Facebook reported a 63 percent year-over-year rise in profit when it announced first-quarter earnings on Wednesday.  The company handily beat Wall Street's expectations. Earnings per share were $1.69, up from $1.04 in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected $1.35 EPS. Revenue was $11.97 billion, up from $8.03 billion a year ago. Monthly active users also were up year-over-year, from 1.94 billion to 2.2 billion. Facebook's stock ($FB) was up 9 percent at today's market close.  —​​​​​​​CNBC

Snap today unveiled a new version of its wearable Spectacles camera. The new sunglasses are a little scaled down from the previous version, and  come in black, red and blue. They cost $150 and are available to order as of Thursday. The earlier version of Spectacles was a failure for Snap; the company only ended up selling about 150,000 of the glasses and laid off several people involved in their development. — THE VERGE

A study on tweets discovered that Twitter echo chambers do exist. The Aalto University study reviewed more than 2.7 billion tweets from 2009 to 2016 and found a strong correlation with the way users lean politically and which tweets are retweeted. The university, along with the University of Helsinki and Qatar Computing Research Institute, used machine-learning algorithms to predict which end of the political spectrum users were on. Study leaders claimed to be about 80 percent accurate. The study found that bi-partisan tweeters and those who tried to unite both sides were retweeted less while statements with a strong political viewpoint were retweeted the most. - CNET

Twitter's announced its first-quarter results early Wednesday. Driven largely by growth overseas, the company marked its second profitable quarter after ending strong last year. The company saw earnings of 16 cents per share and revenue of $655 million, topping analysts' predictions. It also reported 336 million monthly active users, a year-over-year increase of 6 percent. Executives reported that it will increase its workforce by 15 percent, or approximately 3,800 employees by the year’s end. Twitter shares also were up 3.5 percent before the markets opened.  - RECODE

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is preparing to face Wall Street for the first time since the Cambridge Analytica controversy hit. The company is gearing up to report first-quarter earnings later today and Zuckerberg will answer questions in a conference call following the earnings release. Wall Street expects Facebook’s to rise by 30 percent and post earnings per share of $1.35. - CNN

Snapchat is in the process of redesigning its redesign. The app will roll out a new version to a small group of users in an effort to make user-generated stories easier to find. Snapchat’s redesign has come under scrutiny, largely because it has made it more difficult for users to find stories from friends and family. The redesign will put more user-generated stories with professional content, similar to how Snapchat operated before the redesign. - RECODE

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg may face a formal summons and is being urged to further speak on his company’s data breach. Members of Parliament aren’t happy with Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer’s dodging more than 40 questions about the scandal. Facebook also admits that it did not read the terms and conditions of an app that shared users’ personal data with Cambridge Analytica. Aleksandr Kogan, the Cambridge University researcher who created the app, and his company, Global Science Research, shared the information with Cambridge Analytica. Kogan said this week that Facebook did not look closely at the terms of service until after The Guardian newspaper began reporting harvested user data. Members of parliament are also accusing Facebook of bullying the Guardian over shining a light on the breach. - BBC

Snapchat plans to test a six-second unskippable ad called “commercials.” Set to start in mid-May, the new video ads will show up in some shows but not in personal stories or the Discover news section. Snapchat reportedly wants to see how many ads users will tolerate. Commercials will be made up of high-cost, high-quality ads from major companies. Snapchat confirmed it will run the ads. – THE VERGE

YouTube said Wednesday that it’s adding new controls for parents. The company is adding an option to filter videos by approved content only. The new feature follows reports about inappropriate videos and themes on YouTube Kids. The site’s content is gathered through the main YouTube site and screened with machine-learning algorithms; however, some videos slip through the system. With this new system, parents can choose collections from creators like PBS and Kidz Bop or themed YouTube Kids collections that have been given the thumbs up. Later this year, parents will be able to decide on all videos or channels that their children see in the app. – CNN MONEY

Pinterest has been slowly rolling out a redesign of its app and desktop to help the visually impaired. Over the past year, Pinterest has made an effort to incorporate inclusive design into its products to improve its service for everyone. That included adding proper code and labeling to make sure services like Voice Over could read every component on the screen. The company also added focus indicators that would make the site easier for people who could not use a mouse or trackpad. There has also been an effort to update the site’s color palette, using full of bright tones that could frame text and help it pop. – FAST COMPANY

