The warehouse was dim and slightly misty. But the bar was open, and a photographer was snapping away anyway. On Friday, the crowd followed the white rabbit to Brooklyn for The Net Gala, a chic tech answer to The Met Gala. The theme of the event was internet surveillance, prompting attendees to clad in black, […]
The Net Gala hosts its first event for the stylish and chronically online Read More »
Bluesky’s most prominent backer has left its board. On Saturday, Jack Dorsey posted on X about grants for open protocols from his philanthropic Start Small initiative. This prompted someone to ask Dorsey if he was still on the Bluesky board, and he responded with a terse “no.” Dorsey did not answer any of the follow-up
Jack Dorsey departs Bluesky board Read More »
Welcome, folks, to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps the week that was in tech. This edition’s a tad bittersweet for me — it’ll be my last (for a while, anyway). Soon, I’ll be shifting my attention to a new AI-focused newsletter, which I’m super thrilled about. Stay tuned! Now, on with
Threads users can now exert more control over who can quote their posts. This builds on a feature that already allows Threads users to limit who can reply to their posts (competing services like X and Bluesky offer similar reply controls). Threads outlined its plans for quote controls last month, and last night Adam Mosseri
Farewell, dunks? Threads launches quote controls for all users Read More »
Instagram is adding a handful of new features for Stories to give users more creative ways to share content and engage with each other, the company announced on Friday. Most notably, the social network is introducing a new “Reveal” feature that lets you post a hidden Story for your followers to uncover by sending you
Instagram now lets you post a secret Story that viewers can uncover with a DM Read More »
In an effort to capture more ad dollars, despite the looming U.S. ban, TikTok is introducing new advertising products and opportunities that will allow marketers to better control what sort of content their ads appear against. The company says it will use generative AI to curate trending, brand-safe content; expand its selection of “tentpole” moments,
TikTok expands its premium ad slots despite potential US ban Read More »
Snapchat is launching the ability for users to set in-app reminders with the help of its My AI chatbot, the company announced on Wednesday. The social network is also rolling out editable chats, AI-powered custom Bitmoji looks, map reactions, emoji reactions, and more. With the new AI reminders feature, Snapchat is hoping users will use
Snapchat’s ‘My AI’ chatbot can now set in-app reminders and countdowns Read More »
WhatsApp is introducing a new way for people to organize events in Communities, the company announced on Wednesday. The feature makes it easier to plan get-togethers and events directly in WhatsApp, whether it’s setting up a PTA meeting or a birthday dinner. Anyone can create an event that others can respond to, so everyone else
WhatsApp now lets users plan and schedule events in Communities Read More »
Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in the fall of 2022, the market for Twitter alternatives has been saturated with would-be competitors ranging from smaller startups to open source apps to well-funded efforts like Threads from Instagram. But there’s one overlooked Twitter/X alternative that’s been growing right under our collective noses: LinkedIn. As of March, LinkedIn’s
LinkedIn is the Twitter/X rival no one is talking about Read More »
Back in March, TechCrunch broke the news that LinkedIn was quietly testing the waters for games on its platform — word and logic puzzles similar to Wordle. Now, in an effort to attract more users and increase engagement, the platform is launching three of those games officially. Queens, Crossclimb and Pinpoint — respectively testing your
