but ultimately not only cut Ellie's plot early but also justified Ellie's distrust in people. She's always sticking her nose in everyone's business in an attempt to help them out without knowing the full picture and ending up making things worse in the long run. I'm so glad Gabby called her out on it in episode 9 and didn't take every word spewed her way as gospel like everyone else. She was boring all season long and once again, like other premergers, she's eliminated in the same episode she starts to get interesting. I'm not sad that Tess is gone but she still could've done more interesting stuff with her screen time.
Now onto the production staff and merge cast: - Nina, Marcus and Oliver basically don't exist, - Trevor, Derek and Krystal also don't get much focus aside from the sidelined love triangle, - Emily got fired by both Yul and Krystal. I'm really interested in seeing how her plot goes and I hope she doesn't get sidelined or straight up forgotten, - Alec hasn't done anything since episode 4 and his story with Fiore was cut short for no reason when it could've been so easily resolved with a simple conversation, - Riya hasn't done anything at all other than be funny and give us glimpses of a redemption arc, which once again, is getting cut short for no reason, - Grett is getting fat shamed each episode by Yul and does nothing or talk with anyone outside of it, - Yul bullies Grett and is comedic relief which actually works. He's the best character this season so far as he does his job well without hinting at more then not delivering, - Gabby became relevant at all only 2 episodes ago so I won't be too harsh on her as she finally has something going on, - I can't stand Aiden. Episodes 7 & 10 were nearly as low of a point for him as S2E9. He actively takes away screen time with a plot he's completely unnecessary to at this point and is extremely annoying while he's at it. Is he supposed to be Tom's support character or something? If so, then he's not doing a good job and is ruining his own character by being associated with Tom. I don't know wtf they're doing with the entire love triangle trio and it includes the hypocritical skunk over here as well, - Tom outside of his exhausting plot with Jake has nothing. He does nothing this season to distract you from how awful he is at handling basically anything and it's so tiring to watch, - Jake is the main character and he's surely something. Is he carrying the season in the entertainment department? Yes, and am I happy to see him have more focus? Yes, but it's WAY too much. He has his bs with Tom (Im praying they dont get back together) and rivalry with Ally so he at least has plot so I can't complain too much about him. I do have to say tho, even as the biggest Jake stan and defender out there, I'm getting exhausted. Give him a breather episode or 2 and focus on someone else. The direction they're taking his character is extremely confusing as well but that's conversation for another day, - Ally was sidelined so hard after episode 6 it makes me sad. She was my favorite in the first 6 episodes and has so much potential that's not being utilized at all, - Ashley did nothing but pretend to give Jake good advice without ever actually helping him. Don't even get me started on her "revenge" on Fiore. That was so unsatisfying and she celebrated like she just defeated the devil with her bare hands as if Fiore wasn't in the worst position on the team since the beginning. She did basically nothing with twice as many episodes here than the 5 she got in season 1.
Let me do some math here. There's 25 characters and out of those: - 5 have no plots at all/dont exist (James, Lake, Oliver, Marcus, Nina) - 5 are support characters with nothing going on for themselves (Ashley, Tess, Connor, Aiden, Krystal) - 1 was a plot device (Miriam) - 7 have their plots either put on pause or cut short with no satisfying resolution (Alec, Fiore, Riya, Hunter, Ally, Ellie, Derek)
That leaves us with Emily, Trevor, Gabby, Grett, Yul, Jake & Tom being involved in plots that are actually making any progress, and said progress is slow as all hell. Do we need to see Grett be bullied for 7 episodes straight and just take it without standing up for herself? Surely this could've been wrapped up without dragging it out or at the very least bring something new to the table. It's the same thing over and over each episode.

PART 3 - THE EPISODES ARE REPETITIVE

Now that I mentioned it, I might as well expand. I noticed the episodes follow a certain formula: - Around 7 minutes of pre-challange character interactions we've seen multiple times already with rarely adding anything new to them, - A bit of trauma dumping from a few characters, - Production staff scene lasting around 2 minutes, - A boring and very quick challenge portion not even focused on the challenge, - Pre elimination scene where the big thing of the episode happens, - Elimination ceremony.
I know that's the show's format but switch it up a little! Have some fun with it! Give me a twist! A team swap, auto elimination, Jensen coming back from the dead, different locations, a gimmick shaking up the challenge, immunity idols, ANYTHING to keep it fresh and exciting. Watching 9 episodes going this exact same way gets repetitive.
The actual challenges themselves are something I want to see be more creative in general. The singing episode was a ton of fun, the triathlon was cool and even the first 2 challenges were fun because we got to see new stuff like animals and an underwater episode. But the recent challenges have been lackluster. We got pushing big beautiful balls down a hill, walking around a fake spaceship, slip and slide basketball and plain paintball. In episode 10 they just walk around and argue. The challenge is completely sidelined and for what?? There isn't even a spin to this one, it's literally just paintball. At least in S1 it was combined with capture the flag and there were more people to make it more chaotic but here? What a bore.

PART 4 - THE PACING

Adding to the bore is the pacing of the few plots that we do get to see actually move at all. Tom & Jake could've easily been wrapping up their bs by now, Grett & Yul also could've wrapped it up premerge and... That's basically it because those are the 2 plots consistently and actively getting any room to be explored leaving little screen time for the others.
Why were the Riya and Connor, Huntally or Gabbellie plots rushed but Jam and YulREGrett are allowed to go on for forever without making any progress? Literally only Jake is undergoing any sort of development out of the 4 and his narrative is all over the place making it hard to even get invested in his story if you're not already a die hard fan. It seems like the show itself doesn't know whether he should be seen as the one in the right or not in the entire love triangle and keeps flip-floping between wanting the audience to like & despise him. Same with Tom but I asked this question on another (flop) post. Gretts development is also taking forever and we all know Yul ain't changing.

PART 5 - OUTRO

I'm sorry if this came out way more negative than I intended it to be but I wanted to get my feelings about this out as it does make me a little worried for the rest of the season. It's not even that it's bad, far from it, I think it has potential to be the best DC season yet, but with the last 3 episodes (excluding episode 9) the season is losing its momentum. I'm hoping the quality picks up again and the second half ends up being amazing. Please don't crucify me for this lol. My opinion isn't important and I'm still enjoying the season quite a bit but certainly see ways it could feel more complete. Can't wait to watch the rest of it!
This is a repost because I made some embarrassing mistakes I needed to fix lmao.

