Category: Social

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Instagram is upgrading its direct messages, also known as DMs, with a handful of new features that make its messaging system more competitive with alternatives, like Apple’s iMessage and other third-party apps. On Wednesday, Instagram users globally will gain access to tools to translate messages across 99 languages, tools to schedule and pin messages to…

Facebook now only stores live videos for 30 days, will delete old broadcasts

February 18, 2025

Facebook announced on Tuesday that live videos will now only be stored on the social network for 30 days, after which they will be deleted. Previously, these videos were stored indefinitely. The change goes into effect on Wednesday. All live videos that are currently older than 30 days will be removed from the platform as…

X is blocking links to Signal, a secure messaging platform used by federal workers

February 17, 2025

Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) is blocking links to Signal.me, a URL shortener used by the private messaging app Signal that allows users to send out a link that’s used to contact them directly through the service. The blocks, which impact direct messages, public posts, and profile pages, were first spotted by the blog Disruptionist. …

Mastodon is working to add the controversial ‘quote posts’ feature

February 14, 2025

Mastodon, the decentralized alternative to X, is going to adopt a controversial feature from the platform formerly known as Twitter: quote posts. The company on Friday shared the progress it’s making on the implementation of the feature, which has divided users over its potential to be used for online abuse and bullying. Critics have long…

Reddit hints at expanded AI-powered search

February 12, 2025

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said that, over this year, Reddit plans to launch an upgraded search experience that’ll help users navigate the social network, but also answer “subjective, hard, [and] interesting questions.” The company plans to achieve this by integrating Reddit Answers, its feature that allows visitors to ask questions and receive curated summaries of…

Lanch bags $27M for a social media-skewed take on fast food

February 12, 2025

E-commerce startups built around food continue to gobble up funding as investors look for sticky consumer concepts that can scale without breaking the bank. On Wednesday, Germany’s Lanch — which taps social media and influencers to develop popular food brands alongside retail networks for distributing them — closed funding of €26 million ($27 million) to…

How to delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads

February 11, 2025

In the wake of Meta’s decision to remove its third-party fact-checking system and loosen content moderation policies, Google searches on how to delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads have been on the rise. People who are angry with the decision accuse Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of cozying up to the Trump administration at the expense of…

Tumblr to join the fediverse after WordPress migration completes

February 11, 2025

Since 2022, blogging site Tumblr has been teasing its plans to integrate with the fediverse — the open social web powered by the protocol ActivityPub also used by Mastodon, Threads, Flipboard, and others. Now, the Automattic-owned blogging platform is sharing more information about when and how that integration could actually happen. As it turns out,…

TikTok wants Android users to sideload its app

February 10, 2025

With TikTok’s fate in the U.S. uncertain — its ban in the country has been paused, but only temporarily, thanks to an executive order from President Donald Trump — the ByteDance-owned company is now encouraging Android device owners to sideload its video app onto their phones and tablets. The company announced in a Friday X…

These apps are building Instagram alternatives on open protocols

February 9, 2025

Consumer demand for alternatives to Big Tech’s social apps is heating up. Alternative social networks like Bluesky and Mastodon are gaining traction with people looking to leave X, while others are building ban-proof TikTok alternatives on open protocols. Similarly, many independent developers are also working on open, decentralized alternatives to Instagram, Meta’s flagship photo-sharing app…

Meta launches new program to improve speech and translation AI

February 7, 2025

Meta is launching a new program in partnership with UNESCO to collect speech recordings and transcriptions the company said will help the development of future openly available AI. The program, the Language Technology Partner Program, is seeking collaborators who can contribute more than 10 hours of speech recordings with transcriptions, large amounts of written text,…

Early Meta employee sues for sexual harassment, gender discrimination

February 6, 2025

One of Meta’s earliest employees is suing the company for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed this week in the state of Washington. Kelly Stonelake, who spent 15 years at the company and rose to the rank of director, alleges in the lawsuit she faced a cycle of gender-based discrimination…

Flashes, a photo-sharing app for Bluesky, opens beta

February 6, 2025

Flashes, an Instagram alternative built on top of the Bluesky social network, is now opening its doors to beta testers. Announced just weeks ago, the app offers people a means of exiting Meta’s social networking empire for a more open alternative, while also attracting new users who may not have been interested in using Bluesky’s…

Tinder revamps ‘Explore’ page to connect people with similar dating intentions

February 6, 2025

Dating app giant Tinder updated its Explore page to give users access to new categories, “Non-Monogamy,” “Serious Dater,” “Short-Term Fun,” “Long-Term Partner,” and “New Friends,” the company announced on Thursday. These new categories are designed to help users find compatible matches by grouping profiles according to dating intentions. The “Serious Dater” option focuses on users…

