Spectral shape analysis relies on the spectrum (eigenvalues and/or eigenfunctions) of the Laplace–Beltrami operator to compare and analyze geometric shapes. Since the spectrum of the Laplace–Beltrami operator is invariant under isometries, it is well suited for the analysis or retrieval of non-rigid shapes, i.e. bendable objects such as humans, animals, plants, etc. == Laplace == The Laplace–Beltrami operator is involved in many important differential equations, such as the heat equation and the wave equation. It can be defined on a Riemannian manifold as the divergence of the gradient of a real-valued function f: Δ f := div grad f . {\displaystyle \Delta f:=\operatorname {div} \operatorname {grad} f.} Its spectral components can be computed by solving the Helmholtz equation (or Laplacian eigenvalue problem): Δ φ i + λ i φ i = 0. {\displaystyle \Delta \varphi _{i}+\lambda _{i}\varphi _{i}=0.} The solutions are the eigenfunctions φ i {\displaystyle \varphi _{i}} (modes) and corresponding eigenvalues λ i {\displaystyle \lambda _{i}} , representing a diverging sequence of positive real numbers. The first eigenvalue is zero for closed domains or when using the Neumann boundary condition. For some shapes, the spectrum can be computed analytically (e.g. rectangle, flat torus, cylinder, disk or sphere). For the sphere, for example, the eigenfunctions are the spherical harmonics. The most important properties of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are that they are isometry invariants. In other words, if the shape is not stretched (e.g. a sheet of paper bent into the third dimension), the spectral values will not change. Bendable objects, like animals, plants and humans, can move into different body postures with only minimal stretching at the joints. The resulting shapes are called near-isometric and can be compared using spectral shape analysis. == Discretizations == Geometric shapes are often represented as 2D curved surfaces, 2D surface meshes (usually triangle meshes) or 3D solid objects (e.g. using voxels or tetrahedra meshes). The Helmholtz equation can be solved for all these cases. If a boundary exists, e.g. a square, or the volume of any 3D geometric shape, boundary conditions need to be specified. Several discretizations of the Laplace operator exist (see Discrete Laplace operator) for the different types of geometry representations. Many of these operators do not approximate well the underlying continuous operator. == Spectral shape descriptors == === ShapeDNA and its variants === The ShapeDNA is one of the first spectral shape descriptors. It is the normalized beginning sequence of the eigenvalues of the Laplace–Beltrami operator. Its main advantages are the simple representation (a vector of numbers) and comparison, scale invariance, and in spite of its simplicity a very good performance for shape retrieval of non-rigid shapes. Competitors of shapeDNA include singular values of Geodesic Distance Matrix (SD-GDM) and Reduced BiHarmonic Distance Matrix (R-BiHDM). However, the eigenvalues are global descriptors, therefore the shapeDNA and other global spectral descriptors cannot be used for local or partial shape analysis. === Global point signature (GPS) === The global point signature at a point x {\displaystyle x} is a vector of scaled eigenfunctions of the Laplace–Beltrami operator computed at x {\displaystyle x} (i.e. the spectral embedding of the shape). The GPS is a global feature in the sense that it cannot be used for partial shape matching. === Heat kernel signature (HKS) === The heat kernel signature makes use of the eigen-decomposition of the heat kernel: h t ( x , y ) = ∑ i = 0 ∞ exp ( − λ i t ) φ i ( x ) φ i ( y ) . {\displaystyle h_{t}(x,y)=\sum _{i=0}^{\infty }\exp(-\lambda _{i}t)\varphi _{i}(x)\varphi _{i}(y).} For each point on the surface the diagonal of the heat kernel h t ( x , x ) {\displaystyle h_{t}(x,x)} is sampled at specific time values t j {\displaystyle t_{j}} and yields a local signature that can also be used for partial matching or symmetry detection. === Wave kernel signature (WKS) === The WKS follows a similar idea to the HKS, replacing the heat equation with the Schrödinger wave equation. === Improved wave kernel signature (IWKS) === The IWKS improves the WKS for non-rigid shape retrieval by introducing a new scaling function to the eigenvalues and aggregating a new curvature term. === Spectral graph wavelet signature (SGWS) === SGWS is a local descriptor that is not only isometric invariant, but also compact, easy to compute and combines the advantages of both band-pass and low-pass filters. An important facet of SGWS is the ability to combine the advantages of WKS and HKS into a single signature, while allowing a multiresolution representation of shapes. == Spectral Matching == The spectral decomposition of the graph Laplacian associated with complex shapes (see Discrete Laplace operator) provides eigenfunctions (modes) which are invariant to isometries. Each vertex on the shape could be uniquely represented with a combinations of the eigenmodal values at each point, sometimes called spectral coordinates: s ( x ) = ( φ 1 ( x ) , φ 2 ( x ) , … , φ N ( x ) ) for vertex x . {\displaystyle s(x)=(\varphi _{1}(x),\varphi _{2}(x),\ldots ,\varphi _{N}(x)){\text{ for vertex }}x.