Navigating The Privacy Tightrope: User Concerns on Social Media Engagement

Name
Department
University
Email

Abstract
This study analyses consumer concerns about privacy in social media engagement, the factors influencing these concerns, and provides strategies for handling them. To achieve this objective, this paper provides feedback on two vital questions (What are the primary concerns of social media users regarding privacy? And What factors contribute to these concerns?) that guide this research. The paper uses qualitative analysis to obtain analyze data. Lastly, the paper provides suggestions for future research and solution
I. INTRODUCTION
In the current digitized world, many people are increasingly sharing their information with the public through social media. However, this act of sharing their details through electronic gadgets such as smartphones has and still increases the risk of privacy violations as people engage through social media. One of the events that significantly deepened consumer privacy concerns in the United States was the Cambridge Analytica data breach on Facebook half a decade ago, which affected many user accounts in the land. This data breach initiated the #deletefacebook movement across social networking sites culminating in many users reconsidering their connections with social media platforms about their trustworthiness, and potential for confidential issues. For one section of users, this meant signing out of these sites while the other section considered it as a chance to reset their confidential settings. According to Bright et al, user privacy concerns differ across sites in the user journey, and only a few sites are developed equally when it comes to user concerns as well as disclosures specifically in connection to social networking sites (1). Throughout this duration of redefining their connections with social networking sites, users find themselves coping with the "privacy paradox" and despite having privacy concerns, online users persist in disclosing their private details for distinct reasons, rather than safeguarding their details online. Therefore, this paper investigates [consumer concerns about privacy in social media engagement, and factors influencing these concerns, and provides strategies for handling them]().
A. Research problem
Social media plays a significant role in promoting interaction and sharing of information among users from all over the world. However, sharing of information over social media sites has and still increases the risk of privacy violations as people engage through social media. It's from this, that this paper settled on evaluating the consumer concerns about privacy in social media engagement, factors influencing these concerns, and providing strategies for tackling them.
B. Aim and Objectives
This study is determined to analyze the user concerns about privacy in social media engagement, highlight the primary factors influencing these concerns, and provide recommendations on desired approaches for handling them.
C. Research question
[1. What are the primary concerns of social media users regarding privacy?]()
2. What factors contribute to these concerns?
II. EXTENDED BACKGROUND
Social media has grown to become the modern-day routine. Currently, many social networking sites are continuing to integrate to offer distinct digital affordances as well as chances to enlarge individual networks, interactions, and information sharing. The availability of these sites has significantly culminated in to rise in user engagement. For instance, TikTok is among the most used sites with a massive following of more than 750 million accounts. Currently, people are becoming more open to sharing individual data and with the aid of the modern digital culture, this has been made possible by utilizing the availability of internet service. Although social media is considered to be of great significance in facilitating communication and entertainment among users, it also stores noticeable repositories of individual details that culminate to privacy concerns. This threat of privacy breaches has continuously increased as social media are frequently accessed through applications on cell phones, where a substantial number of identifiable data is stored, aggregated, and linked across various social networking sites.
Even as the issue of privacy threat has attained massive attention and recognition, especially among people who use these platforms, many studies have reported the concept of privacy paradox, which implies discrepancies involving persons' habits of disclosing individual details and their concern concerning privacy threat. Even though social media users have an increasing concern concerning privacy on media platforms, they are willing to proceed to disclose their data for various gratifications. According to Chen et al, some social media users always show or rather demonstrate reduced effort to offer safety on their confidentiality despite showing significant concern associated with social media (2). On the contrary, there is also a section of social media consumers who are not naive in their revel actions (2). This brings us to an analysis of the historical evolution of social media platforms, the emergence of privacy concerns, and important theoretical frameworks particularly privacy calculus.
Typically, the rise of privacy is significantly connected to the fast growth of technologies and the growing nature of the modern digital space. History shows that privacy was mainly linked with physical and individual interactions. During this time, people were interacting at their homes and with immediate families. However, this was significantly changed by the massive evolution in the digital world. The development of social media sites, and the level of connectivity they provide initiated a new era of unprecedented access to individual information. The new developments have made it simple for people to share their stories and even sensitive information with just one click significantly subjecting one to underlying privacy perils. The world is experiencing significant growth or cases in several data breaches leading to massive breaches of private data to the public. Hackers always target unsuspecting firms or companies to access important details such as the profile of clients or company records which could result in various forms of exploitations. When such a breach happens, it severely affects both the company and the individuals because while the person's data is compromised so is the deterioration of trust in the organization by the public.
Privacy calculus (shown in Figure 1 in the appendix section) refers to the comprehension of privacy as well as safety trade-offs of a certain innovation or firm. It assumes that individuals will divulge individual details whenever the perceived rewards or advantages outweigh the potential cost. Kehr et al. ascertain that the choice of sharing information is associated with privacy calculus as the equilibrium between the rewards and the hazards of revealing individual details or data. A person's privacy calculus can be impacted by several factors including but not limited to the perceived value of the details being revealed and the repercussions of the disclosure. Additionally, the cultures and factors within the society might considerably influence privacy caliculus These factors include but are not limited to societal norms associated with privacy in specific locations. Research has indicated that the threshold of diversity which is always accompanied by the growing society has some considerable effect on the withdrawal from the globe making people even more sensitive to what they share with the public.
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study used a qualitative approach in analyzing the user concerns on social networking site engagement. Primarily, this method was applied in this study because it offers a significant opportunity for the researcher to devolve deeply into but not limited to nuances of consumer experiences, viewpoints as well as emotions. Compared to a quantitative approach which only focuses on numerical as well as statistical evaluations, the selected approach here delves deeply into the underlying inspirations, feelings, and means that drive consumer connections online. Approaches such as but not limited to interviews and focus groups provided a substantial opportunity for the researcher to unveil the intricate web of norms and values that significantly impact how consumers interact and their perception of social media sites.
Additionally, the qualitative approach substantially enabled the researcher to attain different consumer concerns. According to Van der Vlist, and Helmond, social networking sites are characterized by a sophisticated structure that comprises different cultures and subcultures with distinct practices as well as concerns (3). By applying a qualitative approach, an investigator can therefore attain immediate information precisely on the experiences of consumers over different populations, and locations. This great understating is significant because it helps to design comprehensive as well as consumer-centric sites that cater to the different requirements as well as tests of the audiences across the world.
Moreover, the qualitative approach offered the researcher a flexible and adaptable experience especially when analyzing emerging issues within social media and user engagement. As indicated by, Reynolds, and Bennett, the qualitative approach allows the use of their analytical paradigms to suit the certain features of emerging issues encompassed in social media as well as consumer involvement (4).
When collecting data, the research applied the following types of qualitative methods:
A. Interviews
Interviews offered a significant platform for participants to articulate their concerns using their own words thus providing the researcher with the desired information on the experiences and viewpoints of people using the complex domain of social media. By applying the open-ended questions, the researcher was able to analyze the profound inspirations that significantly provided limelight to the intricacies of social media. Besides, interviews helped in contextualizing the user concerns in the wider brackets of social and cultural settings in which they take place. By involving the respondents in the study through discussion, the researcher was able to identify factors that significantly influence consumers'' viewpoints and habits including but not limited to peer pressure and cultural ideals. The contextual comprehension offered great support especially in deciphering the motive behind consumer concerns and coming up with solutions or rather strategies that perfectly resonate with the distinct array of consumers globally. Lastly, the interview helped to foster significant discourse that involved the researcher and respondents. This helped in cementing trust and the needed help that improved the credibility of the research.
B. Questionnaires
This study also used questionnaires to obtain relevant data that assisted in the completion of this research. Typically, questionnaires are valuable equipment issued when collecting data because they can gather a significant number of standardized information effectively. This study started by clarifying the objective of the questionnaires to participants. The researcher applied an open-ended type of questionnaire and crafted questions that aided in the collection of data from the respondents. The questionnaires were delivered to participants through email surveys that significantly aligned with the features of the sample group as well as the study aims. The clarity of the communication in the email and privacy substantially fostered participant involvement in the study. Besides, the researcher ensured that the information provided through this tool was secured and systematically organized to foster the analysis of information. In a nutshell, the study implemented effective usage of questionnaires in collecting vital data in the study. The researcher adhered to the best practices and embraced the spirit of iterative refinement thus harnessing the complete ability of the questionnaires and advanced knowledge concerning user concerns on social media engagement.
The sampling technique applied in this study was purposeful approach. This approach is broadly applied in qualitative studies to identify data-rich scenarios for the most efficient usage of scarce resources (5). The sampling techniques comprise of coming up and choosing people or groups that possess knowledge concerning or have experience with the topic under study (5). Through the use of emails, the researcher chose respondents who met certain qualifications and offered valuable information concerning consumer concerns on social media. Based on the participants’ selection criteria, a purposeful sample of (n=60) was selected to participate in the survey.
The research used thematic analysis (TA) in analyzing data. TA has enabled the research to unveil the profound concerns that prevail more across social media consumers. Through a systematic analysis specifically of the content that is common among consumers, the research was able to pinpoint reappearing subjects that show shared concerns, and frustrations. For example, factors including but not limited to privacy issues, and cyberbullying frequently arise in literature addressing the concept of consumer concerns within the context of social media. Nevertheless, TA offered a structured framework that greatly helped in organizing as well as interpreting qualitative information. Through conducting a thorough grouping of information or rather data into topics and sub-topics, the research was able to attain a fundamental insight into the diverse range of issues from the consumers. As argued by Thompson, TA promotes the rigor as well as reliability of the study outcomes, making sure that conclusions are based on empirical proof (6).
Additionally, TA offered significant support in facilitating comparisons as well as synthesis over distinct studies. Considering the idea that the use of social media keeps on growing, investigators always face various pieces of publications addressing the same subjects. TA gives these investigators to highlight the similarities and differences across datasets thus facilitating the enrichment of their comprehension concerning consumer concerns. Despite the above merits of TA in this study, this approach also significantly fails in various areas especially when applied to data analysis (7). For instance, the TA does not have strict directives for completing an analysis. This might easily culminate in variability, particularly in the manner in which this approach is used in different studies, thus rendering it difficult to draw a comparison in findings or replicate studies.
IV. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The consideration of ethics within studies is paramount since it ensures that the studies are completed by observing integrity, respect as well as fairness specifically on respondents involved. It's vital to uphold ethical consideration because morally right and also helps to maintain the credibility of the research. This research upheld the ethical standards before, during, and after the study in various ways. Firstly, the researcher ensured that the idea of informed consent was considered by significantly providing vivid information to respondents so that they could come up with independent choices about their involvement in the study. The researcher also ensured that there was room for withdrawal from the research by any respondent if they felt to do so. The research also ensured the concepts of confidentiality and privacy were considered during the interview process. Research has shown that it is vital to offer respect to the privacy of respondents to enhance or build confidence and trust (8). Enria et al. Emphasizes the need to maintain privacy during the study process from information gathering up to publication to lock out unauthorized personnel or disclosure of personal details (8). In this study, the researcher adopted the necessary measures to offer the needed protection or security for sensitive data or details gathered during the interview and the study at large.
Furthermore, the researcher also took the responsibility of reducing harm and at the same time raising the benefits for respondents. The researcher achieved this carefully by offering potential safety and eliminating threats associated with the research such as but not limited to physical harm. The researcher ensured that the relevant measures were executed to provide safety to vulnerable groups. In addition, the researcher ensured that there was respect for the respondent's independence as well as dignity. This was achieved by significantly treating respondents with respect and dignity. This entirely involved, honoring their choices concerning but not limited to their inclusion in the research.
