Applications
Facebook launches a film festival
MUMBAI: After Twitter launched the Tweeple Film Awards, now Facebook has launched Onecloudfest, in which the number of ‘Likes’ will determine the winning films.
This film festival is being conducted by a team of independent filmmakers.
The entries will be accepted under the categories of ‘Narrative Shorts’, ‘Animations’, ‘Music Videos’ and ‘Documentary Shorts’.
While ‘Music Videos’ will be less than 15 minutes long, the other categories will be under 30-minutes.
The importance of social media has been growing by the day. Besides connecting friends and like-minded people, the media has made inroads into the world of films.
“The inspiration section of the festival would be retrospective in nature that will screen selected, established short and long formats that have already travelled most festival circuits”, an official statement said.
The festival would be one year long. The year would be divided into four quarters and the final phase of the festival will be held from December to February. An ‘Audience Award’ will be given in each category.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
