All articles tagged with #social network
An APK teardown of the Google Photos app suggests that a significant revamp of the sharing page is in the works, potentially transforming it into a social notification feed with likes and comments. Additionally, a new UI improvement for storage management may be introduced, helping users free up space more efficiently.
LinkedIn experienced a global outage, affecting job listings, resumes, and influencers, with reports of problems starting at 3:45PM ET and the platform confirming the issues at 4:04PM ET. The outage was resolved by 5:05PM ET, and there is no indication that it was connected to Meta’s technical issue the day before. The outage affected multiple countries and was not linked to any other known technical problems.
Social network Threads plans to make its API widely available to developers by June, allowing users to authenticate, publish threads, and fetch content. The company is currently working with a limited number of partners and aims to add more capabilities for moderation and insights gathering. While Meta-owned Threads is making strides in opening up its API, it remains to be seen if this will enable developers to build alternative clients for the platform, amid increasing restrictions on user data access for third-party apps on social networks.
Bluesky, a social network championed by Jack Dorsey, has opened up for anyone to sign up, moving away from its previous invite-only model. The platform, resembling Twitter in many ways, offers more customization options but does not yet support direct messaging. Bluesky plans to allow users to move their data to competing social networks and aims to be the last social account users will ever need to create. However, achieving interoperability with other platforms may not be straightforward, as Bluesky uses a different federation algorithm called the Authenticated Transfer Protocol compared to other services like Mastodon and Meta's Threads, which use ActivityPub.
Instagram co-founders' news aggregation startup Artifact is shutting down after struggling to define its identity and facing increased competition in the news aggregator and social network space. The app, which evolved from a news reading app to a curation and news discovery platform, will wind down operations due to the market opportunity not being big enough to warrant continued investment. Despite the shutdown, co-founder Kevin Systrom believes that news and information remain critical areas for startup investment and that other "bright minds" are working on ideas in this area.
Threads accidentally rolled out a new "Latest" option to sort search results on its iOS app, which was actually an internal prototype and not meant for external testing. Instagram Head Adam Mosseri had previously explained that such a feature could create a "safety loophole" due to potential spam and bad content. Threads had been testing the search feature in select countries and recently expanded it to all languages and the EU.
X's ad revenue is expected to fall to $2.5 billion in 2023, according to a Bloomberg report, which aligns with previous statements from X's owner. The report states that X's advertising revenue for each of the first three quarters of the year was "a little more than $600 million," and a similar result is expected for the fourth quarter. This accounts for 70-75% of X's total revenue, indicating that the company's total revenue for the year will likely be between $3.2 billion and $3.4 billion. The article also compares X's revenues and valuation to that of Snap, another social network.
Threads, the social network from Meta, is introducing tags that function like hashtags but without the hash symbol. Users can add tags to their posts, which can be words or phrases with spaces, and can use special characters. Tags make posts more discoverable in searches, but users can only tag one topic per post to prevent spam. Meta plans to launch Threads in the European Union this month.
Strava, the social network for athletes, has introduced a direct messaging feature that allows users to send text messages, share Strava routes, and send GIFs. Users can choose to accept messages from nobody, everyone, or only people they follow. The feature is currently available only on the app and not on desktop. Users can also create group chat sessions and use shortcut commands to add GIFs to their messages. While the feature may not be heavily used, it can be useful for contacting fellow athletes after group rides or runs.
Letterboxd, the popular social network for movie buffs, has announced that it is selling a majority stake in the company to Tiny, a public company in Canada. The deal values Letterboxd at over $50 million. The founders reassured users that they will remain involved and that the service itself will not change immediately. The founders also mentioned plans to incorporate TV recommendations and reviews in the future. Letterboxd experienced significant growth during the pandemic, with over 10 million registered accounts. Tiny, a holding company, plans to support Letterboxd's expansion while maintaining its existing business model.
Artifact, the platform created by Instagram's co-founders, is expanding its services by introducing a new feature called "Posts," allowing users to create and share their own content directly on the platform. This move positions Artifact as a direct competitor to social networks like X (formerly Twitter) and Meta's Threads. The feature builds on Artifact's recent launch of Links, enabling users to share URLs and personalize their content discovery. With the addition of Posts, users can now share thoughts, reviews, ideas, and more. Artifact aims to leverage machine learning and mobile technology for its potential success, while also exploring how to achieve scale.
Meta's Threads social network is introducing two new features, including a "Reposts" tab for profiles, allowing users to view all their reposted content in one place. Additionally, the Following Feed will now display reposts from people you follow, expanding beyond original posts. These updates come as Meta continues to work on bigger changes for Threads, such as a desktop version and advanced search features.
Mastodon, an open-source Twitter alternative, has released a significant update to its Android app, featuring a complete Material You redesign and revamped features such as tab bars and settings. The app now offers more customization options, including the ability to change the default posting language and hide boost and favorite counters. Users can also access server information and view rules. The refreshed user profile section now displays all featured content, and users can filter content and temporarily pause notifications. The app also improves the display of verifications, making it easier to find notable people to follow. The update comes as Mastodon's active user base reaches 1.4 million monthly active users, up 19% but down from its peak popularity last year.
Reddit is reportedly laying off 90 employees, which is around 5% of its current workforce, and slowing down hiring this year. The social network wants to focus on achieving its biggest goals, such as breaking even next year. In addition, Reddit announced in April that it will start charging developers for access to its API, affecting even independent developers. Dozens of subreddit communities across various topics are now planning to go dark starting on June 12th as an act of protest.
Bluesky, a social network developed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is gaining popularity among Twitter users who are dissatisfied with the platform's content moderation and verification system. Bluesky aims to build a protocol for public conversation that could make social networks work more like email or phone numbers, allowing for interoperability between different platforms. However, it remains to be seen whether Bluesky can replace Twitter as a global information conduit, as it lacks many of the features Twitter has built out over the years.