Nonetheless, the researcher also ensured that fairness and equity were upheld during the study. The researcher observed the concept of diversity in recruiting participants and at the same time eliminating the prejudices grounded on aspects including but not limited to race or religion. Besides, the researcher took the necessary steps by considering the potential outcomes of the study for the most vulnerable respondents specifically people living with a disability. Lastly, the researcher guaranteed that ethical oversight, as well as responsibility, is observed throughout the research procedure. The researcher took the primary function of ensuring that the study adheres to the ethical standards designed by Institutional review boards.
V. RESULTS
The analysis focused on demographic examination by exploring aspects such as age, gender, education, job status, and social media platforms used. Based on gender, there 27 were female while 33 participants were men. The youngest participant was aged 21 years while the oldest was 57 years. The average age of the participants was 35.4 years, indicating that most were men. The minimum education level of the participant is a high school graduate and all participants were actively in employment or self-employed.
All the participants had registered an account with at least two social media platforms, although a majority (48), had multiple accounts. Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok were the most common social media platforms. However, most of the participants had registered an account with professional platforms like Linkedin, although most were not active participants on these platforms. Facebook emerged as the most popular for general networking while X was preferred for emerging news and trending online topics.
TA was adopted to explore the concerns of the users regarding privacy. Following the analytical approach proposed, there were five emerging themes on the most pressing privacy issues by users of social media networks; namely the scale and scope of data collection, potential misuse of user data, third-party app portability, behavioral tracking, and potential data breaches.
VI. ANALYSIS DISCUSSION
A. Discussion
To achieve the objective of the study, it was vital to provide substantial feedback on the two research questions that guided this study. The first question focused on understanding the primary concerns of social media about privacy. Social media networks have revolutionized and transformed communication, social networking, and bridging people's relationships. These mediums offer crucial benefits but also introduce noteworthy privacy concerns. The interviews revealed that the concerns delve around the process of data collection, use of information collected, security, control over private data, tracking behavioral patterns, and the association of third-party stakeholders. The interviews provided a comprehensive understanding by highlighting relevant concerns in detail, which will be explored further by applying the TA framework to ensure that each factor is understood well.
Scope and scale of Data Collection
The interviewees showed concerns about the scale and scope of data collection by social media networks. It emerged as one of the most pressing issues among social media users because of the intricacy of remaining private. Social media platforms obtain an enormous volume of information, including aspects like name, age, and residence and intimate details such as internet activities, hobbies, and text messages. The respondents indicated that the platforms can collect Personal Identifiable Information (PII) because account holders it is one of the requirements at the point of registration [10]. Crucial information like personal email addresses, contact numbers, and date of birth. The participants showed concerns because they suspected fraudulent actors could access the data and use it for malicious purposes.
The participants also showed concern for the ability of social media platforms to study behavioral patterns using the data collected. Participants argued that privacy is a crucial aspect of human dignity and should be guaranteed by social media platforms [11]. One participant noted that Facebook can track their interment activities, sites visited visit, content, preferences, and communication patterns. Therefore, it demonstrates that the use of collected data by social media is an issue that could pose privacy risks.
Misuse of Personal Data
The participants showed concerns about the use of information collected and stored in social media databases. Social media platforms can leverage the data collected to understand how to improve the experiences of users and other aspects that improve the quality. Based on the participants' responses, targeted advertising can be a vulnerability to users. Social media platforms can use the data to facilitate Ad Personalization [11]. The algorithms can be trained to analyze user data to enable personalized advertisements, which is an invasive antic. The platforms can be involved in the monetization of user data by selling the analyzed ta to third-party organizations.
The participants of the survey observed that social media platforms used the data beyond advertising purposes. The algorithms can be refined to understand social media consumption patterns to influence their purchase decisions. This is a form of manipulation by feeding users targeted information to influence their attitudes, behaviors, and choices [12]. Third-party organizations can leverage modern advances in AI and analytics to study the behavior of social media users and enable the system to make product recommendations and even product development.
Data Breaches
Data security emerged as a leading theme in during the interviews as recent news of frequent cyberattacks and monumental data breaches led to the exposure of personal information. Most participants noted that the high-profile incidents of data breaches by social media platforms like the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal led to the manipulation of voters' decisions in the US election and the Brexit vote. Millions of personal information data were mined without the users' consent. The exposure of the data led to adverse consequences including identity theft, financial fraud, and online vulnerabilities.
Similarly, users noted that user accounts frequently face security vulnerabilities. The accounts have weak password protocols. Some participants indicated that they have been victims of social media account hacks due to the weak security protocols. However, the participants were encouraged to indicate the password, implying that they used a common password including date of birth, name, and city [10]. Some users understood the two-factor authentication, which is crucial in minimizing hacking. The two-factor authentication protocols lead to problems by adding layers. Making it unpopular among most social media users.
Poor account security reduces the ability of users to control their personal information. However, most social media platforms recognize that there is a need to enhance the security of users' accounts. The security setting is complex and confusing to many ordinary social media users. A significant proportion of participants did not understand the process of setting the advanced security protocols [13]. Most users rely on the default security setting, which encourages sharing of personal information and social media activities. The users are expected to maneuver the complex process to ensure the security of their data. Shifting such an obligation to users with limited knowledge about the technicality of social media account security raises ethical and moral concerns.
Behavioral Tracking
Most users noted that social media platforms can perform behavioral tracking by analyzing social media activities, patterns, and content. Cookies Technologies provide the platforms with a tool to perform continuous tracking across different websites, retaining in-depth profiles of user's behavior [13]. The platforms can conduct behavioral tracking with informed consent: The Cambridge-Analytica incident reveals the vulnerability of social media platforms on individuals and society. The profiles created were used not only for marketing and advertising purposes but also to influence political campaigns.
Participants of the study indicated that the ability of social media platforms to collect data limitlessly can expose users to surveillance vulnerabilities. Collecting private and intimate data, such as personal health information and PII can enable third-party actors to perform surveillance since each aspect of social media interaction is documented. The Power held by social media companies leads to the loss of anonymity over personal information to some extent. The structure of social media communication makes it impossible to maintain anonymity because the data is augmented into a singular platform.
Third-Party Apps Data Portability
Portability and the right to delete information is also a concern among users. This stems from the concept of the "right to be forgotten." Users may opt for some content from their social media platforms. Users have limited control over the spread and distribution of the content they post. Deleting the content does not limit other account owners to post similar information [14]. This is a significant concern highlighted by the participants of the survey. deleting their data or controlling its spread once shared.
The growth of social media has coincided with an era of integration of online systems and solutions. Most social media platforms allow third-party apps and integrations. Third-party applications operate based on their practices, policies, and unique terms and conditions for service. There are more privacy issues when social media networks integrate third-party apps and services. Integration of third-party Apps into the social media application can facilitate the collection of data and potential for misuse [12]. There is a lack of clarity over the party responsible for the security of data. Besides, the more the data is available to employees of both organizations, it can be at risk of breaches.
The second question focused on examining the mediating factors contributing to the social media user’s privacy concerns. Based on the TA, the merging factors included inadequate regulatory protection, ineffective social media platform privacy policies, and ignorance of users on appropriate security settings.
Accessibility and Permission
Accessing the data held may require permission from the user or the social media platform. Some apps may be granted broad permissions that allow them unlimited access to the information. Third-party apps often request access to a wide range of user data, which may not be necessary for their functionality. There is a lack of appropriate oversight over data and usage by third-party organizations and apps. The platforms do not provide sufficient oversight and guidelines on how the third parties use and protect the data they access.
Therefore, there is potential for misuse and manipulation of user data by social media platforms and third parties who access the data. Social media platforms may have strict privacy but third-party organizations may have inconsistent privacy concerns. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is an illustration of such an incident, where Facebook data was accessed with crucial privacy breaches. Social media platforms pose a significant threat because they can lead to trust issues among users. Some of the participants noted that they had deleted their accounts because of fear of privacy breaches [14]. The constant privacy issues influence the attitudes and behaviors on social media and their level of trust in these platforms. Hence, the participants have adopted self-censorship due to the awareness of potential online tracking and data collection. This involves avoiding sharing some details or expressing views freely.
The risk of privacy breaches can minimize the levels of social engagement to conceal one's true personality and character. Privacy concerns can lead to reduced engagement, with users less likely to participate in activities that require personal information sharing. Users have also shown concerns for better data and information security practices by social media platforms. The participants of the survey indicated that transparency over the use of the data collected is necessary to protect their confidentiality [12][13]. The growth in awareness and understanding of the right to privacy has been a significant factor that has influenced the demand for better information security protocols.
Inadequate Regulatory and Policy Concerns
Privacy is a right recognized by the laws of different countries including the United States. There are specific legislations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU block or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), enacted to protect the privacy and confidentiality of users' data. However, it does not provide sufficient protection to users since there are several hurdles in its implementation. The lack of effectiveness and compliance with the law has contributed to the loopholes that are constantly utilized by the platforms to collect personal data [12]. The legislations impose legal and criminal liabilities on social media platforms, which can be a crucial method of deterring platforms from engaging in unauthorized sharing of users' data.
Ineffective Social Media Site Policies
Social media platforms have policies that guide the usage of data collected from account holders. Most of these terms are often complex and it is difficult for the users to comprehend. Users sometimes agree to conditions without fully understanding service and privacy rules since they are lengthy and complex [11]. The participants contented that they had never read through all the policies, terms, and conditions of using the site. These challenges lead to the acceptance of policies that allow the collection and usage of data.
Besides, social media platforms are constantly enhancing policy changes that could affect the security of users' data. Platforms regularly change their terms of service, sometimes making major adjustments to privacy provisions that users might not always see or comprehend [13]. The ignorance of users creates vulnerabilities in users and places social media platforms in a superior position. This enables the platforms to include policies that are pro-data collection.
B. Conclusion
Social media companies need to improve privacy controls, strengthen security, simplify privacy settings, and follow strict regulations to strike a balance between user interaction and privacy. Platforms can provide a safer and more reliable environment and encourage users to interact without jeopardizing their personal information by fully addressing these main concerns. This fine balance, where the advantages of connection and sharing are evaluated against the fundamental right to privacy, will determine the future of social media.
Dealing with a wide range of intricate issues is necessary when navigating the social media privacy tightrope. It makes sense that users are concerned about the scope of data gathering, the uses to which it is put, the security of their data, and their control over it. These issues become even more complicated when third-party apps are involved and behavioral tracking is used. These privacy concerns provide serious legal and policy hurdles in addition to affecting user behavior and confidence.
C. Future Research
Social media platforms need to reconsider the concept of user privacy to protect the confidentiality of user data. It is necessary to communicate clearly about the purpose for which the data collected is to be used. The current system is opaque and the users have limited knowledge about the terms and conditions of service. Organizations must protect the integrity of user data. Failure to comply with the regulatory requirement can lead to substantial financial and reputational damage to a social media platform. Facebook has been heavily fined for data breaches and scandals.
Policymakers and legislator should also understand the risk that social media platforms expose to their users and introduce stricter regulations and guidelines on how these platforms can use data collected. Currently, social media platforms are powerful and can influence users to accept terms that would allow the collection of personal information. The legislation should focus on introducing guidelines that compel the platforms to be transparent and use terms that are easily understandable to all users. The study focused on users that are educated but they were also not familiar with the terms on the use of personal data by the platforms. The government can provide better protection by introducing liabilities on platforms that mislead users to accept opaque terms and conditions with a loophole that will allow the collection of PII. Government involvement will be necessary as information and communication technologies continue to transform how organizations collect, analyze, and utilize online users and activities.






