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.
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…
WhatsApp adds new features to the calling experience, including support for 32-person video calls
WhatsApp updated the video calling experience across devices on Thursday by introducing screen sharing with audio support and a new speaker spotlight feature. It’s also increasing the limit for video…
LinkedIn is launching new AI tools to help you look for jobs, write cover letters and job applications, personalize learning, and a new search experience.
TechCrunch Minute: Apple’s Genmoji will let you generate infinitely customizable emojis
One of the many new features that Apple announced earlier this week under the broad umbrella of Apple Intelligence is something it calls Genmoji, which…
TikTok comes for Google as it quietly rolls out image search capabilities in TikTok Shop
After leading the social media landscape, TikTok appears to be interested in challenging Google’s dominance in search. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s testing the ability for users to…
BeReal is being acquired by mobile apps and games company Voodoo for €500M
The acquisition comes as BeReal was struggling to grow its user base and was looking for a buyer.
New York moves to limit kids’ access to ‘addictive feeds’
New York’s state legislature has passed a bill that would prohibit social media companies from showing “addictive feeds” to children under 18, unless they obtain parental consent. The Stop Addictive…
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. There’s more bad news for…
Meta is quietly rolling out a new “Communities” feature on Messenger, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature is designed to help organizations, schools and other private groups communicate in…
Featured Article
A social app for creatives, Cara grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies
Artists have finally had enough with Meta’s predatory AI policies, but Meta’s loss is Cara’s gain. An artist-run, anti-AI social platform, Cara has grown from 40,000 to 650,000 users within the last week, catapulting it to the top of the App Store charts. Instagram is a necessity for many artists,…
Welcome to Elon Musk’s X. The social network formerly known as Twitter where the rules are made up and the check marks don’t matter. Or do they? The Tesla and…
Bluesky and Mastodon users can now talk to each other with Bridgy Fed
Bridgy Fed is one of the efforts aimed at connecting the fediverse with the web, Bluesky and, perhaps later, other networks like Nostr.
Cameo fumbles on Ms. Rachel fundraiser as fans receive credits instead of videos
Ms. Rachel isn’t a household name, but if you spend a lot of time with toddlers, she might as well be a rockstar. She’s like Steve from Blues Clues for…
TechCrunch Minute: How YouTube leaks became so common — and what it means for Google
Sometimes, leaked corporate documents detail the darkest realities of Silicon Valley. Other times, they tell us that there’s a Yoshi game coming out. After years…
The malicious attack appears to have involved malware transmitted through TikTok’s DMs.
TechCrunch Minute: How misinformation gets amplified on social media
As election season sneaks up on us in the U.S., the journal Science published two studies that help us understand what happened online during the…
Instagram Threads is rolling out the ability for users to signal which sort of posts they wanted to see more or less of by swiping.
Malicious actors are abusing generative AI music tools to create homophobic, racist, and propagandistic songs — and publishing guides instructing others how to do so as well. According to ActiveFence,…
The change would see Instagram becoming more like the free version of YouTube, which requires users to view ads before and in the middle of watching videos.
Inside the demise of EV startup Fisker, and X’s new rules allow adult content
We’re kicking off the week with a deep dive from this weekend into the demise of electric vehicle startup Fisker at the hands of its…
X will now allow users to post consensually produced NSFW content as long as it is prominently labeled as such.
Less than one year after its iOS launch, French startup ten ten has gone viral with a walkie talkie app that allows teens to send voice messages to their close…
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump now has an account on the short-form video app that he once tried to ban. Trump’s TikTok account, which launched on Saturday night, features…
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. Over the past eight years,…
Tumblr officially shut down “Tips,” an opt-in feature where creators could receive one-time payments from their followers. As of today, the tipping icon has automatically disappeared from all posts and…
Yes, we’re calling it “ThreadsDeck” now. At least that’s the tag many are using to describe the new user interface for Instagram’s X competitor, Threads, which resembles the column-based format…
TechCrunch Minute: Is meme tech the next big startup category?
Meme Depot, which launched earlier this week, is a startup aiming to create a new category called “meme tech.” More specifically, founder Alex Taub said…
Instagram tests ‘trial reels’ that don’t display to a creator’s followers
Instagram is testing a way for creators to experiment with reels without committing to having them displayed on their profiles, giving the social network a possible edge over TikTok and…
