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Instagram now lets users livestream exclusively to their Close Friends list

Aisha Malik — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:00:00 +0000

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 to go live with up to three other people. Instagram says the new feature can be used to share what’s on your mind, spontaneously catch […]

Roots introduces a screen time app for tracking ‘digital dopamine’

Sarah Perez — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 13:30:40 +0000

Roots is designed to help people get a better handle on what sort of apps are worth spending time on and which are not.

Former Snap engineer launches Butterflies, a social network where AIs and humans coexist

Aisha Malik — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Butterflies wants to let users create AI personas that then take on their own lives and coexist with others.

Apple ushers in a new era with Apple Intelligence

Cody Corrall — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 20:15:00 +0000

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 a sizable focus on AI. Apple unveiled its generative AI offering, Apple Intelligence, which will be available in iOS later this year. iOS 18 will […]

Deal Dive: BeReal got its best-case scenario exit

Rebecca Szkutak — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 16:00:00 +0000

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 […]

Meta pauses plans to train AI using European users’ data, bowing to regulatory pressure

Paul Sawers — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 15:33:47 +0000

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 the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), Meta’s lead regulator in the EU, which is acting on behalf of several data protection authorities across the bloc. […]

WhatsApp adds new features to the calling experience, including support for 32-person video calls

Jagmeet Singh — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:54:57 +0000

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 call participants to up to 32 people. In August last year, WhatsApp introduced screen-sharing support for video calls. The instant messaging app has now enhanced […]

LinkedIn leans on AI to do the work of job hunting

Ingrid Lunden — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:00:00 +0000

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.

TikTok comes for Google as it quietly rolls out image search capabilities in TikTok Shop

Aisha Malik — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 18:40:53 +0000

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 take or upload a photo to find similar products in TikTok Shop. The feature, which was first spotted by X user Jonah Manzano, is available […]

BeReal is being acquired by mobile apps and games company Voodoo for €500M

Aisha Malik — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 15:28:12 +0000

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’

Anthony Ha — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 15:49:55 +0000

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 Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act defines an addictive feed as one where the content is recommended or prioritized based on information about the user […]

How India’s most valuable startup ended up being worth nothing

Cody Corrall — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 20:15:00 +0000

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 Byju’s. In a research note, HSBC estimates that the Indian edtech giant, once valued at $22 billion, is now worth nothing. The write-down in its […]

Meta quietly rolls out Communities on Messenger

Aisha Malik — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 13:52:38 +0000

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 a more organized and structured way. Meta introduced Communities on WhatsApp back in 2022. The feature lets people connect with others without needing an associated […]

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

Amanda Silberling — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 15:44:33 +0000

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, who use the platform to […]

Elon Musk’s X: A complete timeline of what Twitter has become

Amanda Silberling, Cody Corrall, Alyssa Stringer — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 20:45:00 +0000

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 SpaceX CEO announced his bid to buy Twitter in April 2022, zealously driven to rid the platform of spam bots and protect free speech. Musk […]

Bluesky and Mastodon users can now talk to each other with Bridgy Fed

Sarah Perez — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 19:27:58 +0000

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

Amanda Silberling — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 17:03:06 +0000

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 the next generation — instead of a network TV show, she has a YouTube channel with 10 million subscribers. A music teacher named Rachel Accurso […]

TikTok acknowledges exploit targeting high-profile accounts

Sarah Perez — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 18:33:18 +0000

The malicious attack appears to have involved malware transmitted through TikTok's DMs.

You can now customize your For You feed on Threads using swipes

Sarah Perez — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 20:38:18 +0000

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.

People are using AI music generators to create hateful songs

Kyle Wiggers — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 19:19:19 +0000

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, a service for managing trust and safety operations on online platforms, there’s been a spike in chatter within “hate speech-related” communities since March about ways […]