References

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[(3) Kehr,]() Flavius, Tobias Kowatsch, Daniel Wentzel, and Elgar Fleisch. "Blissfully ignorant: the effects of general privacy concerns, general institutional trust, and affect in the privacy calculus." Information Systems Journal 25, no. 6 (2015): 607-635.
(4) Van der Vlist, Fernando N., and Anne Helmond. "How partners mediate platform power: Mapping business and data partnerships in the social media ecosystem." Big Data & Society 8, no. 1 (2021): 20539517211025061.
(5) Reynolds, Samantha, and Noah Bennett. "Dynamic Insights: Qualitative Explorations Across Diverse Sectors in the Evolving Socioeconomic Landscape." (2024).
(6) Palinkas, Lawrence A., Sarah M. Horwitz, Carla A. Green, Jennifer P. Wisdom, Naihua Duan, and Kimberly Hoagwood. "Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research." Administration and policy in mental health and mental health services research 42 (2015): 533-544.
(7) Thompson, Jamie. "A guide to abductive thematic analysis." (2022
(8) Peel, Karen L. "A beginner's guide to applied educational research using thematic analysis." Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation 25, no. 1 (2020): 2.
[(9) Enria, ]()Luisa, Naomi Waterlow, Nina Trivedy Rogers, Hannah Brindle, Sham Lal, Rosalind M. Eggo, Shelley Lees, and Chrissy H. Roberts. "Trust and transparency in times of crisis: Results from an online survey during the first wave (April 2020) of the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK." PloS one 16, no. 2 (2021): e0239247.
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(11) Z. Rózsa, L. Ferenčáková, D. Zámek, and J. Firstová, “Generation Z’s perception of privacy on social media: Examining the impact of personalized advertising, interpersonal relationships, reference group dynamics, social isolation, and anxiety on self-disclosure willingness,” oc, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 229–266, Mar. 2024, doi: 10.24136/oc.2956.
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Appendix

Figure1: The conceptual model of extended privacy calculus

It's not obvious what software allows turning off the special effect -- the one for speeding up a podcast and preventing the voice from sounding like helium was inhaled. Here's how to turn off that effect for smooth audio when using slower speeds, otherwise it will have a choppy sound.
As stated in the title, VLC works on many different systems, so I think it's the best candidate for this musical change. It's not obvious how to change the settings, and it's different on laptop or mobile tablet so here's how to do it on the two interface.

desktop / laptap settings

Tool preference audio tab, effect group
clear time-stretch save restart VLC
To keep selected speed between song skips, VLC already does this on desktop, but on mobile, it's a separate setting for audio and video each.
To change speed, play music, right click blank area or use menu at top. Playback > speed.
slow/fast makes a 33% change. Using that once, and using faster (fine) 10% changes, you can access 66 76 etc
slower twice, goes to 33% speed, faster (fine) can get you to 63 73 etc. Not great, but it's there, hope this gets updated in v4

Mobile apple android playback speed

First change the setting mentioned above:
more tab at bottom, setting at top left.
Advanced group.
clear time-stretch
No restart needed.
Also if you want the speed to be kept between skips and app restarts:
setting / audio:
save playback speed
To access playback speed on mobile:
Play music, tap bar at bottom, and there will be a menu at top right. It also has equalizer and some other options.
__

Nitpicks with the slider, there are a few:

Slider dragging sticks until a large change is made, audio pauses / skips when doing so

Range is ridiculou, nobody want to listen to music at double triple quad speed

the two settings I had to explain how to find and set should be listed clearly on the speed bar instead, makes the most logical sense

changing speed in a web page using open-source firefox web browser, works on all websites

Global speed addon works great, but I don't understand most of the settings, so I hope that gets fixed. Like why are there multiple seek options, and multiple speed options that both have a + next to them? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Make sure to turn on allow pitch shift.
Honorable mention to addon ScrewMyCode . in
I hope that gets updated to work as this one does, just to have multiple options.

For the past 10+ years I have had this vague idea/thoughts of a dystopian/fantasy type of world that I would think about often. It’s never been anything besides my imagination running wild for all of this time.
I have always been an avid reader of books such as Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and a lot of fantasy novels, etc.
Less than a week ago I had a dream. The following night I had another dream.
By the end of both dreams I have a story to tell. I have a dystopian/fantasy world, main characters, the journey from start to finish and all of the stops along the way, a plot, plot twists, the dramatic ending of the first book, the beginning and end of the following books, I have the good guys, I have the bad guys, I have the dialogue along the journey, I have the history of the whole dystopian/fantasy world, and much more.
But where do I start? I know physically on the map where the journey starts. I know the characters to start with. But how do I physically start as someone who has never seriously written besides in school?
I reactivated this app just to ask this question to this specific community. My mind is telling me to put a bunch of blank paper on the wall and draw my map and write out everything that I know and want to tell. But how do I actually start?
How did JK Rowling actually start? Suzanne Collins started with Katniss in her bed in District 9 but how did she actually start? All of my favorite fantasy authors all start a little bit different and uniquely but how do they actually start?
Do I create the whole world first? Or do I create the first sentence first? The first paragraph? The first page? The first chapter?
Any and all thoughts/opinions/advice are welcomed.
All of my thoughts have been consumed by this story for almost a week straight and I still don’t know how to physically start and it’s driving me insane!

For the past 10+ years I have had this vague idea/thoughts of a dystopian/fantasy type of world that I would think about often. It’s never been anything besides my imagination running wild for all of this time.
I have always been an avid reader of books such as Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and a lot of fantasy novels, etc.
Less than a week ago I had a dream. The following night I had another dream.
By the end of both dreams I have a story to tell. I have a dystopian/fantasy world, main characters, the journey from start to finish and all of the stops along the way, a plot, plot twists, the dramatic ending of the first book, the beginning and end of the following books, I have the good guys, I have the bad guys, I have the dialogue along the journey, I have the history of the whole dystopian/fantasy world, and much more.
But where do I start? I know physically on the map where the journey starts. I know the characters to start with. But how do I physically start as someone who has never seriously written besides in school?
I reactivated this app just to ask this question to this specific community. My mind is telling me to put a bunch of blank paper on the wall and draw my map and write out everything that I know and want to tell. But how do I actually start?
How did JK Rowling actually start? Suzanne Collins started with Katniss in her bed in District 9 but how did she actually start? All of my favorite fantasy authors all start a little bit different and uniquely but how do they actually start?
Do I create the whole world first? Or do I create the first sentence first? The first paragraph? The first page? The first chapter?
Any and all thoughts/opinions/advice are welcomed.
All of my thoughts have been consumed by this story for almost a week straight and I still don’t know how to physically start and it’s driving me insane!

This is a collection of responses from the competitiveoverwatch AMA from developers u/Blizz_Alec , u/Blizz_JNoh , u/Blizz_Hudson , and u/Blizz_Jodie . Thank you for your information!
Edit: Link to the original competitiveoverwatch thread
Alec answering question from North-Blueberry-7710 about testing in Mirrorwatch

No secret testing of anything upcoming in the immediate! We do look at how some changes play out though when they become more real and get lots of games, I think the Bastion Ultimate in particular was quite fun even if very loud and on the border technically. Reinhardt's Frenzy passive was also something we played around with internally but it was quite hard to communicate effectively. It's always good to see what players get excited about when there are more wacky ideas such as Mirrorwatch or April Fool's, some of those could become real down the line.

Alec answering question from swamp_god about Cassidy and Reaper changes

The two upcoming updates that were mentioned were for Cassidy and Reaper.
For Cassidy, we started some exploration pre-Season 9 for his update. Due to where he was at that time, this update was originally looking at multiple pieces of his kit but we saw the Season 9 changes largely benefit him so the update has gotten more focused on Magnetic Grenade and other Quality of Life updates (specifically to his Ultimate). In Season 11 we are updating Magnetic Grenade. It will behave closer to old Flashbang (no magnetic homing to the target, used in the short range) and will slow/hinder the target. We think that plays a lot better with his kit and removes some of the larger frustrations around Magnetic Grenade. More specifics on all that soon.
For Reaper, we went fairly wide as well in the beginning and then started to focus closely on updating Shadow Step. At the moment, we have something we quite like but it's actually a large technical challenge and we are in the process of planning out the work/seeing what's possible. In the meantime, we may buff Reaper in some non-Tank Buster ways as he lost a lot in the most recent update.

Jnoh answering question from Headedbigfoot8 about the hardest hero to balance in each role

Probably Sombra due to permanent invisibility restricting how deadly we can make her but also because she is a hero that excels with strong team coordination.
There are a handful of other heroes with performance stats that differ greatly from the broader community perception of them and that can create difficulty in how we approach balancing them as well.

Hudson answering question from walter_2010 about average playtester rank

A huge part of our team culture revolves around playtesting. From Designers, to QA and community management, everyone has the opportunity to play what we're working on and give open honest feedback. One of the advantages of this model is we get perspective from a wide range of player ranks from GM 1 to Bronze 5. It's been a while since we've taken an official poll on average rank, but having a wide sample helps prevent tunnel visioning on feedback from specific ranks.

Alec answering question from O2M about lack of patch consistency and Symmetra

1. ⁠We should do a better job about this, especially when it comes to getting the community's visibility on what we are seeing vs. what the playerbase may seem to think is the best hero at any given one time. These can differ regularly as certain heroes get power reputations (weaker or stronger than their reality at a given rank) that are hard to shake off. Thanks for the feedback there, will make sure we have something here even if it's a simple change.
2. Symmetra kept some of the buffs in that patch but yes we hear the feedback of where her current power level is. We may have been a bit overreactive to the Mauga compositions popping up during that timeframe (he was certainly overtuned), but we wanted to be sure of it. For right now, we are in discussions about Symmetra and especially her frontline presence. Believe that's a piece of the kit we'd like to promote further, whether through her survivability or beam damage.

