Social

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is reshaping social media, but advertising isn’t off the table

Social /

Bluesky has blown up this year thanks to a vibrant community of posters, user customization choices, and a decentralized protocol that doesn’t lock users into the choices of a billionaire CEO. But one question mark hanging over Bluesky is how the platform will eventually make money, and whether it will use the most common business […]

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is reshaping social media, but advertising isn’t off the table Read More »

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber on the need for social to recapture the open web’s spirit at StrictlyVC SF

Social /

Bluesky’s rapid growth in the past few weeks has put a ton of eyeballs on the social platform, but as its CEO Jay Graber told us at the most recent StrictlyVC event, their goal is not just to recreate Twitter. Throughout her conversation with TechCrunch reporter Maxwell Zeff, Graber highlighted her belief that “people need

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber on the need for social to recapture the open web’s spirit at StrictlyVC SF Read More »

Spotify users are disappointed by an underwhelming Wrapped this year

Social /

After weeks of anticipation, some Spotify users are left underwhelmed by the streamer’s personalized year-in-review feature, Spotify Wrapped — with many even going so far as to call it “boring” or a “flop.” Chief among the complaints are that Spotify prioritized the inclusion of an AI podcast for Wrapped over the other, clever and creative

Spotify users are disappointed by an underwhelming Wrapped this year Read More »

Instagram now lets creators enable replies in Broadcast Channels

Social /

Meta is updating its Broadcast Channels feature on Instagram in an effort to make it easier for creators to collaborate with their followers, the company announced on Wednesday. Up until now, viewers could not respond to a creator’s post in a Broadcast Channel, and were limited to emoji reactions. Now, the company is giving creators

Instagram now lets creators enable replies in Broadcast Channels Read More »

TikTok adds new ways for creators to raise money for charities

Social /

TikTok is rolling out new ways for creators to raise money for charities and causes they’re passionate about. The company is partnering with Goodstack, a fintech company that manages charitable donations, to enable creators to support organizations from its validated database of nonprofit partners, including the American Red Cross and Save the Children. TikTok is

TikTok adds new ways for creators to raise money for charities Read More »

‘Brain rot’ wins as Oxford’s word of the year

Social /

According to Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the term ‘brain rot’ is defined as the “supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state” as it relates to overdosing on online content without much of a narrative — like TikTok videos. Brain rot is also the outfit’s so-called word of

‘Brain rot’ wins as Oxford’s word of the year Read More »

Meta plans to build a $10B subsea cable spanning the world, sources say

Social /

Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is the second-biggest driver of internet usage globally. Its properties — and their billions of users — account for 10% of all fixed and 22% of all mobile traffic. Meta’s investments into artificial intelligence stand to boost that usage even further. So to make sure it will

Meta plans to build a $10B subsea cable spanning the world, sources say Read More »