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.
Fast-food chain Whataburger’s app has gone viral in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, which left around 1.8 million utility customers in Houston, Texas without power. Hundreds of thousands of those…
Talky social app Airchat gets a major overhaul, making it more like an asynchronous Clubhouse
The concept of Airchat is fun, especially if you’re someone who loves to send voice memos instead of typing out long paragraphs on your phone keyboard.
Ahead of these potential competitors comes Openvibe, a simple aggregator for the open social web.
Two of my friends died within the last three years. By some coincidence, both of their birthdays fall in the beginning of July. So, twice this week, Facebook has reminded…
The feature puts Spotify in more direct competition with YouTube as a place where creators can interact with their listeners.
The essential labor of data work, like moderation and annotation, is systematically hidden from those who benefit from the fruits of that labor. A new project puts the lived experiences…
Over the past few days, Ghost says it has achieved two major milestones in its move to become a federated service.
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, Figma CEO Dylan…
How to set up parental controls on Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and more popular sites
We’ve created this guide to help parents navigate the controls offered by popular social media companies.
Elon Musk’s X is exploring more ways to integrate xAI’s Grok into the social networking app. According to a series of recent discoveries, X is developing new features like the…
Fizz, the anonymous Gen Z social app, adds a marketplace for college students
Teddy Solomon just moved to a new house in Palo Alto, so he turned to the Stanford community on Fizz to furnish his room. “Every time I show up to…
noplace, a mashup of Twitter and Myspace for Gen Z, hits No. 1 on the App Store
Noplace had already gone viral ahead of its public launch because of its feature that allows users to express themselves by customizing the colors of their profile.
Threads nears its one-year anniversary with more than 175M monthly active users
Meta’s Threads now has more than 175 million monthly active users, Mark Zuckerberg announced on Wednesday. The announcement comes two days away from Threads’ first anniversary. Zuckerberg revealed back in…
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…
The White House will host a conference for social media creators
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.
