Very Social Network

Announcing LTR Edition 11 This Wednesday

VSN - LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships. This is where the social community industry meets to learn, and share. LTR Edition 11 is on Wed 6th October starting 11:30 am EST (New York). We have a half-hour of networking on virtual tables, 90 mins of presentations, and then an optional final half-hour of networking. 2.5 hours all-in. LTR is free, and by invite only.

Please see ltr11.splashthat.com to see our CEO speakers and topics ;-)

If you hold a full-time leadership role at a social community then you are welcome to join OSCA for free and welcome to join LTR events for free. Email [email protected] to RSVP for LTR.

LTR is kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by Meet Group, and Courtland Brooks

PlantLife, TikTok for Plants, Made by Apple and Nike Alums

FAST COMPANY - PlantLife is the first social media platform for plants (and plant lovers). It's built with familiar full-bleed videos, and a UI borrowed largely from TikTok. A trio of specialists founded the company: CEO Leslie Mullins, who spent a career in marketing and design at Nike and Apple; chief product officer Taylor Vignali, who held creative director and UX roles at those same companies; and chief of plants Lana Pappas, a San Francisco-based architectural landscaper and designer.

by Mark Wilson
See full article at Fast Company

Yappy, New Russian TikTok Competitor

LIBYAN EXPRESS - Russia's Gazprom-Media plans to launch its own domestic TikTok later this year called 'Yappy.' It aims at Russians aged 14-34, with the company wishing to attract those who are "passionate about self-development and career." Yappy is already available for download but is yet to be officially launched.

See full article at Libyan Express

Facebook Reels Exits Beta in the US With Offers to Pay Creators

TECH CRUNCH - Facebook rolled out Reels to all Facebook users in the U.S. The company is introducing a new bonus program that will pay creators when people view their Reels. The program will be funded as part of Facebook's larger commitment to invest ~$1B in creators through 2022, which is also paying creators to run certain types of ads, receive payments through Stars (virtual tips), and more.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

See the top news on Facebook

Instagram Tests a New Feature to Control Over Who See Users' Stories

GADGETS NOW - Instagram has announced a test for its Stories' 'Close Friends' has been renamed to 'Selected People,' but more importantly, users will be able to choose who can see some of their Stories. Brazil has been chosen as the testing ground for the new feature for the time being.

See full article at Gadgets Now

See the top news on Instagram

Thanks to Our Sponsors

'Solcial' Raises $2.9M to Build Censorship-Free Social Media on Solana

COINDESK - Solcial has raised $2.9M to expand in a round. ~5% of Solcial's planned SLC tokens are earmarked for seed funders, according to pseudonymous founder "Idris," for a valuation of ~$58M. The platform, which has not yet launched, plans to build a hub for sharing content, following the news, and even trading assets, in a censorship-free environment. The site will place a heavy focus on monetization opportunities for content creators.

by Danny Nelson
See full article at Coindesk

Likee Plans to Open Branch Office in Russia

TELECOMPAPER - The social network Likee, controlled by Singapore-based company Bigo Technology, part of Chinese firm Joyy Inc, plans to soon open a branch office in Russia.

See full article at Telecompaper

See the top news on Likee

LinkedIn Is Testing Paid Ticketed Events Service

TECH CRUNCH - LinkedIn is doing events test of selling tickets and organizing the events having a dashboard where they could monitor how those sales are going, how much they are earning, and then run the events themselves.

by Ingrid Lunden
See full article at Tech Crunch

See the top news on LinkedIn

TikTok Surveys to Find out the Best Way to Promote Brands on the Social Network

DIGITAL INFORMATION WORLD - TikTok surveyed to run a series of advertisements and determine engagement and feedback compared to other applications. TikTok unveiled the entire survey process and stated that all the participants skimmed through TikToks and other social media platforms at an expected rate.

by Arooj Ahmed
See full article at Digital Information World

See the top news on TikTok

Instagram for Kids Paused After Backlash

BBC - Plans to make an "Instagram experience" for under-13s, dubbed Instagram Kids, have been paused. While the project is paused, Instagram will expand its work on new opt-in parental supervision tools to cover 13-19-year-olds currently on Instagram.

See full article at BBC

See the top news on Instagram

TikTok Reached 1B MAU

TECH CRUNCH - TikTok announced in a blog post that 1B people use TikTok every month. The new user data marks a 45% increase in MAU since July 2020, with 689M users. Plus, this July, TikTok became the first non-Facebook app to reach 3B global downloads.

by Amanda Silberling
See full article at Tech Crunch

See the top news on TikTok

Odnoklassniki Offers Speech-to-text Messages

TELECOMPAPER - Russian social network Odnoklassniki has started offering speech-to-text messaging. The service recognizes voice messages and covers them to text by default, based on AI and neural networks technology designed by sister company VKontakte. Voice messages in the Russian language for up to 60 mins can be converted.

See full article at Telecompaper

See the top news on Odnoklassniki.ru

Facebook Invests $50M to Build the 'Metaverse' in Responsible Manner

REUTERS - Facebook will invest $50M to partner with organizations to responsibly build the so-called metaverse. In this digital world, people can use different devices to move and communicate in a virtual environment. The new XR Programs and Research Fund will invest the money globally over two years to ensure metaverse technologies are "built in a way that's inclusive and empowering."

by Sheila Dang
See full article at Reuters

See the top news on Facebook

MeetUp: an Alternative to Dating Apps?

AARP - Ed Baig is the former tech editor at USA Today and is now at AARP. He asked me for a non-conventional 'social' alternative to dating apps for seniors, and I suggested Meetup. Here's the excerpt from a list of 50 recommended apps.

Meetup lets you mingle with people who share your interests and can match you with 300k groups and 100k weekly events. You can find a nearby book club, hiking group or someone you want to spend more time with. "This is a great place to meet like minds outside the explicit context of dating," says CEO Mark Brooks of Courtland Brooks, who consults with dating services. "Then count on serendipity and put some effort into meeting new friends through the friends you just met by inviting them out to your own group events."

by Edward C. Baig
See full article at AARP

See the top news on MeetUp

This post also appears on Online Personals Watch