} Spectral matching consists of establishing the point correspondences by pairing vertices on different shapes that have the most similar spectral coordinates. Early work focused on sparse correspondences for stereoscopy. Computational efficiency now enables dense correspondences on full meshes, for instance between cortical surfaces. Spectral matching could also be used for complex non-rigid image registration, which is notably difficult when images have very large deformations. Such image registration methods based on spectral eigenmodal values indeed capture global shape characteristics, and contrast with conventional non-rigid image registration methods which are often based on local shape characteristics (e.g., image gradients).
CapCut
CapCut, known domestically as JianYing (Chinese: 剪映; pinyin: Jiǎnyìng) and formerly internationally as ViaMaker, is a video editor developed by ByteDance, available as a mobile app, desktop app, and web app. == History == The app was first released in China in 2019 and was initially available for iPhone and Android. In 2020, it was rebranded in English from ViaMaker to CapCut and became available globally. It later expanded to include web and desktop versions for Mac and Windows. In 2022, CapCut reached 200 million active users. According to The Wall Street Journal, in March 2023, it was the second-most downloaded app in the U.S., behind that of Chinese discount retailer Temu. In January 2025, CapCut had over 1 billion downloads on the Google Play Store. On February 1, 2021, CapCut Pro for Windows was launched. On November 27, the Pro version for Mac was launched. In July 2025, CapCut Pro for HarmonyOS was available on HarmonyOS NEXT tablets. In July 2024, CapCut was reported by the South China Morning Post to be a generative AI (GenAI) application that led global AI app downloads, with approximately 38.42 million downloads and 323 million monthly active users. == Features == CapCut supports basic video editing functions, including editing, trimming, and adding or splitting clips. Editing projects is limited to single-layer editing, but the app supports overlay options that enable additional effects, including multi-layer editing. The app includes a library of pre-made templates and a tool that generates editable video captions. It also provides photo editing tools, including retouch and product photo features integrated within the editing interface. CapCut's video editor includes AI-based features such as video and script generation. Users can export or save completed projects directly to different social media platforms. CapCut includes a free version and a paid Pro version with cloud storage and advanced features. == Controversies == === Illegal data collection === In July 2023, many users of CapCut accused it of illegally profiting off their personal data. A class-action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on July 28, 2023, alleged that CapCut illegally harvests and profits from user data including biometric information and geolocation without consent. In September 2025, a federal court excluded most of the lawsuit, which alleged that TikTok’s parent company improperly scraped private data from CapCut's video editing software, as lacking grounds, with some of the class action continuing to move forward. == Bans and restrictions == === Ban in India === As a response to border clashes with China in May 2020, the Indian government banned around 56 Chinese applications including CapCut and TikTok, which is owned by CapCut's parent company ByteDance. Indian users were unable to use and download the application. As of February 2022, around 273 Chinese applications have been banned by the Indian government under the concern of national security and Indian user privacy. === Ban in the United States === On January 18, 2025, at 10 PM EST, CapCut was banned in the United States along with TikTok and all other ByteDance apps due to the implementation of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. Hours after the suspension of services took effect, President Donald Trump indicated on Truth Social that he would issue an executive order on the day of his inauguration "to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect". On January 21, CapCut began restoring service. On February 13, Google and Apple restored CapCut on the App Store and Google Play Store.
