As Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, gears up to report its quarterly earnings next week, it looks like the company is making some moves to beef up its primary business line, advertising. TechCrunch has learned that the company has acquired Metamarkets, an ad tech startup that provides programmatic ad data-related services to marketers, such as a data dashboard to measure how campaigns… Read More
Category: Social
Query friends or fans with new GIF and photo Facebook Polls
Facebook Questions first launched in 2010 as a Quora wannabe before shifting into lighter-weight polls, but Facebook shut the feature down in 2012. Apparently it was just ahead of its time as Facebook went poll-crazy this year, adding them to Instagram Stories and Messenger group chat as well as buying hit teen anonymous polling app tbh. Plus it’s had bare-bones multiple-choice text… Read More
Trump’s Twitter account temporarily disappeared
President Trump’s infamous Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump went briefly offline on Thursday, setting forth a wave of confusion and emotions. Trump’s Twitter account appears to be down. pic.twitter.com/VLNfnGcz6H — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 2, 2017 If Trump’s Twitter is down, does this technically mean he’s no longer POTUS?
I mean, it’s… Read More
Snap joins the great burger debate with launch of dancing burger AR lens
Just when you thought great burger debate had abated, Snapchat has arrived to pour more lighter fluid on the grill. This week, Snap unveiled a cheeseburger AR filter, and it has the same devil-may-care attitude as its famous sibling, the dancing …
View More Snap joins the great burger debate with launch of dancing burger AR lensSnap joins the great burger debate with launch of dancing burger AR lens
Just when you thought great burger debate had abated, Snapchat has arrived to pour more lighter fluid on the grill. This week, Snap unveiled a cheeseburger AR filter, and it has the same devil-may-care attitude as its famous sibling, the dancing …
View More Snap joins the great burger debate with launch of dancing burger AR lensHere’s how Russia targeted its fake Facebook ads and how those ads performed
It’s impossible to know just how much stuff being circulated on social networks is Russian state content in sheep’s clothing, although tech companies are scrambling to figure that out. Now, thanks to Congress, we just got a rare peek behind the curtain of how Facebook’s ad operations were manipulated by a foreign power to foment outrage and division in American society. Read More
Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status hit 300M users, nearly 2X Snapchat
Instagram and WhatsApp’s Snapchat clones aren’t slowing down. Today Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status both now have 300 million daily active users. That’s up from 250 million for Instagram in June, and WhatsApp in July. That makes the copies almost twice the size of the original, as Snapchat’s entire app only has 173 million… Read More
Reddit CEO talks taking site from ‘dystopian Craigslist’ to ‘the most human place on the internet’
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman took to the site for his “quarterly inquisition,” an AMA where he fielded questions from users and moderators. The discussion today focused on empowering mods to do what they need to do, which should have a knock-on effect in creating functional communities. But he also addressed some politically sensitive issues, from election interference to… Read More
Zuck says ad transparency regulation would be ‘very good if it’s done well’
Despite Facebook’s effort to rapidly self-regulate in the wake of Russian interference in the U.S. election using Facebook ads, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he would support government regulation if implemented properly. Meanwhile, Facebook elevated its expense estimates for 2018 to fund security hiring. Read More
Facebook beats in Q3 with $4.7B profit, record share price despite Russia
Facebook is still in the middle of its House Intelligence Committee hearing about Russian election interference, but the looming concerns over misuse haven’t dampened its business as profits continue to soar and its share price hits an all-time high. Still, CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw it fit to break from his traditional “Our business is doing well” script to add “But none… Read More
Here are the Russian ads that deceived users on Facebook and Instagram
Russian interests have been attempting to influence public opinion via social media to an extent no one expected. The content itself, however, has largely been a mystery — the ads and fake accounts have long been taken down. But Facebook delivered them to Congress as part of an ongoing inquiry, and the House’s Intelligence Committee has posted a handful ahead of its hearing tomorrow. Read More
Trump and Clinton spent $81M on US election Facebook ads, Russian agency $46K
Russian information troll farm the Internert Research Agency spent just 0.05% as much on Facebook ads as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s campaigns combined in the run up to the 2016 US presidential election. Clinton and Trump spent $81 million, while the IRA spent $46,000. Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch revealed these figures today during the Senate Intelligence… Read More