Social Media News | TechCrunch

Instagram is embracing the ‘photo dump’

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 17:38:48 +0000

Instagram is rolling out the ability for users to add up to 20 photos or videos to their feed carousels, as the platform embraces the trend of “photo dumps.” Back in 2017, Instagram added the ability to post up to 10 photos or videos in one swipeable carousel post. Now, you can post double the […]

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As X sues advertisers over boycott, the app ditches all ads from its top subscription tier

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 16:09:20 +0000

The X account announced that its Premium+ subscription would now be "fully" ad-free, leading some to question how this change would affect creator earnings.

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Newly launched social network Maven loses its co-founders

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 18:53:39 +0000

Just three months after Maven’s public launch, Kenneth Stanley — the former OpenAI researcher who co-founded the social media platform designed to facilitate serendipitous interactions — is stepping down. Stanley posted on Maven and X that despite enthusiastic responses to the platform’s launch, Maven “could not achieve the kind of growth curve that investors want […]

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UK’s internet regulator warns social media platforms over risks of inciting violence

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 18:25:02 +0000

The U.K.'s internet regulator Ofcom has published an open letter to social media platforms raising concerns about the use of their tools being used to incite violence.

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Facebook creators have a new way to avoid ‘jail’

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 17:15:09 +0000

Facebook creators are being given a new option that will help them avoid jail — “Facebook jail,” that is — upon their first violation, and at various times after. In a revised policy, announced on Wednesday, social networking giant Meta said that creators who violate the company’s Community Standards for the first time will be […]

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Elon Musk’s X taken to court in Ireland for grabbing EU user data to train Grok without consent

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 10:02:02 +0000

Elon Musk's X is being taken to court in Ireland for using Europeans' data to train AI models without asking for their consent.

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Reddit to test AI-powered search result pages

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 22:10:28 +0000

Reddit users will soon see AI-generated summaries at the top of search results. Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman told investors during its earnings call on Tuesday that the company plans to test AI-powered search result pages to “summarize and recommend content.” He noted this will help users “dive deeper” into content and discover new […]

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Bluesky adds Techdirt founder Mike Masnick to its board

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:57:48 +0000

According to a company blog post, the team was already leaning on Masnick for advice, so adding him to the board is a "natural next step" in formalizing their relationship.

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X files antitrust suit against advertising groups over ‘systematic illegal boycott’

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 15:25:10 +0000

X Ceo Linda Yaccarino claims that GARM's "illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars."

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Secretaries of state urge X to stop its Grok chatbot from spreading election misinformation

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 23:35:37 +0000

Grok — not to be confused with the homophonic AI startup Groq that this morning raised over $600 million — has been spreading false information about Vice President Kamala Harris on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. That’s according to an open letter penned by five secretaries of state and addressed to Tesla, […]

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TikTok Lite: EU closes addictive design case after TikTok commits to not bring back rewards mechanism

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 11:22:50 +0000

The European Commission has closed a Digital Services Act (DSA) investigation of a rewards feature in TikTok Lite by accepting commitments from the social media giant to permanently withdraw the feature from the EU. The TikTok Lite “task and reward” mechanism, launched in France and Spain earlier this year, lets users earn points for doing […]

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Zuckerberg and Jensen show off their friendship, while an AI necklace covets yours

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 20:15:00 +0000

A fireside chat between Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg at SIGGRAPH 2024 took some unexpected turns. What started as a conversation about the capabilities of Nvidia GPUs and Zuckerberg’s vision of an AI chatbot future quickly became a more casual affair — including a swap of custom-made jackets, a rare F-bomb from the Meta CEO, […]

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FTC and Justice Department sue TikTok over alleged child privacy violations

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 20:12:22 +0000

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department are suing TikTok and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, with violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The law requires digital platforms to notify and obtain parents’ consent before collecting and using personal data from children under the age of 13. In a press release issued […]

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Founder behind social media app IRL charged with fraud

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 02:14:08 +0000

While venture capitalists and the rest of the technorati are off on holiday or attending the Paris Olympics, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and its staff attorneys are keeping busy this summer. For the second time this week — and at least the fourth time in the past several months — the SEC has […]

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Date Like Goblins, a new dating platform, allows users to virtually date and play video games

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 13:04:10 +0000

Date Like Goblins is geared toward the gaming community and allows users to connect through voice chat while playing video games.

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Threads now highlights relevant trending topics above posts

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 11:04:16 +0000

Threads users in the U.S. can now see a label that highlights related trending topics above posts.

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Controversial internet bill KOSA passed by Senate

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 18:14:31 +0000

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) has passed in the Senate after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pushed the internet bill to a vote. Proposed in 2022, KOSA requires that online platforms take reasonable steps to protect users from harm, and could become the most significant children’s online safety legislation to take effect since COPPA. […]

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Disinformation may ‘go nuclear’ rather than ‘go viral,’ researchers say

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 15:01:00 +0000

We say something “goes viral” because we tend to think of rumors and disinformation spreading the way that an infection spreads. But these days it may be more accurate to say something “goes nuclear,” according to a new paper that models disinfo as a form of fission reaction. As common wisdom had it even before […]

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TechCrunch Minute: Doomscrolling probably isn’t great for your mental health

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 16:05:00 +0000

It turns out that maybe, just maybe, spending a lot of time staring at your phone and reading bad news isn’t great for your outlook on life or humanity. That’s the finding of a recent study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports, which linked doomscrolling to existential anxiety, despair, distrust and suspicion of others. […]

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MatPat, the first big YouTuber to successfully exit his company, is lobbying for creators on Capitol Hill

Sun, 28 Jul 2024 17:00:00 +0000

Though MatPat retired from YouTube, he’s still pretty busy. In fact, he’s been spending a lot of time on Capitol Hill.

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