Futel
Futel is a public arts organization in Portland, Oregon dedicated to preserving and maintaining public telephone hardware and offering free phone and basic information services. Futel was founded by Karl Anderson, a former software engineer, and Elijah St. Clair. == Technology == Karl Anderson stated that one motivation for the project was to explore the idea of urban furniture. Other reasons were to preserve an important part of hacker history, and to salvage and re-use manufactured items at the end of their lifecycle. The original Futel phones were set up in Portland, Oregon. The organization cleans and repurposes old public payphones which are often salvaged from Craigslist or scrappers. Using interface boxes, they are converted into VoIP phones which are made available publicly, with no cost for phone calls. Anderson has said the service runs on "Asterisk and OpenVPN and a lot of scripts." The payphones operate using publicly-available internet connections. The phones have automated phone trees and users can make a call to local social services, to a weather forecast line, or access local transit information. Volunteers act as telephone operators, offering information about the Futel service, or are available for conversation. Users using Futel's phones may also access voicemail boxes. The system has a "wildcard line" where people can listen to samples of audio left on the main voicemail line along with commentary from Anderson and others. == Network == In February 2021, there were 10 Futel phones in Portland and 3 in other cities. Phones were set up in Detroit and Ypsilanti, Michigan, and Long Beach, Washington. The organization has provided free phone service for a Portland-area homeless encampment after receiving funding from the Awesome Foundation. In 2019 the organization reported their phones being used to make 12,000 phone calls. Futel also said their usage went up and not down during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic when they outfitted their phone kiosks with handwashing stations and used volunteers to keep the phones clean. The project is funded is primarily through grants and is staffed with volunteers. The project has inspired others such as the PhilTel project in Philadelphia and the RandTel project in Randolph, Vermont. Futel publishes a zine called Party Line.
Institute of Telecommunications Professionals
The Institute of Telecommunications Professionals (ITP) is a membership organisation for professionals in the telecommunications industry, based in the United Kingdom. The Institute was originally founded in 1906. It is now a registered company with Companies House in the United Kingdom, incorporated in 2002. Brendan O' Mahony has been the chief executive of the ITP. Lucy Woods presided over ITP for fifteen years, until 2018, when the organization named Kevin Paige chairman for five years. In 2022 the ITP appointed its new CEO, Charlotte Goodwill. In 2021, the ITP assisted a UK fibre network Vorboss in establishing its training academy. In 2023, the ITP appointed Tim Creswick, the CEO of Vorboss, as the new chair of its board of directors. The institute has an associated journal, the Journal of the Institute of Telecommunications Professionals, established in 2007 and published quarterly.
