On Friday, the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz tweeted out a link to its guide on how to “build your social media presence,” which features advice for founders on things like “how to find your people” and “how often to post.” The timing of the tweet was ironic given the social media frenzy on Friday after […]
A16z offers social media tips after its founder’s ‘attack’ tweet goes viral Read More »
An AI social media vetting startup Ferretly has raised $2.5 million in seed funding and is launching a new platform designed to screen election personnel. Founded in 2019, Ferretly leverages AI to scan social media and publicly available online data to uncover potential risks and behaviors that traditional background checks may overlook. The startup is
Grok, not to be confused with the homophonic AI startup Groq that this morning raised over $600 million, spread 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, SpaceX and X CEO
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Justice Department are suing TikTok and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, with violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a law that 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
FTC and Justice Department sue TikTok over alleged child privacy violations Read More »
Pinterest is reimagining its app for the TikTok era. Catering to Gen Z’s demand for video-focused features, the company on Tuesday announced it will now allow users to create short videos of their curated Pinterest boards, designed to be shared on social media. The new addition was inspired by the video-sharing activity that was already
This week while scrolling on X, formerly Twitter, I noticed that I had reposted a series of TechCrunch articles. Except, wait, no, I hadn’t. But someone else using my name had. I clicked on the profile, and there was another Rebecca Bellan, using the same default and header photos as my actual profile: me onstage
X still has a Verified bot problem — this time they came for TechCrunch writers Read More »
Butterflies is a social network where humans and AIs interact with each other through posts, comments and DMs. After five months in beta, the app is launching Tuesday to the public on iOS and Android. Anyone can create an AI persona, called a Butterfly, in minutes on the app. After that, the Butterfly automatically creates
Former Snap engineer launches Butterflies, a social network where AIs and humans coexist Read More »
There has been a lot of bad news about social media startups lately. Multiple companies, including Twitter alternative Post News, and IRL have shut down. And ShareChat’s valuation has dropped more than 50% after a recent funding round. But amid the negative headlines, the recent exit of French social network BeReal looks like a bright
BeReal got its best-case scenario exit Read More »
In order to have users spend more time on the platform and ramp up engagement, TikTok is testing streaks that are similar to what people see on Snapchat. TikTok confirmed that it is testing the feature but didn’t provide any statement related to it. The company said that it is experimenting with the streaks feature
TikTok is testing Snapchat-like streaks Read More »
Instagram confirmed it’s testing unskippable ads after screenshots of the feature began circulating across social media. These new ad breaks will display a countdown timer that stops users from being able to browse through more content on the app until they view the ad, according to informational text displayed in the Instagram app. The change
Instagram confirms test of ‘unskippable’ ads Read More »