Alec/Gavin answering question from Thee_Archivist about the removed smurf detection from MMR going from QP to comp

I tapped in our own Gavin Winter for this first part, he's what he had to say: "There haven't been any changes to these systems, but there are edge cases like the example of Guxue that was recently posted in this subreddit where our systems don't perform in the way we'd like. Most players will still be placed appropriately as they transition from Quick Play to Competitive Play, but unfortunately cases like this have always been possible. Explaining exactly how this happens would make it easier reproduce, so you'll have to excuse me from not going into intricate detail here."
For the second part of your question, we believe we made it slightly too difficult to climb at the highest ranks and are looking at making some adjustments soon.

Jnoh answering question from Owlcharts about making win and pick rates public (this one hurts).

There aren't any plans currently to shift resources toward supporting something like that. Sites like Overbuff don't have the complete picture, but the data there for win rates and such is generally fairly close.
There is some argument against being too transparent with those stats in that it can create a bit of a feedback loop where you might see player behavior driven by what appears to be the meta in the stats, but that kind of happens already with just the general discussion and sentiment around heroes without stats as well.
Our target range for hero viability by win rate is between 45-55% unmirrored win rate at Masters rank and above. Those individual win rates often can fluctuate 2-3% by day, mostly because heroes tend to have a wider range of win rates per map and we're looking at the global average of those, but also individual player performance isn't consistent.
Lower pick rate heroes fluctuate more and there is less confidence in their win rate being indicative of actual strength. Extremely high pick rate heroes have a similar problem when looking unmirrored stats.
In the end stats require interpretation to understand their context and that is why they are not the only basis for balance changes, but are a useful tool to measure impact of changes patch-over-patch.

Alec answering question from AccurateMeminnn about the reworks to Roadhog and WB

For the most part, we are relatively happy with the new bases both have been given but there is still some fine-tuning to be done.
I'll start with Wrecking Ball. Our goals were to give him more flexibility with his movement/engage options, heighten the benefits he gives to his team, and give him some quality of life updates. I think our changes all attempt to address those goals but one I think we can hit harder in the future is heightening the benefits he gives to his team. We were a little conservative with the Adaptive Shields change (overhealth is hyper scary in coordinated environments), so perhaps there's room for that to be more pronounced through tuning and actual feedback received in game (working on some updates there). Overall though, Wrecking Ball is doing much better after his recent updates and we believe we have a great base to work with going forward.
For Roadhog, aside from the conversations about his current survivability (we plan to hit that soon) there are some things for us to look at concerning the frequency of his combo. For example, his Pig Pen begins to go on cooldown when you throw it. So you can pre-place one, it gets destroyed, and then Roadhog already has it ready again (even though the enemy may think there's a window where Hook is less deadly). That's one discussion we've recently had. Still some work here for us to do in terms of the value Pig Pen brings outside of the combo as well and how we can make those windows of combo potential less frequent.

Jnoh answering question from Arrge about Hanzo post season 9, specifically about the one shot

Hanzo is still an effective mid-range burst damage hero even without the one-shot kills. Post season 9 with the projectile size changes actually saw an increase in Hanzo's performance on the stat side. I do hear you on the loss of how good the one shot kills felt, but an overarching goal of season 9 was to reduce a lot of those burst damage frustrations for players on the receiving end of it. Armor changes in season 10 have also been a benefit to his damage.
Still very early but we've been experimenting with adjusting health pools for some of the more evasive or high damage heroes which would also put them back into the range of lethal Hanzo headshots and some other hero combos at 225 HP, but while it would bring some interesting texture to hero interactions overall there are also a bunch of other problems to solve if we want to go through with it.

Alec answering question rom idrkbrotbh about Hog's survivability.

Yes, we plan on nerfing his survivability very soon. We are touching Take a Breather and Whole Hog in an upcoming patch. Hoping that can go live tomorrow.

Alec answering question from Heropon4Hyrule_010 about the difference in pick rates from before the midseason patch (major tank buffs) and after

Some of this is related to meta happenings or balance changes but also related to armor changes/headshot reduction for Tanks. From what we can see the biggest winners (in terms of their performance delta) of the patch are: Ana, Junkrat, Pharah, Roadhog, Sigma, Wrecking Ball, and Zarya.
Many heroes stayed relatively similar while a handful saw a decrease in performance (Bastion, D.Va, Mauga, Orisa, and Reaper).

Alec answering questions uestion from Mefionir-Omnic about Quick Play Hacked changes and Clash mode

These fall outside of hero design but can talk briefly about the first two questions

1. ⁠Think you are referencing the speed boosts that would potentially come to Flashpoint. Took us some time to get these in a good place but they have been promising in playtests and are on track for a later season. It's important to us that when we add elements like that to a mode that it not only brings quality gameplay but is also communicated well through Sound and VFX. Feel good here now.
2. ⁠We got a lot of great feedback but there are some things the team wished we did better with the Clash Preview. Firstly, it should have showed up more in Quick Play so y'all got more reps on it and can get a better feel for the flow of the game mode. Secondly, we don't think it was best suited for Open Queue in Arcade. If we do something like this again, we'll clean that up. With the feedback we received, we've been investigating how to make the final point more appealing to capture for the attacking team. Many games could result in the attacking team not actually wanting to push onto the last point because it wasn't worth the reward (harder to capture, give up a lot of positioning if you lose). Plenty of iteration happening here now to address that particular issue.

Alec answering question from Mabangyan about Roadhog and Lifeweaver

Answered the Roadhog question in a different place, but yes changes coming soon.
For Lifeweaver, one of the discussions we are having right now (actually this week) and have been having for a while is around the friction that comes with switching between his healing and damage. Giving him more flexibility here would be a great boon to his capability within team fights. Additionally, we've experimented a lot with his Petal Platform. Personally would love for that to be a more attractive area to stand on as a teammate (whether that be through a buff the platform gives you or something else) but there's a lot of learned behavior to work through as allies hop off the platform quite often.

JNoh answering question from Scared_Funny_1865 about tank counterswapping

At its core, Overwatch is a game designed around being able to swap heroes to gain a tactical advantage or help solve a challenge you might be encountering. This contributes to keeping the moment-to-moment gameplay experience dynamic, drives hero diversity and offers a wider range of both strategic gameplay and skill expression in learning when/where/how to play multiple heroes.
There is a question of how much of an advantage is too much compared to the cost of switching. Ideally we want counters to be clear and understandable, but soft enough that it's still possible to outplay a disadvantaged matchup. It is a team game though and 1v1 matchups are not the highest priority when assessing the heroes.
Tanks do feel this the most with only one of them per team in 5v5 role queue, but all roles do experience the pressure to counter and be countered to an extent.
We're striving to find a balance between swapping heroes every death, (which certainly feels too often), and rarely swapping heroes or getting trapped in mirror matches every game, which quickly leads to fatigue. We've seen a lot of improvements here compared to earlier seasons, but it could always be better.
"Unhealthy" and unpopular designs are not necessarily the same thing. When designing heroes, we aim to provide a wide range of playstyles, mechanics, and aesthetics for players to enjoy. It's okay if they don't all resonate with everyone broadly. We'll do our best to make the game as fun as it can be for a wide audience.

Alec answerinf question from Skiesti about Mercy's lack of changes since the 20% DPaSsive revert, as well as general performance since season 9 (this answer is super tone deaf being real).

1. ⁠I think we are more happy in the 20% DPS Passive world than the 15% (it cuts through a lot better, helps mitigate the healing more effectively) so Mercy is more worth a look when that world is permanent. There are some questions of how far we can push her movement and know that is one of the most requested changes.
2. ⁠Mercy is still a top-picked 3/4 Support and even higher on console until you hit GM/Top 500. Her performance follows a similar trend, where she's in the top grouping for most ranks and remains above average at the highest ranks. Doesn't mean that she wont receive changes but that is where she is at currently.

News

• Team BananaH wins Banshee Cup #2! BananaH, fancypants, itrax, JeanLassalle, and JohannAYAYA defeated Team Sven 4-2 in the Grand Final.
• Sign-ups are open for the first qualifier of Khaldor's new Hanzo Genji Cup - NA servers, normal draft rules, $1000 prize pool. More details in the Sign-ups open section below.
• Sign-ups are also open for the fifth season of the Nexomania Development League, an NA league focused on providing coaching for Bronze to Gold players looking to improve. More details in the Sign-ups open section below.
• Zuna, former Heroes pro player for Tempo Storm, passed away on the morning of May 20th (reddit)

Sign-ups open

Hanzo Genji Cup (NA)

• Hanzo Genji Cup is a new tournament played on NA servers organized by Khaldor. Matches will be played with standard draft rules.
• Prize pool: $1000.
• Two qualifier tournaments will be played on May 25th and June 8th, with top two teams qualifying from each. Teams that failed to qualify from the two qualifiers will play for the last two spots in the last chance qualifier on June 9th.
• The main tournament will be played on three weekends starting on June16th with the finals on June 30th.
• Click here to register for the first qualifier or here to join Khaldor's Discord server for more details.

Nexomania Development League (NA)

• Nexomania Development League is an NA league organized by Can't Counterpick Stupid, now starting its fifth season.
• The event is tailored for Bronze, Silver, and Gold players, and aims to provide coaching and ideas for improvement.
• Sign-ups are open until June 1st. Matches will be played on three Tuesdays: June 4th, 11th, 18th, in two timeslots.
• Click here to join the CCS Discord server for more details and registration.