Harmonic
In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the fundamental frequency of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the 1st harmonic; the other harmonics are known as higher harmonics. As all harmonics are periodic at the fundamental frequency, the sum of harmonics is also periodic at that frequency. The set of harmonics forms a harmonic series. The term is employed in various disciplines, including music, physics, acoustics, electronic power transmission, radio technology, and other fields. For example, if the fundamental frequency is 50 Hz, a common AC power supply frequency, the frequencies of the first three higher harmonics are 100 Hz (2nd harmonic), 150 Hz (3rd harmonic), 200 Hz (4th harmonic) and any addition of waves with these frequencies is periodic at 50 Hz. An n {\displaystyle \ n} th characteristic mode, for n > 1 , {\displaystyle \ n>1\ ,} will have nodes that are not vibrating. For example, the 3rd characteristic mode will have nodes at 1 3 L {\displaystyle \ {\tfrac {1}{3}}\ L\ } and 2 3 L , {\displaystyle \ {\tfrac {2}{3}}\ L\ ,} where L {\displaystyle \ L\ } is the length of the string. In fact, each n {\displaystyle \ n} th characteristic mode, for n {\displaystyle \ n\ } not a multiple of 3, will not have nodes at these points. These other characteristic modes will be vibrating at the positions 1 3 L {\displaystyle \ {\tfrac {1}{3}}\ L\ } and 2 3 L . {\displaystyle \ {\tfrac {2}{3}}\ L~.} If the player gently touches one of these positions, then these other characteristic modes will be suppressed. The tonal harmonics from these other characteristic modes will then also be suppressed. Consequently, the tonal harmonics from the n {\displaystyle \ n} th characteristic characteristic modes, where n {\displaystyle \ n\ } is a multiple of 3, will be made relatively more prominent. In music, harmonics are used on string instruments and wind instruments as a way of producing sound on the instrument, particularly to play higher notes and, with strings, obtain notes that have a unique sound quality or "tone colour". On strings, bowed harmonics have a "glassy", pure tone. On stringed instruments, harmonics are played by touching (but not fully pressing down the string) at an exact point on the string while sounding the string (plucking, bowing, etc.); this allows the harmonic to sound, a pitch which is always higher than the fundamental frequency of the string. == Terminology == Harmonics may be called "overtones", "partials", or "upper partials", and in some music contexts, the terms "harmonic", "overtone" and "partial" are used fairly interchangeably. But more precisely, the term "harmonic" includes all pitches in a harmonic series (including the fundamental frequency) while the term "overtone" only includes pitches above the fundamental. == Characteristics == A whizzing, whistling tonal character, distinguishes all the harmonics both natural and artificial from the firmly stopped intervals; therefore their application in connection with the latter must always be carefully considered. Most acoustic instruments emit complex tones containing many individual partials (component simple tones or sinusoidal waves), but the untrained human ear typically does not perceive those partials as separate phenomena. Rather, a musical note is perceived as one sound, the quality or timbre of that sound being a result of the relative strengths of the individual partials. Many acoustic oscillators, such as the human voice or a bowed violin string, produce complex tones that are more or less periodic, and thus are composed of partials that are nearly matched to the integer multiples of fundamental frequency and therefore resemble the ideal harmonics and are called "harmonic partials" or simply "harmonics" for convenience (although it's not strictly accurate to call a partial a harmonic, the first being actual and the second being theoretical). Oscillators that produce harmonic partials behave somewhat like one-dimensional resonators, and are often long and thin, such as a guitar string or a column of air open at both ends (as with the metallic modern orchestral transverse flute). Wind instruments whose air column is open at only one end, such as trumpets and clarinets, also produce partials resembling harmonics. However they only produce partials matching the odd harmonics—at least in theory. In practical use, no real acoustic instrument behaves as perfectly as the simplified physical models predict; for example, instruments made of non-linearly elastic wood, instead of metal, or strung with gut instead of brass or steel strings, tend to have not-quite-integer partials. Partials whose frequencies are not integer multiples of the fundamental are referred to as inharmonic partials. Some acoustic instruments emit a mix of harmonic and inharmonic partials but still produce an effect on the ear of having a definite fundamental pitch, such as pianos, strings plucked pizzicato, vibraphones, marimbas, and certain pure-sounding bells or chimes. Antique singing bowls are known for producing multiple harmonic partials or multiphonics. Other oscillators, such as cymbals, drum heads, and most percussion instruments, naturally produce an abundance of inharmonic partials and do not imply any particular pitch, and therefore cannot be used melodically or harmonically in the same way other instruments can. Building on of Sethares (2004), dynamic tonality introduces the notion of pseudo-harmonic partials, in which the frequency of each partial is aligned to match the pitch of a corresponding note in a pseudo-just tuning, thereby maximizing the consonance of that pseudo-harmonic timbre with notes of that pseudo-just tuning. == Partials, overtones, and harmonics == An overtone is any partial higher than the lowest partial in a compound tone. The relative strengths and frequency relationships of the component partials determine the timbre of an instrument. The similarity between the terms overtone and partial sometimes leads to their being loosely used interchangeably in a musical context, but they are counted differently, leading to some possible confusion. In the special case of instrumental timbres whose component partials closely match a harmonic series (such as with most strings and winds) rather than being inharmonic partials (such as with most pitched percussion instruments), it is also convenient to call the component partials "harmonics", but not strictly correct, because harmonics are numbered the same even when missing, while partials and overtones are only counted when present. This chart demonstrates how the three types of names (partial, overtone, and harmonic) are counted (assuming that the harmonics are present): In many musical instruments, it is possible to play the upper harmonics without the fundamental note being present. In a simple case (e.g., recorder) this has the effect of making the note go up in pitch by an octave, but in more complex cases many other pitch variations are obtained. In some cases it also changes the timbre of the note. This is part of the normal method of obtaining higher notes in wind instruments, where it is called overblowing. The extended technique of playing multiphonics also produces harmonics. On string instruments it is possible to produce very pure sounding notes, called harmonics or flageolets by string players, which have an eerie quality, as well as being high in pitch. Harmonics may be used to check at a unison the tuning of strings that are not tuned to the unison. For example, lightly fingering the node found halfway down the highest string of a cello produces the same pitch as lightly fingering the node 1 / 3 of the way down the second highest string. For the human voice see Overtone singing, which uses harmonics. While it is true that electronically produced periodic tones (e.g. square waves or other non-sinusoidal waves) have "harmonics" that are whole number multiples of the fundamental frequency, practical instruments do not all have this characteristic. For example, higher "harmonics" of piano notes are not true harmonics but are "overtones" and can be very sharp, i.e. a higher frequency than given by a pure harmonic series. This is especially true of instruments other than strings, brass, or woodwinds. Examples of these "other" instruments are xylophones, drums, bells, chimes, etc.; not all of their overtone frequencies make a simple whole number ratio with the fundamental frequency. (The fundamental frequency is the reciprocal of the longest time period of the collection of vibrations in some single periodic phenomenon.) == On stringed instruments == Harmonics may be singly produced [on stringed instruments] (1) by varying the point of contact with the bow, or (2) by slightly pressing the string at the nodes, or divisions of its aliquot parts ( 1 2 {\displaystyle {\tfrac {1}{2}}} , 1
International Speech Communication Association
The International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) is a non-profit organization and one of the two main professional associations for speech communication science and technology, the other association being the IEEE Signal Processing Society. == Purpose == The purpose of the International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) is to promote the study and application of automatic speech processing, including speech recognition and synthesis, as well as related areas such as speaker recognition and speech compression. The association's activities cover all aspects of speech processing, including computational, linguistic, and theoretical aspects. The primary goal of the International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) is to advance the field of automatic speech processing and communication technology through research, education, and collaboration. By promoting the study and application of speech technologies such as speech recognition, speech synthesis, speaker recognition, and speech compression, ISCA aims to foster innovation and development in the areas of human-computer interaction, telecommunications, and multimedia applications. ISCA serves as a platform for researchers, academics, industry professionals, and students to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and foster interdisciplinary dialogue in the field of speech communication science. Through conferences, workshops, publications, and educational initiatives, ISCA seeks to enhance the understanding of speech processing mechanisms, improve the accuracy and efficiency of speech technologies, and explore new frontiers in the realm of human language communication. Furthermore, ISCA plays a crucial role in promoting international collaboration and networking among professionals in the speech communication community. By facilitating partnerships