Snap says TikTok uncertainty benefited its business

February 4, 2025

During Snap’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Evan Spiegel said that the uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future has positively affected its business. “We’re not trying to draw too many conclusions from some of the engagement lift we saw when [TikTok] went dark for that brief period of time. I would say that the overall environment…

Challenging Bluesky, Threads now allows for public custom feeds

February 4, 2025

Meta’s Threads is doubling down on support for custom feeds as it faces challenges from the growing social network Bluesky, now with over 30 million users, which also offers custom feeds as one of its key features. On Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that users can now set their custom feeds to be public…

Adam Candeub, a vocal critic of Big Tech, will reportedly join the FCC

February 3, 2025

Adam Candeub, a known critic of Big Tech, looks poised to join the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Candeub will be general counsel of the FCC, reports Semafor, which cites direct confirmation from FCC chairman Brendan Carr. TechCrunch has reached out to the FCC for more information. Candeub has long been a vocal critic of Section…

Trump says new US sovereign wealth fund could purchase TikTok

February 3, 2025

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to create a U.S. sovereign wealth fund and suggested that it could be used to purchase TikTok. The fund is expected to be created in the next 12 months by the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments, though it’s not immediately clear how. Trump has said previously…

Dub: the copy trading app that has teens talking

February 2, 2025

Social media changed everything from news consumption to shopping. Now, Dub thinks it can do the same for investing through an influencer-driven marketplace where users can follow the trades of top investors with a few taps. Think of it as TikTok meets Wall Street. Founded by 23-year-old Steven Wang — a Harvard drop-out who began…

DeepSeek gets Silicon Valley talking

February 1, 2025

Welcome back to Week in Review. This week we’re looking at DeepSeek’s major boost in the U.S.; Elon Musk admitting he was wrong about FSD; teens losing trust in Big Tech; and more! Let’s do it. DeepSeek went viral this week after its AI models led Wall Street analysts and technologists to question whether the…

How to delete X and move on with your life

February 1, 2025

As Elon Musk’s X sees a decline in daily active users, some people are deciding to ditch the social network entirely, whether that’s for Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, or perhaps, better yet, nothing at all. Since the Tesla and SpaceX CEO bought Twitter in 2022, numerous alternatives have cropped up, seeking to ensnare people who are…

Custom feed builder Graze is building a business on Bluesky, and investors are paying attention

January 31, 2025

A startup called Graze, which lets you build your own feeds for the Bluesky social network, has caught investors’ attention. In addition to offering tools to easily build, customize, publish, and manage Bluesky feeds, Graze will soon allow feed creators to monetize their efforts with advertising, sponsored posts, and subscriptions. In other words, Graze has…

Threads adds a ‘media’ tab and the ability to tag people in photos

January 30, 2025

Meta’s newer social network Threads announced on Thursday that it’s introducing a dedicated “media” tab for both photos and videos, only days after its rivals, including X (formerly Twitter) and the startup Bluesky, did the same for videos. In addition, Meta will also now allow users to tag people in the photos they share. Instagram…

Mark Zuckerberg teases a 2025 return to ‘OG Facebook’

January 30, 2025

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased a “return to OG Facebook” as part of his key goals for 2025 in Wednesday’s Q4 earnings call with investors. While the company was short on details as to what specific changes lay in store, it’s clear that Meta is in desperate need of younger Facebook users to sustain itself…

Automattic and others back Openvibe, an app that’s unifying the open social web

January 28, 2025

Openvibe’s clever app that integrates multiple open social networks including Bluesky, Mastodon, Nostr, and Threads, just got a boost toward its future development. The company on Tuesday announced that it has received outside investment of $800,000 in a round led by Czech Founders VC, which includes backing from WordPress.com and Tumblr parent company, Automattic, as…

Reelo stands out among the apps building a ‘TikTok for Bluesky’

January 28, 2025

There are a number of projects now underway that are focused on developing a video-first app for the open source social network Bluesky. However, one stands out from the rest: An upcoming app called Reelo isn’t building on top of the Bluesky social network, as so many others are, but is building on the underlying…

Bluesky adds video to user profiles

January 27, 2025

Social network Bluesky is doubling down on video. After it added a new TikTok-like custom video feed last week in the wake of the U.S. ban on the popular video app (now on pause), the company on Monday announced it’s adding a new video tab to Bluesky user profiles. The tab will allow people to…