Results

Banshee Cup #2 - playoffs (Probuilds)
VODs: YouTube playlist

1. Team BananaH - BananaH, fancypants, itrax, JeanLassalle, JohannAYAYA
2. Team Sven (2-4 vs. Team BananaH) - Aether, aryon70, captenrex, Nano, Sven
3. Team HlopakA (1-3 vs. Team BananaH) - Hiraeth, HlopakA, HunterOrc, Miriale, Parnax
4. Team Ultralisk (1-3 vs. Team HlopakA)
5. Team Daykwaza (1-3 vs. Team HlopakA in the group stage) & Team Dynouh (2-3 vs. Team Ultralisk in the group stage)
6. -
7. Team Jia (1-3 vs. Team Daykwaza in the group stage) & Team Mascarade (2-3 vs. Team Dynouh in the group stage)

Schedule

For an always up-to-date calendar of Heroes esports matches and events, check the calendar in the subreddit's sidebar. You can also subscribe to that calendar by following this guide. There's also a calendar on Liquipedia's front page.
May 25 (Saturday) - 9:00 PDT 12:00 EDT 16:00 UTC 18:00 CEST 2:00 AEST

• Hanzo Genji Cup - qualifier #1
• Stream Bracket Liquipedia

Amateur league stream schedules:

• Heroes Lounge (EU)
• Nexus Gaming Series (NA)

Resources

• Liquipedia
• Esports on Heroes Profile
• Raven Court
• Probuilds

Hello all
I'm a backend web developer (in java and related technologies), currently located in the Netherlands. I have work permit in the NL due to spouse's visa. Although I have been giving interviews locally, I haven't secured a job and it is only getting tougher as days pass by, creating a bigger career gap.

1. I would like to explore remote opportunities too. Could you let me know some pointers with respect to where(probably LinkedIn, indeed, monster etc only ?) and how I can apply for the same ?
2. I am not getting calls by applying on the job seeking websites like LinkedIn, indeed, monster etc. I haven't had much luck in (friends or ex-colleague) referrals either. I would like to know if there are any recruiting companies which match talent with job opportunities ? (just to get that first round of interview)
3. Meanwhile may I know if you have any tried and tested ways in which you were able to utilise this career gap period and secure a software job ? Would love to learn from your experiences. (in my case its going to be 2 years of gap very soon)

All information containing suggestions/pointers/reference points/recommendations with respect to the above topic is greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Q: It’s not related to S10 balance changes but I’m gonna ask anyway. Were we secretly testing any new upcoming heroes with the Mirrorwatch event?
Blizz_Alec: No secret testing of anything upcoming in the immediate! We do look at how some changes play out though when they become more real and get lots of games, I think the Bastion Ultimate in particular was quite fun even if very loud and on the border technically. Reinhardt's Frenzy passive was also something we played around with internally but it was quite hard to communicate effectively. It's always good to see what players get excited about when there are more wacky ideas such as Mirrorwatch or April Fool's, some of those could become real down the line.
Q: Who is the hardest character to balance and tweak out of the three roles?
Blizz_JNoh: Probably Sombra due to permanent invisibility restricting how deadly we can make her but also because she is a hero that excels with strong team coordination. There are a handful of other heroes with performance stats that differ greatly from the broader community perception of them and that can create difficulty in how we approach balancing them as well.
Q: I know you guys mentioned two upcoming DPS hero reworks. Is there any news about how those reworks are progressing, who they'll be for (I think people have a pretty decent idea, but official confirmation would be nice), and/or when they might be arriving? Also, are there any other heroes under consideration for potential reworks?
Blizz_Alec: The two upcoming updates that were mentioned were for Cassidy and Reaper.
For Cassidy, we started some exploration pre-Season 9 for his update. Due to where he was at that time, this update was originally looking at multiple pieces of his kit but we saw the Season 9 changes largely benefit him so the update has gotten more focused on Magnetic Grenade and other Quality of Life updates (specifically to his Ultimate). In Season 11 we are updating Magnetic Grenade. It will behave closer to old Flashbang (no magnetic homing to the target, used in the short range) and will slow/hinder the target. We think that plays a lot better with his kit and removes some of the larger frustrations around Magnetic Grenade. More specifics on all that soon.
For Reaper, we went fairly wide as well in the beginning and then started to focus closely on updating Shadow Step. At the moment, we have something we quite like but it's actually a large technical challenge and we are in the process of planning out the work/seeing what's possible. In the meantime, we may buff Reaper in some non-Tank Buster ways as he lost a lot in the most recent update.
Q: What is the average rank of your play testers and what level of input do they have in deciding what changes are made in each balance patch?
Blizz_Hudson: A huge part of our team culture revolves around playtesting. From Designers, to QA and community management, everyone has the opportunity to play what we're working on and give open honest feedback. One of the advantages of this model is we get perspective from a wide range of player ranks from GM 1 to Bronze 5. It's been a while since we've taken an official poll on average rank, but having a wide sample helps prevent tunnel visioning on feedback from specific ranks.
Q: 2 part question here: Why the inconsistency with dev comments/explanations for balance changes? There have been many changes that have been questionable (biggest offender was buffing Sojourn in January when she was widely considered the best DPS) that were shipped with 0 explanation. Justifying these changes would help a lot with player perception so we could understand these discrepancies. I have to ask - what is going on with Symmetra? She was weak, then buffed, then immediately reverted, now silence. Is she getting reworked? What data shows she needed a nerf? She is super weak and hard to use on ladder (uncoordinated environment by nature) and was only played in OWCS for Mauga - shouldn't nerfing Mauga have been enough?
Blizz_Alec: We should do a better job about this, especially when it comes to getting the community's visibility on what we are seeing vs. what the playerbase may seem to think is the best hero at any given one time. These can differ regularly as certain heroes get power reputations (weaker or stronger than their reality at a given rank) that are hard to shake off. Thanks for the feedback there, will make sure we have something here even if it's a simple change.
Symmetra kept some of the buffs in that patch but yes we hear the feedback of where her current power level is. We may have been a bit overreactive to the Mauga compositions popping up during that timeframe (he was certainly overtuned), but we wanted to be sure of it. For right now, we are in discussions about Symmetra and especially her frontline presence. Believe that's a piece of the kit we'd like to promote further, whether through her survivability or beam damage.
Q: Why was smurf detection essentially removed from MMR adjustment, especially for new accounts? GM-level players taking 60+ games to reach their proper rank ruins so many more games. It feels like climbing in general is artificially slowed down so people will play more even if they should have reached a higher rank many games ago.
Blizz_Alec: I tapped in our own Gavin Winter for this first part, he's what he had to say: "There haven't been any changes to these systems, but there are edge cases like the example of Guxue that was recently posted in this subreddit where our systems don't perform in the way we'd like. Most players will still be placed appropriately as they transition from Quick Play to Competitive Play, but unfortunately cases like this have always been possible. Explaining exactly how this happens would make it easier to reproduce, so you'll have to excuse me from not going into intricate detail here."
For the second part of your question, we believe we made it slightly too difficult to climb at the highest ranks and are looking at making some adjustments soon.
Q: Will you ever make pick rates and win rates public, even a couple of weeks after the fact? I feel like it would do a lot to help people understand why changes are made. Is there a win rate range you want to keep all heroes to stay within?
Blizz_JNoh: There aren't any plans currently to shift resources toward supporting something like that. Sites like Overbuff don't have the complete picture, but the data there for win rates and such is generally fairly close.
There is some argument against being too transparent with those stats in that it can create a bit of a feedback loop where you might see player behavior driven by what appears to be the meta in the stats, but that kind of happens already with just the general discussion and sentiment around heroes without stats as well.
Our target range for hero viability by win rate is between 45-55% unmirrored win rate at Masters rank and above. Those individual win rates often can fluctuate 2-3% by day, mostly because heroes tend to have a wider range of win rates per map and we're looking at the global average of those, but also individual player performance isn't consistent.
Lower pick rate heroes fluctuate more and there is less confidence in their win rate being indicative of actual strength. Extremely high pick rate heroes have a similar problem when looking at unmirrored stats.
In the end, stats require interpretation to understand their context and that is why they are not the only basis for balance changes but are a useful tool to measure the impact of changes patch-over-patch.
Q: What is Hanzo's new job? Is he supposed to take over Pharah's place as the new go-to permanently pocketed hero? To explain more in depth: Hanzo used to be a sniper, but the recent changes caused most heroes to require 1 extra shot to eliminate a target. Considering Hanzo is the slowest shooting primary fire focused DPS, he was impacted the most. Making him the only primary fire focused DPS who relies on cooldowns to finish off targets due to the very long time to kill: Assuming full charging the arrows (to be able to hit targets past melee range): 3 bodyshots = ~2.5 seconds TTK (~3.25 seconds if bow not preloaded) Or best case scenario: 1 headshot + 1 bodyshot = ~1.25 seconds TTK (~2 seconds if bow was not preloaded) Compared to for example Cassidy: 4 bodyshots = 1.5 seconds TTK Or best case scenario: 2 headshots = ~0.5 seconds TTK Hanzo's only advantage here is that he deals full damage past 35 meters, but trying to hit someone 2-3 times in a row even at 35 meters is next to impossible (considering physical cover + the long time to kill + projectile travel time) At the same time Mercy pocketed Hanzo can still one shot, with the added benefit of now having a 2x bigger arrow hitbox (and buffed storm arrows).
Blizz_JNoh: Hanzo is still an effective mid-range burst damage hero even without the one-shot kills. Post season 9 with the projectile size changes actually saw an increase in Hanzo's performance on the stat side. I do hear you on the loss of how good the one shot kills felt, but an overarching goal of season 9 was to reduce a lot of those burst damage frustrations for players on the receiving end of it. Armor changes in season 10 have also been a benefit to his damage. Still very early but we've been experimenting with adjusting health pools for some of the more evasive or high damage heroes which would also put them back into the range of lethal Hanzo headshots and some other hero combos at 225 HP, but while it would bring some interesting texture to hero interactions overall there are also a bunch of other problems to solve if we want to go through with it.
Q: A month later, and considering he's displayed proudly on the Twitter post for the AMA, I got my question: How have you guys felt about the past reworks on Roadhog and the new one, Wrecking Ball? Like what the goals were exactly, your personal thoughts, the community response, and what you want to fine-tune with them post rework. Those things. I think most people would be interested on how you guys have felt now that it's been a bit.
Blizz_Alec: For the most part, we are relatively happy with the new bases both have been given but there is still some fine-tuning to be done.
I'll start with Wrecking Ball. Our goals were to give him more flexibility with his movement/engage options, heighten the benefits he gives to his team, and give him some quality of life updates. I think our changes all attempt to address those goals but one I think we can hit harder in the future is heightening the benefits he gives to his team. We were a little conservative with the Adaptive Shields change (overhealth is hyper scary in coordinated environments), so perhaps there's room for that to be more pronounced through tuning and actual feedback received in game (working on some updates there). Overall though, Wrecking Ball is doing much better after his recent updates and we believe we have a great base to work with going forward.
For Roadhog, aside from the conversations about his current survivability (we plan to hit that soon) there are some things for us to look at concerning the frequency of his combo. For example, his Pig Pen begins to go on cooldown when you throw it. So you can pre-place one, it gets destroyed, and then Roadhog already has it ready again (even though the enemy may think there's a window where Hook is less deadly). That's one discussion we've recently had. Still some work here for us to do in terms of the value Pig Pen brings outside of the combo as well and how we can make those windows of combo potential less frequent.
Q: Are there any nerfs being discussed for Hog, specifically his survivability? Times where multiple people are shooting a Hog and he just walks away while using his breather seemingly gaining more health than losing health makes the damage you’re doing to him feel pointless and is very unfun to play against, especially now that headshots do less damage to him.
Blizz_Alec: Yes, we plan on nerfing his survivability very soon. We are touching Take a Breather and Whole Hog in an upcoming patch. Hoping that can go live tomorrow.
Q: Hello, with the major tank changes (e.g. armor changes, knockback changes, headshot change, and individual balance changes) that released last week, I am very curious: have there been any noticeable, immediate shifts in the win rates and pick rates amongst tanks? Has there been any collateral shifts within the DPS and support role because of the recent tank changes? I know that, for instance, after the recent armor changes, some heroes have become weaker against armored tanks (i.e. Tracer and Reaper) while others have become significantly stronger (i.e. Cass and Hanzo). I'm interested in knowing how the team's behind-the-scenes statistics have measured lately as a result of the recent tank changes—that is, if it is possible for you guys to share it. If not, understandable.
Blizz_Alec: Some of this is related to meta happenings or balance changes but also related to armor changes/headshot reduction for Tanks. From what we can see the biggest winners (in terms of their performance delta) of the patch are: Ana, Junkrat, Pharah, Roadhog, Sigma, Wrecking Ball, and Zarya.
Many heroes stayed relatively similar while a handful saw a decrease in performance (Bastion, D.Va, Mauga, Orisa, and Reaper).
Q: Ok, I'll try to ask some general questions. Free to choose which one to answer: ^_" In February I noticed that you had received great feedback on the maps after the first hacked mode. But I was wondering when those ideas would be implemented (especially for flashpoints). Personally, I liked Clash Mode. But I also wanted to know what kind of results you received that require modification in your opinion, or if you have noticed any optimal results to maintain, or imitate for other game modes.
Blizz_Alec: These fall outside of hero design but can talk briefly about the first two questions.
Think you are referencing the speed boosts that would potentially come to Flashpoint. Took us some time to get these in a good place but they have been promising in playtests and are on track for a later season. It's important to us that when we add elements like that to a mode that it not only brings quality gameplay but is also communicated well through Sound and VFX. Feel good here now.
We got a lot of great feedback but there are some things the team wished we did better with the Clash Preview. Firstly, it should have showed up more in Quick Play so y'all got more reps on it and can get a better feel for the flow of the game mode. Secondly, we don't think it was best suited for Open Queue in Arcade. If we do something like this again, we'll clean that up. With the feedback we received, we've been investigating how to make the final point more appealing to capture for the attacking team. Many games could result in the attacking team not actually wanting to push onto the last point because it wasn't worth the reward (harder to capture, give up a lot of positioning if you lose). Plenty of iteration happening here now to address that particular issue.
Q: Hi there, I think one of the most obvious questions people here will have is what are the plans to balance out Roadhog. With the midseason tank adjustments I’m sure the general sentiment is that Hog is an outlier for survivability and damage amongst the tanks, especially since Orisa isn’t there to keep him in check now. The headshot damage reduction and his soft rework from before means his survivability is through the roof, and his damage is as high as ever. What are the plans to reign him back in? I will also personally say I don’t think the solution is to buff Orisa, rather nerf Hog to keep him in line. Aside from Hog I think the tank balance is pretty great right now otherwise. Also is there going to be something done about the overbearing passiveness of heroes like LW, that will simultaneously not interact with the enemy team at all whilst also not providing any offensive utility for his own team? I think for all other 9 players in the lobby it’s a pretty miserable experience to have a LW. Thanks for your time.
Blizz_Alec: Answered the Roadhog question in a different place, but yes changes coming soon.
For Lifeweaver, one of the discussions we are having right now (actually this week) and have been having for a while is around the friction that comes with switching between his healing and damage. Giving him more flexibility here would be a great boon to his capability within team fights. Additionally, we've experimented a lot with his Petal Platform. Personally would love for that to be a more attractive area to stand on as a teammate (whether that be through a buff the platform gives you or something else) but there's a lot of learned behavior to work through as allies hop off the platform quite often.
Q: Hey! I have 2 Mercy questions:
1. Is the team looking at Mercy at all for any changes/small buffs? 2. What is Mercy's pick and win rate now compared to Season 3?
Back in Mid Season 9, the DPS passive was reduced and a dev blog stated Mercy wouldn't see changes as she should 'be more reliable moving forward' with the reduction. That nerf was reverted and Mercy stayed the same.
The community has been ranking Mercy as a D Tier support for a few Seasons now and she's in this weird spot where people don't like playing against her, with her, or as her anymore. I and many others still enjoy her most out of all the other heroes but she doesn't play nearly as fun as she used to after the changes that've been made to her (mainly nerfs) and the game over the last year. Thanks!
Blizz_Alec: 1. I think we are more happy in the 20% DPS Passive world than the 15% (it cuts through a lot better, helps mitigate the healing more effectively) so Mercy is more worth a look when that world is permanent. There are some questions of how far we can push her movement and know that is one of the most requested changes.

