TikTok's Algorithm and AI Tech Are Now up for Sale

Now anyone can tap into the secret sauce behind ByteDance’s globally successful TikTok app—for a price. The China-based company quietly launched a new BytePlus division back in June focused on selling TikTok’s artificial intelligence technology, including the popular recommendation algorithm behind its ForYou feed, to…Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Microsoft, China, Software, Alibaba, Tencent, Ibm, Baidu, Freeware, Amazon Web Services, Mobile Applications, Business Finance, Video Software, Bytedance, Tiktok

Instagram Is Pivoting To Video

Like so many media companies before it, Instagram is gearing up for a sweeping embrace of video as its content of choice, the platform’s head, Adam Mosseri, announced on Wednesday. Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Instagram, Youtube, Software, Computing, Operating Systems, Mobile Software, Video Hosting, Internet Celebrity, Adam Mosseri, Video Software, Tiktok, Social Networking Services, Entertainment Culture, Technology Internet

The Indian Government Wants to Break Messaging Encryption, WhatsApp's Suing

WhatsApp is taking India’s government to court over a new mandate that it claims will lead to mass surveillance of users in the company’s biggest market. Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, India, Social Media, Whatsapp, Instant Messaging, Software, Computing, Telegram, Operating Systems, Messaging Apps, Communication Software, Instant Messaging Clients, Cross Platform Software, Social Networking Services

ByteDance CEO to Step Down, Says He'd Rather Daydream Than Manage People

The CEO of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, is stepping down at the end of 2021 according to a memo posted to the ByteDance website on Thursday. And while most corporate transitions are filled with bland PR-speak, Yiming’s departure memo is an interesting case study in honesty.Read more...
Tags: Science, Software, Freeware, Zhongguancun, Business Finance, Jamie Powell, Video Software, Zhang Yiming, Bytedance, Pinduoduo, Tiktok, Li Auto, Yiming, ByteDance Zhang Yiming, Companies Of China, Economy Of China

TikTok Wants To Be Its Own Economy

TikTok is apparently the latest platform to make the shift from social media site to a glorified digital mall. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that TikTok has started floating the idea of in-app shopping to brands over in Europe, hoping to hook young EU shoppers—and their wallets—in the process. Read more...
Tags: Europe, Science, Instagram, Walmart, Eu, Bloomberg, Software, Bloomberg LP, Levi, Mobile Applications, Business Finance, Video Software, Music Software, Bytedance, Tiktok, Application Software

Clubhouse Launches Android Beta as iOS Downloads Nosedive

Good news: The audio-based social network Clubhouse is finally bringing its app to Android after more than a year of iOS exclusivity, the company announced Sunday. Bad news: The beta is only available for U.S. users, and, just as with Clubhouse’s iOS version, it remains invite-only for now. So not just anyone can sign…
Tags: Ios, Android, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Science, Tesla, Smartphones, Software, Freeware, Yo, Internet Culture, Operating Systems, Clubhouse, Mobile Software, Mobile Applications, Social Networking Services

Clubhouse Is Losing Steam

Clubhouse—the company that was making headlines just a few months back for drawing major celebrities (and Elon Musk)—seems to have reached a tipping point. In April, the app reached a grand total of 922,000 downloads, new research found, a sharp downturn after bringing in millions of new users just a month earlier. Read more...
Tags: Android, Twitter, Spotify, Elon Musk, Science, Social Media, Software, Computing, Freeware, Internet Culture, Operating Systems, Clubhouse, Mobile Applications, Clubhouse Software, Social Networking Services, Technology Internet

The Plan to Give Android Users Their Own Version of iMessage Is Officially Dead

RCS, or Rich Communication Services, was supposed to unite the Androids. But with the news that Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile have all abandoned the effort toward a unified messaging platform, it looks like more turbulent times for the green bubbles.Read more...
Tags: Google, Verizon, Science, Technology, Imessage, Software, Sprint, Messages, Att, Operating Systems, Messaging Apps, Text Messaging, T Mobile, RCS, Rich Communication Services, Instant Messaging Clients

Clubhouse Is Partnering With Stripe To Offer Direct Payments, and Creators Will Get 100% of the Profits

The invite-only audio chat app Clubhouse is sweetening the deal for creators by offering a direct payment option that would allow them to reap 100% of the rewards.Read more...
Tags: Science, Technology, Social Media, Software, Mobile Payments, Online Payments, Stripe, Up, Clubhouse, Mobile Applications, Business Finance, Service Industries, Social Networking Services, Payme

LinkedIn Also Has a Clubhouse Rival in the Works Now

The latest platform dipping its toes into the tepid waters of the “social audio experience” is LinkedIn, which confirmed on Tuesday that it’s developing an audio networking integration for its app that will rival the existing voice-only chat app Clubhouse.Read more...
Tags: Twitter, Science, Microsoft, Social Media, Linkedin, Software, Recruitment, Telegram, Operating Systems, Clubhouse, Mobile Applications, Instant Messaging Clients, Alessandro Paluzzi, Social Networking Services

Gross YouTuber David Dobrik Meets the Inevitable

Dethroned 24-year-old influencer David Dobrik, who started out in the boozy man cave of YouTube and migrated to a more family-friendly neighborhood of D’Amelios, has now exited the photo-sharing app Dispo, which launched just three weeks ago.Read more...
Tags: Science, Gross, View, Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, Freeware, Internet Culture, World Wide Web, Doordash, Spark Capital, Youtubers, Mobile Applications, Dispo, Teen Choice Awards, David Dobrik, Social Networking Services