Perplexity submits a new bid for TikTok

January 26, 2025

Perplexity AI has submitted a revised proposal to merge with TikTok, in an arrangement that would give the U.S. government up to 50 percent ownership of the new entity. The Associated Press first reported on the new proposal. A source with knowledge of the bid confirmed to TechCrunch that the AP’s reporting is accurate. The…

Trump administration reportedly negotiating an Oracle takeover of TikTok

January 25, 2025

The Trump administration is negotiating a deal that would see Oracle take over TikTok alongside new U.S. investors, according to a report in NPR. Lawmakers passed a bill last year forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to either sell TikTok or see it banned in the U.S. The app briefly went dark before the law took…

OpenAI wants to take over your browser

January 25, 2025

Welcome back to Week in Review. This week we’re diving into OpenAI’s newly released AI agent, called Operator. We also look at where TikTok stands after being resuscitated, whether it’s time to go back to Tumblr, and more! Let’s get into it. OpenAI launched a research preview of Operator, a general-purpose AI agent that can…

Open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp raise funds on Kickstarter

January 24, 2025

The developer behind Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup, open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, respectively, is now raising funds on Kickstarter to fuel the apps’ further development. The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by X alternative Mastodon. The…

The EU wants to talk to US tech companies ahead of Germany’s upcoming election

January 24, 2025

The European Union will give tech and social media companies a “stress test” to see how they handle misinformation ahead of Germany’s election next month. European Commission officials have invited tech companies, including: X, Meta, Snap, TikTok, Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn, to a meeting on January 31, according to multiple news outlets. During this meeting,…

US users dumped RedNote after Trump paused the TikTok ban

January 24, 2025

In the days leading up to the TikTok ban in the U.S. on Sunday, U.S. users flooded the Chinese app RedNote, which offered a similar experience to their favorite short-form video app. The app, which is listed in the U.S. App Store under its Chinese name Xiaohongshu, quickly became the No. 1 free app in…

Threads rolls out a post scheduler, ‘markup’ feature, and more

January 23, 2025

While Meta lures TikTok creators to Instagram and Facebook with cash bonuses, its X competitor Instagram Threads is now making things easier for creators, brands, and others who need more professional tools to manage their presence on the app. On Thursday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced a small handful of new features coming to Threads,…

Nearly 10 year later, Tumblr TV launches to all as a TikTok alternative

January 22, 2025

In 2015, the blogging site Tumblr launched a GIF discovery feature called Tumblr TV as an experimental product. Now, with the U.S. TikTok ban leaving the fate of the short-form video app uncertain, Tumblr has decided it’s finally time to launch Tumblr TV, which has since evolved to support video, to all its users as…

Nearly 10 years later, Tumblr TV launches to all as a TikTok alternative

January 22, 2025

How to delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads

January 22, 2025

Streaming service Plex gets more social with public profiles and reviews

January 22, 2025

Streaming service Plex has long since grown beyond its original focus of being a home for personal media to offer a more comprehensive solution for discovering, streaming, and sharing content across services, including Plex’s own ad-supported free TV and movies. More recently, the company added social networking features, which it’s today expanding with its rollout…

Elon Musk and Sam Altman take to social media to fight over Stargate

January 22, 2025

Billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are fighting on X about Stargate, the enormous infrastructure project to build data centers for OpenAI across the U.S. Stargate, announced Tuesday during a press conference at the White House, would funnel as much as $500 billion from investors including SoftBank and Middle East AI fund MGX…

Livestream app Favorited, a new TikTok alternative, gets backing from a16z

January 22, 2025

This month, drama unfolded across mainstream social media platforms like TikTok, which briefly went dark in the U.S. before a rapid return. Instagram recently faced backlash after ending its third-party fact-checking program. At the same time, startups like Favorited are attracting attention from investors, creators, and viewers. On Wednesday, the livestream app announced its $1.3…

Dewey launches a solution to save your TikTok favorites … just in case

January 22, 2025

TikTok is back online in the U.S. for the time being, but its future remains uncertain. While many apps have been scrambling to attract TikTok users and creators, a bookmarking backup service called Dewey has launched a solution that saves your favorite TikTok videos and allows you to access them at any time — even…

Trump open to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison buying TikTok

January 22, 2025

President Donald Trump has said he would be open to Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle chairman Larry Ellison buying TikTok as part of join venture with the U.S. government. Trump was asked at a press conference on Tuesday if he was open to “Elon buying TikTok.” He responded that he would be, and added:…