1. Mercy is still a top-picked 3/4 Support and even higher on console until you hit GM/Top 500. Her performance follows a similar trend, where she's in the top grouping for most ranks and remains above average at the highest ranks. Doesn't mean that she wont receive changes but that is where she is at currently.

Q:I'm not really sure how I am supposed to ask this, but?,
Is the current Balance Team confident about being able to dix the biggest problems the Tank role has been suffering since the OW2 release?
I'm specifically talking about the Counterswap Meta and unhealthy Tank designs being "allowed" to exist, like Tank busters and unkillable tanks (Roadhog, Mauga, and Orisa).
Are we confident that making Tanks able to do almost everything is the right thing to do? Are we confident that we can make Tank fun again for the majority of the player base without straight buffs?
The headshot reduction and knockback reduction changes are especially interesting to me because I really don't think that simple number changes will fix how Tanks feel to play.
I don't want to counterswap. I don't want to face unkillable and easy-to-play Tanks.I don't want Tank Busters.
I really LOVE this game but it currently feels like as if we were going into the wrong direction while ignoring the BIGGEST Problems :c
Blizz_jNoh: At its core, Overwatch is a game designed around being able to swap heroes to gain a tactical advantage or help solve a challenge you might be encountering. This contributes to keeping the moment-to-moment gameplay experience dynamic, drives hero diversity and offers a wider range of both strategic gameplay and skill expression in learning when/where/how to play multiple heroes.
There is a question of how much of an advantage is too much compared to the cost of switching. Ideally we want counters to be clear and understandable, but soft enough that it's still possible to outplay a disadvantaged matchup. It is a team game though and 1v1 matchups are not the highest priority when assessing the heroes.
Tanks do feel this the most with only one of them per team in 5v5 role queue, but all roles do experience the pressure to counter and be countered to an extent.
We're striving to find a balance between swapping heroes every death, (which certainly feels too often), and rarely swapping heroes or getting trapped in mirror matches every game, which quickly leads to fatigue. We've seen a lot of improvements here compared to earlier seasons, but it could always be better.
"Unhealthy" and unpopular designs are not necessarily the same thing. When designing heroes, we aim to provide a wide range of playstyles, mechanics, and aesthetics for players to enjoy. It's okay if they don't all resonate with everyone broadly. We'll do our best to make the game as fun as it can be for a wide audience.

There have been big changes in how we look for information. No longer do we use big desktop computers; now smartphones are the best. The rise of mobile devices has caused big changes in how search engines, especially Google, work. Now we have mobile-first indexing and optimization.
This change shows that users are acting differently now. Statista says that in 2023, more than 63% of all web traffic will come from mobile devices. That means one search is happening on a phone for every two searches that happen. Because so many people are moving to mobile devices, search engines need to give mobile-friendly websites more weight. mobile-first indexing and optimization make sure that search results are appropriate and easy to use on any device.

What does “Mobile-First Indexing and Optimization” mean?

Simply put, mobile-first indexing and optimization means that Google gives more weight to the mobile version of your site when it stores information about it and decides how to rank it in search results. Google used the PC version as the main source in the past. This change is in line with how people use the internet: on their phones!

