A day in Elon Musk’s mind: 145 tweets with election conspiracies and emojis

It’s just after midnight mountain standard time in the US on 13 August when Elon Musk makes his first post of the day on X, the platform he bought for $44bn when it was known as Twitter. Musk has been tweeting for hours about his interview with Donald Trump, and he will continue into the night before taking a few hours’ break – presumably to sleep – and then logging back on to tweet dozens more times.Over the next 24 hours, Musk will post over 145 times about a range of obsessions, projects and grievances to his 195 million followers. He will share anti-immigrant content, election conspiracies and attacks against the media. He will exchange tweets with far-right politicians, conservative media influencers and sycophantic admirers

Fresh starch: how TikTok helped spark a baked potato revival in the UK

Customers are coming to Preston’s Spud Bros from as far away as Australia thanks to a revival of the humble jacket potato on social media The humble baked potato is enjoying a renaissance, with TikTok algorithms bringing the stuffed spud to new audiences and transforming this once-tired classic into the lunch of the moment.Young potato sellers are breathing new life into the traditional British meal, with modern twists on favourite toppings.And by broadcasting life from their pitches on social media, they are bringing in new customers from as far away as Australia and South Africa.By 10.30am, a queue is already forming outside a closed baked potato van in a converted tram in Preston, Lancashire

Parents ‘don’t use’ parental controls on Facebook and Instagram, says Nick Clegg

Parents do not use parental controls on Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta’s Nick Clegg, with adults failing to embrace the 50 child safety tools the company has introduced in recent years.Meta’s global affairs chief said there was a “behavioural issue” around using the tools, after admitting they were being ignored by parents. Regulatory pressure is building on tech companies to protect children from harmful content, with the Australian government announcing plans this week to ban younger teenagers from accessing social media.Speaking at an event hosted by Chatham House in London, Clegg said parents were not using controls that allowed them to set time limits and schedule viewing breaks.“One of the things we do find … is that even when we build these controls, parents don’t use them,” he said

AI can change belief in conspiracy theories, study finds

Whether it is the mistaken idea that the moon landings never happened or the false claim that Covid jabs contain microchips, conspiracy theories abound, sometimes with dangerous consequences.Now researchers have found that such beliefs can be altered by a chat with artificial intelligence (AI).“Conventional wisdom will tell you that people who believe in conspiracy theories rarely, if ever, change their mind, especially according to evidence,” said Dr Thomas Costello, a co-author of the study from American University.That, he added, is thought to be down to people adopting such beliefs to meet various needs – such as a desire for control. However, the new study offers a different stance

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold review: the ideal foldable phone design

Google has cracked the foldable formula on its second attempt by creating a slightly chunkier Pixel 9 Pro that opens up for a large 8in tablet screen on the inside, beating Samsung at its own game.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.Compared with the previous efforts, from the squat and fat passport-shaped Pixel Fold to Samsung’s many long and thin Galaxy Z Folds, the new Pixel’s simple shape seems so familiar and easy to use you wonder why it took so long for anyone to try it

‘Brat, slay, ick’: zoo marketing blurb written by gen Z staff goes viral

Ralph the raccoon is very demure, very mindful; the prairie dogs are poppin’; the bats are brat and Stilton the goat, in his mind at least, is the GOAT (that’s obviously Greatest Of All Time, sheesh).We know all this because a new social media video for Northumberland zoo has, virally, gone supersonic.More than 6 million people have viewed a video on TikTok featuring a couple in their 60s guiding people through the zoo using the language of generation Z.Part of its charm lies in the deadpan delivery of Linda and Brian Bradley. It looks as if there may well be someone, off screen, aiming a loaded pistol at them