and cooperation between individuals and organizations worldwide, ISCA seeks to drive global progress in speech technology research and application, ultimately contributing to the advancement of communication systems, accessibility tools, and interactive interfaces that benefit society as a whole. == Conferences == ISCA organizes yearly the Interspeech conference. Most recent Interspeech: 2013 Lyon, France 2014 Singapore 2015 Dresden, Germany 2016 San Francisco, US 2017 Stockholm, Sweden 2018 Hyderabad, India 2019 Graz, Austria 2020 Shanghai, China (fully virtual) 2021 Brno, Czechia (hybrid) 2022 Incheon, South Korea 2023 Dublin, Ireland 2023 Kos Island, Greece Forthcoming Interspeech: 2025 Rotterdam, the Netherlands == ISCA board == The ISCA president for 2023-2025 is Odette Scharenborg. The vice president is Bhuvana Ramabhadran and the other members are professionals in the field. == History of ISCA == The precursor to Interspeech was a conference called Eurospeech, first held in 1989 and organised by Jean-Pierre Tubach. It was the conference of the European Speech Communication Association (ESCA), itself the precursor of the International Speech Communication Association (ISCA). A year later another conference on speech science and technology was started: the International Conference on Spoken Language Processing (ICSLP), which was founded in 1990 by Hiroya Fujisaki. The first ISCA (vs. ESCA) event was the merging of Eurospeech and ICSLP to create ICSLP-Interspeech, held in Beijing, China in 2000. This was followed by Eurospeech-Interspeech, which was held in Aalborg, Denmark in 2001. In 2007, the Eurospeech and ICSLP parts of the conference names were dropped and Interspeech became the name of the yearly conference (first Interspeech location: Antwerp, Belgium).
Terrorism and social media
Terrorism, fear, and media are interconnected. Terrorists use the media to advertise their attacks and or messages, and the media uses terrorism events to further aid their ratings. Both promote unwarranted propaganda that instills mass amounts of public fear. The leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, discussed the weaponization of media in a letter written after his organization committed the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. In that letter, bin Laden stated that fear was the deadliest weapon. He noted that the Western civilization has become obsessed with mass media, quickly consuming what will bring them fear. He further stated that societies are bringing this problem on their own people by giving media coverage an inherent power. In relation to one's need for media coverage, al-Qaeda and other militant Jihadi terrorist organizations can be classified as a far-right radical offshoot of mainstream mass media. The Jihad needs to conceptualize their martyrdom by leaving behind manifestos and live videos of their attacks; it is crucially important to them that their ill deeds are being covered by news media. The components the media looks for to deem the news "worthy" enough to publicize are categorized into ten qualities; terrorists usually exceed half in their attacks. These include: Immediacy, Conflict, Negativity, Human Interest, Photographability, Simple Story Lines, Topicality, Exclusivity, Reliability, and Local Interest. Historically, morality and profitability are two motivations which are not easily weighed when delivering news; recent news coverage has become far more motivated in making money for their parent corporation than serving as a defender of truth, doing true journalistic fact-finding, and shielding the public from news which is sensational, outright untrue, or politically-motivated propaganda. A study concerning the disparity in coverage of terrorist events took attacks from the ten‑year span of 2005–2015 and found that 136 episodes of terrorism occurred in the United States. LexisNexis Academic and CNN were the platforms used to measure the media coverage. It was found that out of other terrorist attacks showed on the news, one's with Muslim perpetrators received more than 357% coverage. In addition to this disparity, attacks also received more coverage when they were targeted at the government, had high fatality rates, and showed arrests being made. These findings were aligned with America's tendency to categorize Muslim people as a threat to national security. Thus, mass media coverage on terrorism is creating fake narratives and an absence of related coverage. For instance, the American public believes that crime rates have been on the rise which in fact they have been on an all-time low. Given that the media often covers crime almost immediately and frequently, suggests that people infer it happening all the time. In reference to the disparity in terror attacks, three attacks were seen to have the least media coverage of all the 136. The Sikh Temple massacre in Wisconsin which had 2.6% coverage, the Kansas synagogue killings which had 2.2%, and the Charleston Church deaths which only resulted in 5.1% coverage. The three events had commonalities worth mentioning in that they all had white perpetrators and were not directed at government intuitions (in fact all targeted minorities). The media's obsession with terror is making people fearful of the wrong things and not attentive enough to the issues that are radically unseen. Not only are minorities usually not the perpetrators