Social
Social networking shapes society and our news coverage reflects and directs that. We keep tabs on all the biggest social companies, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Reddit, as well as funding and acquisitions of new social startups.
X weighs adding a downvote button to replies — but it doesn’t want to emulate Reddit
code references found in the X iOS app indicate that the company could be considering adding downvotes for replies only to improve how they’re ranked.
Snapchat is introducing new ways for users to personalize their accounts, the company announced on Tuesday. The updates, which are mostly available for Snapchat+ subscribers, allow users to do things…
“Fediverse” is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it actually mean? The word comes from “federation” and “universe”…
Music, podcasts, audiobooks…emergency alerts? Spotify’s latest test has the streaming app venturing into new territory with a test of an emergency alerts system in its home market of Sweden. According…
Supreme Court sends Texas and Florida social media regulation laws back to lower courts
The Supreme Court on Monday vacated two judicial decisions concerning Republican-backed laws from Florida and Texas aimed at limiting social media companies’ ability to moderate content on their platforms. The…
Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model fails EU competition rules, Commission finds
The EC has found that Meta’s “pay or consent” offer to Facebook and Instagram users in Europe does not comply with the bloc’s DMA.
Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review — TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. This week, Apple finally added…
President Joe Biden’s administration is doubling down on its interest in the creator economy. In August, the White House will host the first-ever White House Creator Economy Conference, which will…
There were definite differences between how the two platforms managed last night, with some saying X felt more alive, and others asserting that Threads proved that X is no longer…
Will AI get an A+ in edtech? MagicSchool raises $15M to find out
These days, when you hear about students and generative AI, chances are that you’re getting a taste of the debate over the adoption of tools like ChatGPT. Are they a…
Reddit is taking a stand against AI companies — or at least asking them to pay up. Earlier this week, Reddit announced that it’s changing…
Just in time for the debates, Meta fixes bug impacting users’ political content settings on Instagram and Threads
Meta has fixed the bug that caused people to believe the company had adjusted their selections in a political content settings tool without their consent. The issue had impacted users…
Like Instagram, Whee also supports the use of photo filters and includes messaging. However, the company’s plans for Whee aren’t clear.
Photographers are claiming that Meta is tagging their real photos as “Made with AI.” Meta introduced this automated tag to help people understand when what…
Supreme Court rejects claim that Biden administration pressured social media firms into removing misinformation
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a Republican-led challenge to the Biden administration’s communication with social media companies to combat online misinformation on topics related to COVID-19 and the 2020…
Strava to shutter 3D mapping platform Fatmap 20 months after acquisition
Activity tracking platform and community Strava is shutting down Fatmap, the Europe-based 3D mapping platform it had acquired last January.
Featured Article
Welcome to the fediverse: Your guide to Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky and more
The fediverse isn’t just another social media platform; it’s a rallying cry and a manifesto of sorts.
Threads users can now share to the open social web, aka the fediverse
Instagram’s Twitter/X rival Threads is furthering its expansion into the fediverse — the interconnected social network that includes apps like Mastodon, PeerTube and others running the ActivityPub protocol. On Tuesday,…
X still has a verified bot problem. Also, grass is green. We knew it would be a bad idea to let anyone pay for a…
Snapchat introduces new safety features to limit bad actors from contacting users
Snapchat on Tuesday announced a new suite of safety features, including updates to its account blocking functionality and enhanced friending safeguards, making it difficult for strangers to contact users on…
Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review — TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. This week, Ilya Sutskever launched…
X still has a Verified bot problem — this time they came for TechCrunch writers
Really, X should have learned its lesson by now.
Instagram now lets users livestream exclusively to their Close Friends list
Instagram is introducing the ability for users to broadcast live to just their Close Friends list, the company announced on Thursday. The new “Close Friends on Live” feature allows users…
Roots introduces a screen time app for tracking ‘digital dopamine’
Roots is designed to help people get a better handle on what sort of apps are worth spending time on and which are not.
Let’s face it — ads on YouTube can be a nuisance. Whether you’re in the middle of a tutorial or catching up on your favorite…
Former Snap engineer launches Butterflies, a social network where AIs and humans coexist
Butterflies wants to let users create AI personas that then take on their own lives and coexist with others.
Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review — TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference had…
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…
Every big social network and internet platform has been hyping new AI features, so it’s probably no surprise that LinkedIn is moving in that direction,…
Meta pauses plans to train AI using European users’ data, bowing to regulatory pressure
Meta has confirmed that it will pause plans to start training its AI systems using data from its users in the European Union and U.K. The move follows pushback from…
