TECH CRUNCH - May 14 - Discord launched Stage Channels, its own Clubhouse-like voice event rooms. In June, with those building blocks in place, Discord will start surfacing events (think open mic nights, book clubs, etc.) through a new portal called Stage Discovery, adding a way for anybody to connect with the cool communities in the process. Threaded conversations are on the way this summer, and the company is about to begin a pilot program to test paid ticketed audio events.
Discord's Stage Discovery Will Connect Live Audio Events With Communities
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ZINGR App Is Building Hashtags to Connect Local People
TECH STORY - May 14 - Local social app CEO Kęstutis Gedaitis reported that the ZINGR team works on local hashtags to connect like-minded people and help them make new friends online during the lockdown. ZINGR, a location-based social network (LBSN), will use GPS and #hashtags to discover nearby trending hashtags and connect people with similar interests.
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Disabled Veteran Creates Social Network - Seeks Public Support for Launch
PR NEWSWIRE - May 14 - Freedom.fan (Freedom Social Network - FSN), owned and operated by Steven Vulich, a Disabled Military Veteran, is now available to anyone looking for a truly unbiased social network. Vulich says, "I am asking for public support to bring a social network alternative to the masses. Please visit our GoFundMe page to donate. Together, we can do this." It is an interest-based social network providing features such as live capabilities with up to 2 guests from the mobile apps, live proximity search that can locate like-minded people with similar interests, secure messaging, a music box feature that enables users to search videos and music while creating shareable personal albums - to name a few.
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Nextdoor, GlobalWebIndex Examine How Pandemic Changed Spending Habits
ADWEEK - May 14 - Nextdoor teamed up with GlobalWebIndex to study how the pandemic affected people's finance and spending habits. It was found that people bought more electronics, furniture, and healthcare items in 2020. One-fifth of respondents said they rely more on local businesses now than they did pre-Covid. Major purchases planned for this year include electronics, home improvement items, and travel.
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TikTok Removes 500k+ Accounts in Italy After DPA Order to Block Underage Users
TECH CRUNCH - May 13 - TikTok has removed ~500k accounts in Italy following an intervention by the country's data protection watchdog ordering it to recheck the age of all Italian users and block access to any under the age of 13. TikTok has also agreed to take a series of additional measures to strengthen its ability to detect and block underage users.
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ASKfm Gathers 348M Users and Launches Anonymous Chats
PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY - May 13 - ASKfm, an 11-year old global multi-million social network that has gathered a global audience of 348M who exchange 600M questions and answers each month, recently launched Anonymous Chats, a new feature requested by 70% of its audience.
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TikTok Launches A Green Screen Duet Feature and Tests Dedicated 'Topics' Feeds
TECH CRUNCH - May 13 - TikTok is rolling out a series of new features to help keep its app ahead of rivals. The company launches a Green Screen Duet feature, which combines two of TikTok’s most popular editing tools to allow creators to use another video from TikTok as the background in their new video. It also confirmed the test of a new way to discover videos called "Topics." These are dedicated interest-based feeds featuring the top trending videos in a given category.
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TikTok Is Reportedly Launching a Tool to Help Users Find Jobs
CNET - May 13 - TikTok is reportedly launching a pilot program to help users find jobs and connect with companies. TikTok is testing a tool that lets brands essentially use TikTok as a recruiting platform. At the same time, users can post TikTok video resumes that companies evaluate, according to a report by Axios. The platform isn't built into the TikTok app itself but is a separate site that people can access from the app.
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Chinese Social Networking Platform Soulgate Files for A $100M US IPO
RENAISSANCE CAPITAL - May 12 - Soulgate, which provides a gamified social networking app in China, filed with the SEC to raise to $100M in an IPO. Users, called "Soulers," create a new identity in Soul's virtual universe to freely create, share, explore, and connect with other users. In March 2021, the company averaged 9.1M DAUs, a 94% increase over the prior-year period. Soulgate was founded in 2016 and booked $104M in sales for the 12 months ended Mar 31, 2021.
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YouTube Announces a $100M Fund for Top YouTube Shorts Creators
TECH CRUNCH - May 12 - YouTube introduced the YouTube Shorts Fund, a $100M fund that will pay YouTube Shorts creators for their most viewed and most engaging content over the course of 2021-2022. Creators can't apply for the fund to help with content production, however. Instead, YouTube will reach out to creators each month whose videos exceeded certain milestones in rewarding them for their contributions.
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Yalla Announces Unaudited Q1 2021 Financial Results
PR NEWSWIRE - May 12 - Yalla, the voice-centric social networking and entertainment platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), announced its unaudited financial results for Q1 ended March 31, 2021. Revenues were $67.6M, representing an increase of 221.0% from Q1 of 2020. Revenues generated from chatting services were $54.8M. Revenues generated from games services were $12.8M. Net income was $19.8M, and net margin was 29.3%, representing an increase of 114.6%. Non-GAAP net income was $33.6M, representing an increase of 263.7%. The non-GAAP net margin was 49.7%. Average MAUs increased by 206.9% to 18.8M from 6.1M. The number of paying users increased by 260.4% to 5.8M from 1.6M.
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Clubhouse Boosts Creator Content by Funding 50 Audio Shows
MALAY MAIL - May 12 - To help boost its popularity, Clubhouse is setting its creators a challenge by funding the creation of 50 audio shows. Creators will have three months to develop their idea for an audio show on the platform. If successful, Clubhouse could offer some of them a longer-term deal. Each participant will receive $5K a month to help them make their show.
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Announcing LTR Edition 8
VSN - May 11 - LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships. Think of is as an online TED for leaders of online social communities and Internet dating companies. This is where we meet, learn, and share.
LTR Edition 8 is on Thursday 20th May starting 11:30am EST (New York). We have a half hour of networking on virtual tables, three world-class speakers for 20 mins each plus a few mins Q&A, and then a final half hour of networking. 2.5 hours all-in.
If you hold a full time leadership role at an online social community then you are welcome to join OSCA for free, and welcome to join LTR events for free. See the LTR Edition 8 overview, speakers and invite page here. Email mark@courtlandbrooks.com to RSVP for LTR. There are 80 places only.
LTR is kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by Meet Group, Real Gifts, and Courtland Brooks
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Bumble's Head of Product Design to Join Twitter
WALL STREET JOURNAL - May 11 - Lara Mendonça, the woman who led the design of Bumble's dating app in the run-up to the company's February IPO, is joining Twitter, bringing a philosophy of designing for inclusion and safety to a platform that is taking steps to curb abuse and harassment. Lara Mendonça is set to join Twitter on June 14 as a senior manager of product design in the company's "creation and conversations" team. Bumble declined to comment on Ms. Mendonça's departure and on her successor.
by Katie Deighton
See full article at Wall Street Journal
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch
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Blind Raises $37M to Double Down on Workplace Gossip and Career Advice
TECH CRUNCH - May 11 - Blind is an app of verified, pseudonymous employees talking to each other about what's going on at their employers. The company announced a $37M Series C funding round. The company had filed a Form D in late March for ~$20.5M, and the $37M represents the final total fundraiser. Blind is building what it calls "Talent by Blind," a platform for capturing this hiring intentionality and selling it to recruiters.
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