YouTube's TikTok Clone Has Arrived

After a slew of TikTok competitors cropped up across the U.S. this past summer, it looks like we’re getting yet another name added to that list. Enter YouTube Shorts, which the company rolled out in beta on Thursday for its American audience after testing the program over the past few months in India. Read more...
Tags: Spotify, Science, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Software, Computing, Sony, Video Hosting, Warner Music Group, Mobile Applications, India Read, Video Software, Music Software, Tiktok, Application Software

Clubhouse Is Creating an Accelerator Program for Influencers

Clubhouse, the invite-only audio chat app that has enamored the tech industry elite, is on the lookout for influencers. Because what social media app can be without influencers? Read more...
Tags: Science, Instagram, Social Media, Software, Freeware, Internet Culture, Clubhouse, Internet Celebrity, Mobile Applications, Video Software, Tiktok, Social Networking Services

How to Use TikTok's New Anti-Bullying Tools

An unfortunate side effect of any social media platform’s success is a correlating increase in cyberbullying and harassment, and TikTok is no exception.Read more...
Tags: Instagram, Social Media, Software, Abuse, Social Issues, Computing, Cyberbullying, Lifehacks, Internet Culture, Video Hosting, Video Software, Tiktok, Application Software, Social Networking Services, Technology Internet

What If Clubhouse, But With State Censorship, TikTok Owner ByteDance Ponders

China’s ByteDance, is planning on launching its own version of audio chat app Clubhouse for the Chinese market, Reuters reported on Thursday.Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Twitter, Science, China, Software, Computing, Freeware, Internet Culture, Operating Systems, Clubhouse, Tencent Holdings, Reuters, South China Morning Post, Mobile Applications, Bytedance, Tiktok

What Parents Need to Know About Discord

If you—or your teenager—are into gaming, you’ve likely at least heard of Discord, even if you haven’t used it yourself. It’s one more way for teenagers to connect with their friends and chat about gaming or other topics via private or public servers, individual messages, or group chats. But, as with any social network…Read more...
Tags: Instant Messaging, Software, Computing, Lifehacks, Freeware, Internet Privacy, Internet Relay Chat, Instant Messaging Clients, Discord, Alt Tech, Proprietary Software, Social Networking Services, Technology Internet, Draftshiey Discord

What I Hear on Clubhouse: For Black People, Will Silicon Valley’s Hot New Thing Be More Terrordome Than Mecca?

What happens when everyone is an “expert?” How to navigate a world where everyone’s “insights,” no matter how dubious, are cloaked in corporate-speak, strenuously hyped by like-minded cohorts, then injected straight into your brain via a mechanism intentionally designed to push your emotional buttons? And how much do…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Twitter, Science, Social Media, Software, Social Issues, Computing, Freeware, Operating Systems, Clubhouse, Mobile Applications, Playstation Home, Universal Windows Platform Apps, Social Networking Services, Black People Will Silicon Valley

Clubhouse Promises to Get Its Security Under Control (Again)

Clubhouse—the invitation-only audio app best known for courting everyone from Elon Musk to Mark Zuckerberg—has promised to implement new safeguards after suffering its second high-profile security snafu this month. Read more...
Tags: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Science, Privacy, Articles, Social Media, Software, Computing, Freeware, Internet Culture, Clubhouse, Internet Privacy, Mobile Applications, Information Security, Social Networking Services, Technology Internet

TikTok Slammed in Europe Over 'Hidden Advertising' to Kids

The European consumer advocacy group BEUC filed a complaint against TikTok on Tuesday, including allegations the Chinese-based social media platform isn’t been transparent about why it needs to collect some data on users. The complaint also claims TikTok is deploying “hidden advertising” aimed at children, according…Read more...
Tags: Science, Social Media, Software, Internet Culture, Mobile Applications, Video Software, Music Software, Bytedance, BEUC, Tiktok, Companies Of China, Application Software, Social Networking Services, Tiktok V Trump, TikTok Slammed in Europe Over Hidden Advertising

Biden Administration Finally Puts the TikTok 'Sale' Out of Its Misery

Good morning my old nemesis, the ghost of the TikTok ban past. Read more...
Tags: Politics, Science, Software, Computing, Biden, Oracle Corporation, Mobile Applications, Video Software, Music Software, Bytedance, Tiktok, Presidency Of Donald Trump, Application Software, Social Networking Services

Twitter Reportedly Looking to Turn TweetDeck Into TweetDeck+

Under increased pressure from investors to break out of its sluggish growth, Twitter is reportedly getting serious about offering a subscription product in order to create a new revenue stream. Advertising will remain the social network’s bread and butter for the foreseeable future, but according to Bloomberg, we…Read more...
Tags: Twitter, Science, Social Media, Bloomberg, Software, Bloomberg LP, Operating Systems, World Wide Web, Real Time Web, Text Messaging, Tweetdeck, Paywall, Business Finance, South of Market San Francisco, Social Networking Services

WhatsApp Is Now Using Its Version of Stories to Convince Users It’s Committed to Their Privacy

As many of you probably already know, WhatsApp’s announcement on the changes to its privacy policy confused and angered a lot of people, who were given the impression that the messaging app would begin sharing their personal data with its parent company, Facebook. Since then, WhatsApp has been running up and down…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Labor, Social Media, Whatsapp, Software, Computing, Signal, Operating Systems, Messaging Apps, Human Interest, Facebook Since, Communication Software, Instant Messaging Clients, Cross Platform Software, Technology_internet