of domestic terrorism, but they are common victims in mass casualties or proximal witnesses to the attacks. In an early 2000s study, 72 Israeli adults were measured pre and posttest for increased anxiety after being exposed to news broadcasts of terrorism attacks. The study found that the group exposed to the broadcasts without any treatment (preparation intervention) had heightened levels of anxiety compared to the group that received the treatment along with viewing the broadcast. Since preparatory intervention is not yet normalized, people in proximity to ongoing coverage of terror events are suffering from the lasting impacts of fear and anxiety. Preparatory Intervention, in this case, was conducted by a group facilitator who introduced a topic concerning terrorism in which participants were instructed to write down feelings to share with the group and later learn to cope with. A discourse of fear created by mass media presence, but false information is leading people to prepare for the wrong situations. In the early 2000s, police units circulated public schools flooding the idea of Stranger Danger into the minds of adolescents. Children and their parents cautiously separated from strangers while perpetrators in those families' social circles continued to offend under the radar. For myths are becoming common, precedent and real danger is buried beneath the surface. It is these implementations of fear that are falsifying the true narrative which for terrorism is a huge social problem but one that is not resolved through entertainment and mass media production. Mass media like news outlets and even social media platforms are contributing to the growing discourse of fear surrounding terrorism. Terrorism and social media refers to the use of social media platforms to radicalize and recruit violent and non-violent extremists. According to some researchers the convenience, affordability, and broad reach of social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, terrorist groups and individuals have increasingly used social media to further their goals, recruit members, and spread their message. Attempts have been made by various governments and agencies to thwart the use of social media by terrorist organizations.Terror groups take to social media because it's cheap, accessible, and facilitates quick access to a lot of people. Social media allow them to engage with their networks. In the past, it wasn't so easy for these groups to engage with the people they wanted to whereas social media allows terrorists to release their messages right to their intended audience and interact with them in real time. "Spend some time following the account, and you realize that you're dealing with a real human being with real ideas- albeit boastful, hypocritical, violent ideas". Al- Qaeda has been noted as being as being one of the terror groups that uses social media the most extensively. "While almost all terrorist groups have websites, al qaeda [sic] is the first to fully exploit the internet. This reflects al-Qaeda's unique characteristics." Despite the risks of making statements, such as enabling governments to locate terror group leaders, terror leaders communicate regularly with video and audio messages which are posted on the website and disseminated on the internet. ISIS uses social media to their advantage when releasing threatening videos of beheadings. ISIS uses this tactic to scare normal people on social media. Similarly, Western domestic terrorists also use social media and technology to spread their ideas. == Traditional media == Many authors have proposed that media attention increases perceptions of risk of fear of terrorism and crime and relates to how much attention the person pays to the news. The relationship between terrorism and the media has long been noted. Terrorist organizations depend on the open media systems of democratic countries to further their goals and spread their messages. To garner publicity for their cause, terrorist organizations resort to acts of violence and aggression that deliberately target civilians. This method has proven to be effective in gathering attention: It cannot be denied that although terrorism has proved remarkably ineffective as the major weapon for taking down governments and capturing political power, it has been a remarkably successful means of publicizing a political cause and relaying the terrorist threat to a wider audience, particularly in the open and pluralistic countries of the West. When one says 'terrorism' in a democratic society, one also says 'media'. While a media organization may not support the goals of terrorist organizations, it is their job to report current events and issues. In the fiercely competitive media environment, when a terrorist attack occurs, media outlets scramble to cover the event. In doing so, the media help to further the message of terrorist organizations: To summarise briefly on the symbiotic nature of the relationship between terrorists and the media, the recent history of terrorism in many democratic countries vividly demonstrates that terrorists do thrive on the oxygen of publicity, and it is foolish to deny this. This does not mean that the established democratic media share the values of the terrorists. It does demonstrate, however, that the free media in an open society are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation by ru