Facebook released a minute-long ad today about how bad its own platform has become. The nostalgic ad looks back on the old Facebook and includes a promise to return to “what made Facebook good in the first place.” It will be seen on television and in movie theaters as well as during NBA games. Facebook is also running a series of city-based ads. – THE VERGE

Facebook is sharing more specific rules and censorship guidelines for the public about hate speech and other offenses on the platform. The company has not officially changed its policies. Previously, internal rulebook leaks were the only clue provided as to how Facebook really enforces its policies. The specific new rules will be translated into more than 40 languages. Facebook now utilizes 40 percent more content reviewers compared to this time last year. The company will hold community-standard forums in various countries, although critics question whether or not community standards boil down to editorial voice. – TECHCRUNCH

Facebook and Twitter are set to announce their first-quarter earnings Wednesday. Facebook is expected to come through with strong revenue earnings despite its mounting problems related to privacy concerns and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Forbes expects Facebook’s net revenue to rise by more than 30 percent to $10.5 billion, with net income and earnings per share expected to increase by more than 20 percent year over year. As for Twitter, it's outperforming many of its previous years. Its revenue is expected to show an 11 percent year-over-year increase. - FORBES

Through a renewed and expanded Snapchat deal, Viacom is returning “Cribs” and “Girl Code” to the platform. There will be newly-developed shows for Snapchat use, from MTV and BET to Comedy Central. There’s also a shorter version of MTV’s “Promposal” in the works. The move comes following backlash over Snapchat’s new design as well as celebrity criticisms. Viacom will also produce more Our Stories features for Snapchat around events such as the Kids Choice Awards. - VARIETY

Instagram users can now download a copy of their data. When users enter their email addresses, they’ll receive a link to a file with their photos, profile information and comments. It may seem possible that the data recovery would further anger users and cause them to bolt, but social-media platforms are hoping it’s the other way around, and users will feel safer having that information at their fingertips. - ENGADGET

Spotify is targeting more than a billion YouTube users with a free new service. On Tuesday, it kicked off a mobile version of its free music service, hoping to lure YouTube users. Spotify’s approach includes getting users used to a free product and later getting them to become paying subscribers or pay for add-on services. Spotify has 157 million users, of which 71 million pay a monthly fee. - BLOOMBERG

Money expert Martin Lewis is suing Facebook in the UK for allowing the use of his face and name on fake ads. Lewis, who founded MoneySavingExpert.com, said that Facebook continuously used him in false advertisements, then refused to stop when he complained and allowed people to be lured into costly scams through ads. Lewis, who said he doesn’t participate in advertisements further explained his frustration in a blog post. Some of the ads are part of cryptocurrency scams, which link by way of fake news promising Bitcoin-related opportunities. - TECHCRUNCH

A new study concludes that many alcohol advertisers are ditching Twitter. Forty-two percent of the leading 100 major spirits and liquor accounts on Twitter have not been active on the site in the past month, 32 percent have not been active in the past three months and about 21 percent have not posted in a year or more, according to the study by the drink-specialty marketing agency, YesMore. Some brands have switched to other platforms while others have abandoned social-media advertising altogether. Others have just vanished, according to the study, which speculated that advertisers are becoming overwhelmed with where to advertise. - DIGIDAY

Twitter has banned the Kaspersky Lab from advertising based on its alleged association with Russian intelligence.  The social platform said the Moscow-based security company has a business model that conflicts with Twitter’s. Twitter also noted a warning from Homeland Security about the company and its CEO Eugene Kaspersky, who denied the claim and said Twitter was shooting itself in the foot and “catering to geo-political noise.” - DIGITAL TRENDS

Some old accounts on Match.com were recently reactivated, causing privacy concerns about users’ data. A spokesperson said that the glitch occurred with a limited number of old accounts and passwords were able to be reset soon after. A privacy policy for the company says that it can keep some information about users even after they close their accounts. Now, Match says it plans to update its privacy policy to be in tune with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. - THE VERGE