MrBeast is reportedly now among those trying to buy TikTok

January 21, 2025

Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg sanctioned by judge for allegedly deleting emails

January 21, 2025

A Delaware judge has sanctioned Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s former COO and board member, for allegedly deleting emails related to the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal. The decision arises from a case Meta shareholders brought against Sandberg and another former Meta board member, Jeff Zients, late last year. The plaintiffs alleged that Sandberg and Zients used personal…

Meta lures TikTok creators with $5K bonuses, content deals, free verification

January 21, 2025

Meta is luring TikTok creators over to its platforms with the promise of cash bonuses, content deals, and support to grow their communities. The company announced on Tuesday that eligible TikTok creators will be able to earn “up to” $5,000 in bonuses over three months for posting Reels on Facebook and Instagram. These creators will…

Forum software NodeBB joins the fediverse

January 21, 2025

Before there was social media, there were internet forums. Millions of forum sites continue to operate, which is why it’s notable that one top forum software provider, NodeBB, is now joining the fediverse, also known as the open social web. The fediverse today includes apps like decentralized X rival Mastodon, Instagram alternative Pixelfed, an open…

Meta will soon let you link your WhatsApp account with Instagram and Facebook

January 21, 2025

Meta announced on Tuesday that users will soon be able to add their WhatsApp account to their Accounts Center, a hub where users can manage connected experiences across their Facebook, Instagram, and Meta Quest accounts. With this integration, users will be able to cross-post their WhatsApp Status as Stories on Instagram and Facebook, getting rid…

Trump signs exec order, delaying TikTok enforcement action for 75 days

January 20, 2025

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at restoring TikTok service in the U.S. The order instructs relevant government agencies to “pursue a resolution” that “protects national security” while “saving [TikTok.]” Via the order, Trump is instructing the U.S. Attorney General not to take any action for 75 days to enforce the Protecting…

Flipboard’s new app Surf adds its own video feed, too

January 20, 2025

After the TikTok ban went into effect on Sunday, social network Bluesky launched a custom feed for videos on its platform. Now, Flipboard’s newest app, Surf, which is dedicated to browsing the open social web and decentralized services like Mastodon and Bluesky, is taking advantage of that move to introduce a video feed of its…

RedNote, Flip, Clapper and Likee claim the top of the App Store as TikTok comes back online

January 20, 2025

TikTok may be back, but that hasn’t prevented other Chinese competitors from gaining users. In the lead up to a ban on TikTok — which kicked off Sunday and lasted a day — a number of other video apps rose through the ranks and now dominate the App Store’s Top Charts. The Chinese app RedNote…

X is rolling out a dedicated vertical video feed for US users

January 20, 2025

Social network X is trying to capitalize on the removal of ByteDance apps like TikTok and Lemon8 from U.S. app stores by launching a dedicated vertical video feed. The company is adding a video tab in the app’s bottom bar for users in the U.S. to let them quickly access video content on the platform.…

Bluesky launches a custom feed for vertical videos

January 19, 2025

It is the product shipping time for all social networks with TikTok’s services in the restoration phase, and the app still unavailable in the App Store and the Play Store. Bluesky said Sunday that it is launching a custom feed for vertical video in its app. Users can see a trending videos section in the explore tab…

TikTok is restoring service in the US

January 19, 2025

Barely more than 12 hours after TikTok went dark in the United States, the video-sharing app is coming back online. “In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the company said in a statement. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers…

TikTok is restoring service in the US

January 19, 2025

TikTok goes dark in the US

January 19, 2025

TikTok has gone dark in the U.S., the result of a federal law that bans the popular short-form video app for millions of Americans — at least for now. TikTok users began receiving a message about the ban around 10:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday evening, and the app also disappeared from the Apple and Google…

Trump says he will delay TikTok ban, suggests a joint venture with US ownership

January 19, 2025

TikTok went dark for users in the US on Saturday night, but it may not be gone for long. President-elect Donald Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that he will issuing an executive order Monday that will “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a…

TikTok goes dark in the US

January 18, 2025

TikTok has gone dark in the U.S., the result of a federal law that bans the popular social media app for millions of Americans — at least for now. TikTok users began receiving a message about the ban around 10:30 p.m. Eastern. As of Saturday evening, the app was also no longer available in the…

TikTok says it will go dark Sunday unless Biden offers ‘definitive statement’

January 18, 2025

It remains unclear whether TikTok will still be available in US app stores Sunday, with the company claiming that President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration needs to offer “definitive” assurances that it won’t enforce the ban. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld a law that would effectively ban TikTok in the United States if the app’s…

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