Why is mobile-first indexing and optimization important?

Think of your website as the front door to your online store. Potential buyers will just walk away (or, in this case, tap away) if it’s crowded, slow, or hard to use on a phone. Mobile-first indexing and optimization make sure that mobile users have a smooth experience on your website, which is important for your general success and search ranking.

How to Get Good at Mobile First-Indexing and Optimizing

Here are some important things you can do to win in the mobile-first indexing and optimization world:

Your best friend is responsive design:

This magic ingredient makes sure that your website’s layout and content change instantly to fit any screen size, from a big computer screen to a tiny phone. Your guests will no longer have to zoom in and out and scroll back and forth.

Mobile users don’t like to wait, so speed is king (and queen).

People will quickly leave your site if it takes too long to load. Just say “mobile-first indexing and optimization.” For a fast experience, make sure pictures are optimized and code is kept to a minimum. You might also want to use a content delivery network (CDN).

Equal content is important:

Visitors on their phones shouldn’t be left out in the cold. Make sure that your mobile site has the same information as your desktop site. Text, pictures, and calls to action are all part of this.

Get to know the Mobile-Friendly Test:

Google provides a free Mobile-Friendly Test tool at https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide that checks your website and tells you what needs to be fixed. To keep your mobile game up to date, run this test often.

Think Big, But Keep It Simple:

Mobile screens are small, so don’t put too much text on them. Break up long lines, use clear, concise language, and put the most important information at the top of the list. Use bullet points!

Pictures that Shine:

Not every picture is the same. Make sure your pictures are the right size and style for mobile devices. This makes sure that your page loads quickly and pictures don’t get blurry.

Finger-Friendly Navigation:

On a phone, tiny buttons and complicated options are a pain. Make sure the buttons you use for control are big enough to tap easily and stay away from dropdown menus that need precise clicks.

What are pop-ups? Not Really:

Pop-ups can be annoying, especially when they show up on a small screen. When you do use them, make sure they work well on phones and are simple to close.
To make sure your mobile website works well, test it again and again. You wouldn’t release a new product without trying it first, so do the same with your mobile website. To find any interface problems, use real devices with different screen sizes.

Mobile-first indexing and optimization: a never-ending journey

You can always learn something new about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and mobile-first indexing and optimization is no different. By keeping up with the latest trends and using these best practices, you can keep your website mobile-friendly, search engine-friendly, and, most importantly, customer-friendly. Remember that a satisfied smartphone user will stay a loyal customer!
Bonus Tip: Stay tuned for blog posts in the future where we’ll go into more detail about certain parts of mobile-first indexing and optimization. We’ll give you the information and tools you need to feel confident as you move through this mobile jungle!

How to Get Out of the Mobile Maze: Advanced Techniques for Mobile-first Indexing and Optimization

We’ve talked about the most important parts of mobile-first indexing and optimization. Now, let’s look at some more advanced ways to understand the mobile world.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) should be used:

AMP is an open-source project that makes versions of web pages that load very quickly on mobile devices. Using AMP can make your website load much faster, which will improve your mobile-first indexing and optimization and the experience of your users.

The secret weapon you need is structured data:

Structured data helps search engines figure out what your website is about. You can give more detailed information about things like products, events, and business hours by using schema markup, which is made up of specific pieces of code. This could lead to more useful search results that make people want to click.

Mobile SEO for the area Minded:

Local SEO is very important if your business has a physical location. Make sure that your Google My Business page is always up-to-date and set up so that it works best on mobile devices. This includes having correct information about the business, good reviews, and good pictures.

Voice search is becoming more and more common, which shows how powerful it is.

Think about how people might use voice commands to look for your goods or services. Use natural wording and long-tail keywords in your content to make it easier for voice searchers to find you.

Don’t Forget App Indexing:

App indexing lets your mobile app show up in related search results if you have one. This is a good way to get people to your app directly and get them more involved.

How to Use Analytics to Succeed on Your Mobile Device:

Use tools like Google Analytics to look at your website’s traffic regularly. Pay close attention to how people use your site on their phones. Use your data to figure out where people are dropping off or having trouble, and then make changes based on that.

Stay Ahead of the Curve:

Google’s algorithms are always changing. Sign up for Google’s Search Central blog and other SEO tools to stay up to date on the latest best practices for mobile-first indexing and optimization.

Mobile-First Indexing and Optimization: An Investment That Pays Off

In this “mobile-first” age, these tips will help you make sure that your website is not only mobile-friendly but also search engine-friendly. This means a better experience for users, a higher search score, and more traffic and sales in the end. Keep in mind that getting a mobile-friendly website is an investment in the future of your business.
Are you ready to jump? First, make sure that your website is mobile-friendly by checking it out. There are many tools, both free and paid, that can help you find places to improve. You can start putting the above tactics into action once you have a plan. You can get through the mobile maze and build a loyal following of mobile users if you work hard and keep improving.
For more information please visit: AI SEO SERVICES

Hi, I was hoping someone can answer some questions I have since I’ve never flown with Frontier before and only considering it now because of a very cheap opportunity.
I was planning to do a single day trip to Atlanta with my 9 year old and it’s an early morning flight and we’d have 12 hours to explore and go back home the same day. We live in Florida, I was excited to see that it would only be $40 round trip for each of us if I booked the Basic Fare.
How would we be seated since we can’t pick the seats? I don’t want to pay extra, it’s meant to be a very cheap quick day trip to a neighboring state that would’ve costed 5-6 times more if we drove and it would total about 14 hrs of driving.
Do they separate children from parents or they try to seat them together or atleast the same aisle?
Have you had good or bad experiences with Basic Fare?

Abstract This paper explores the theoretical possibility that a black hole with a size comparable to a galaxy and an extremely low density could allow for the formation of stable matter structures within its event horizon. We investigate the gravitational dynamics within such a massive black hole and discuss how balanced gravitational forces might permit the accumulation of matter in stable regions. This novel hypothesis challenges traditional understandings of black hole physics and suggests the need for new models in quantum gravity.
Introduction Black holes are regions of spacetime where gravity is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape from within the event horizon. Traditional models predict that once matter crosses the event horizon, it inevitably moves towards the singularity at the centre. However, we propose that for a black hole with a diameter comparable to that of a galaxy and a correspondingly low density, gravitational forces might balance in such a way that stable structures could form within the event horizon.
Theoretical Background Schwarzschild Radius The Schwarzschild radius, denoted as R_s, defines the event horizon of a non-rotating black hole and is given by the formula: [R_s = (2 G M) / c^2] where G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the black hole, and c is the speed of light.
Volume and Density The volume, denoted as V, of a spherical black hole is: [V = (4/3) \pi R_s^3]
The average density, denoted as rho, of the black hole is: [rho = M / V = M / ((4/3) \pi R_s^3)] Substituting the Schwarzschild radius into this equation gives: [rho = (3 c⁶⁾ / (32 \pi G³ M^2)]
Hypothetical Galaxy-Sized Black Hole Assume a black hole with a diameter of approximately 100,000 light-years, which is equivalent to approximately 9.461 times 10 to the power of 20 meters. The radius, R, is half of the diameter, approximately 4.7305 times 10 to the power of 20 meters.
For a black hole with this radius to have a density comparable to silica aerogel (which is about 1.1 kilograms per cubic meter), we use the equation: [rho = 1.1 kilograms per cubic meter] Solving for the mass, M, we get: [rho = (3 c⁶⁾ / (32 \pi G³ M^2)] Thus, the mass, M, is: [M = sqrt((3 c⁶⁾ / (32 \pi G³ rho))] Substituting the known values into this equation, we find that: [M is approximately 8.16 times 10 to the power of 39 kilograms]
Gravitational Dynamics Inside Inside this immense black hole, the gravitational pull near the event horizon would be weak. The idea that matter might experience balanced gravitational forces in different regions inside the event horizon is examined.
Effective Gravitational Potential In classical general relativity, the effective potential inside a black hole leads all matter towards the singularity. However, for a supermassive, low-density black hole, the gradient could be less steep: [V_{eff}(r) is approximately -GM / r] For r approaching the galactic scale, this gradient diminishes, potentially allowing for stable matter regions.
Hypothetical Matter Accumulation If regions inside this black hole had sufficiently weak gravitational forces, matter could theoretically clump together. These clumps of matter, while not stars, could form stable structures that are not immediately pulled towards the singularity.
Equilibrium Conditions In this hypothetical scenario, equilibrium could be described by the equation: [dP / dr = -rho (GM(r) / r^2)] where P is the pressure, rho is the density, and M(r) is the enclosed mass at radius r. For a supermassive black hole: [M(r) is approximately (4/3) \pi r³ rho] Solving the equilibrium equations under low-density conditions might suggest stable structures.
Gravity's Balance Within the Black Hole In a galaxy-sized, low-density black hole, the gravitational pull from different regions could balance out due to the vast distances and the distribution of mass.
Gravitational Balance Argument In this scenario, the gravitational force at a point inside the black hole is the result of the mass distribution around that point. For a sufficiently large black hole, regions far from the singularity might experience forces that pull in all directions, potentially leading to a net force that is weak or even zero at specific points: [F_{net} = sum of F_i = 0] where F_i represents the gravitational force from mass element i.
Conclusion This paper proposes a novel hypothesis that challenges conventional black hole physics. A galaxy-sized, low-density black hole could potentially allow for stable regions within its event horizon, permitting the formation of matter clumps. These findings suggest the need for further exploration into the realms of quantum gravity and advanced theoretical models to fully understand the implications.
References: - Schwarzschild, K. (1916). "On the gravitational field of a mass point according to Einstein's theory". - Hawking, S. (1974). "Black hole explosions?" Nature. - Bekenstein, J.D. (1973). "Black holes and entropy". Physical Review D.