TECH CRUNCH - Clubhouse is launching a protected profile setting to allow users only to make their full profile available to people they approve as followers. The change is being implemented in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine to keep users protected on the platform. Clubhouse notes that only followers will be able to see the rooms, clubs, and replays on your profile. The setting also makes users less visible on Clubhouse in general.
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Clubhouse Adds New 'Protected Profile' Setting Option for All Users
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YouTube May Be Getting a Dedicated Podcasts Homepage
TECH CRUNCH - A leaked document has unveiled more about YouTube's plans for the podcast, pointing to a future podcast's homepage on YouTube.com and other monetization features. The company says it will improve podcast ingestion by piloting the ability to pull in podcast RSS feeds. It also noted it plans to centralize podcasts on a new homepage at YouTube.com/podcasts.
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WhatsApp Is Under Threat From New EU Law That Could Make Messaging Less Secure
EXPRESS - The European Union (EU) is introducing radical new legislation which security experts fear could harm the strength of end-to-end encryption baked into WhatsApp - shielding users' messages from prying eyes. This would also impact other apps such as iMessage and Facebook Messenger. The message, files, and video calls would all need to be exchanged between the biggest messenger apps and smaller ones.
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Twitter 'Collabs' Feature Allows Users to Co-author Tweets With Brands
TECH CRUNCH - Twitter is working on a feature that would allow multiple users to co-author a tweet, referred to as "Collaborations." The option has yet to be made publicly available and only works after one user accept a request to collaborate from another. It also seemingly hints at a possible plan to give creators a way to partner with businesses on brand ad deals.
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Trump's Truth Social Sees 93% Drop in Downloads, and Users Are Still on The Waiting List
DAILYMAIL - Truth Social sees a 93% drop from its launch week when it saw 872K installs. Its desktop site has also reportedly seen a steep drop-off in traffic, from 6M visits in the first week it launched to ~1.9M weekly visits. Users are still having trouble accessing the site, which forces people who make an account onto a 'waitlist' that is hundreds of thousands of places long.
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Vampr Reaches 1.4M Users and Plans New $2M Funding Round
MUSICALLY - Music-industry network Vampr has raised $700K in an equity crowdfunding round, raising its total from all sources to $3.3M. Meanwhile, its user base has doubled to 1.4M people. Vampr said that since passing the 1M mark in Nov 2021, it had added another 400K users.
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Douyin's New Rules: More Control Under the Pretext of "Protecting Minors"
BITTER WINTER - Douyin will implement stricter rules and prohibit "deviant" and "anti-government" discussions. The rules for Douyin, coming into force this month, claimed that they are needed to prevent minors from being harmed by cyberaddiction, unscrupulous video game companies, and the excessive passion for celebrities, expressed through fan clubs to teenagers devote an excessive amount of time. However, to achieve these laudable aims, broad rules are enacted that control and forbid many activities that have nothing to do with teen cyberaddiction.
by Tan Liwei
See full article at Bitter Winter
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America First Patriot, LLC Launches Video Sharing Platform, PATRIOT TV
PR NEWSWIRE - Phoenix-based America First Patriot, LLC launched its video-sharing platform, Patriot TV®, integrating it with its flagship social network, AmericaFirstPatriot.org. Patriot TV is a robust, high-performance platform that can host ~1B videos and supports FFMPEG video conversion, allowing users to upload videos with resolutions up to 12K. It also features a complete advertising system utilizing Vpaid and Vast, respectively. Patriot TV® features an endless array of features, including live streaming of events such as political rallies and business conferences.
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Cyworld to Return With Launch of Cryptocurrency 'DTR'
KOREA HERALD - Cyworld, the dominant social networking site in South Korea throughout the 2000s before the era of Facebook, is set to reopen Apr 2 as a social networking platform where users can use cryptocurrency to decorate their virtual spaces. The Cyworld operator also unveiled a plan for launching its first-ever cryptocurrency called DTR to create a global lifecycle blockchain ecosystem. Cyworld Z is also planning on incorporating the NFT platform business.
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TikTok Is Testing a 'Watch History' Feature to Make It Easier to Uncover Lost Videos
TECH CRUNCH - TikTok is testing a new "watch history" feature with some users to allow them to find videos that appeared on their "For You" page that they didn't have a chance to save. Given the constant stream of content on TikTok, accidentally refreshing their "For You" page and losing a video before they've had a chance to "like" is a common problem for users. TikTok's watch history feature should simplify finding lost videos and eliminate the need for these workarounds.
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Pinterest to Invest an Additional $1.2M in Its Creator Fund for Underrepresented Groups
TECH CRUNCH - Pinterest announced it was more than doubling its initial investment in its Creator Fund with an additional $1.2M in cash grants, ad credits, and other creator resources for underrepresented groups. With the Creator Fund's expansion, Pinterest will invest in creators across quarterly cycles and focus on content areas, including Fashion/Beauty, Wellness, Lifestyle/Home, and Food. The first of the four cycles in 2022 will focus on fashion and beauty and see Pinterest working for the first time with a brand partner, L'Oréal USA.
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Instagram's Latest Test Makes It Easier to Support Social Causes
ENGADGET - Instagram is testing a feature that gives users the choice of backing a movement when you search for its hashtag. Users will see the option to either "spread the word" through direct messages or start a fundraiser to provide material aid. The test is focused on a "handful" of hashtags linked to well-known social causes, including #BlackLivesMatter, #climatecrisis, and #womensrights.
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Elon Musk Considers Launching a New Social Platform
THE STREET - Elon Musk is one of the most followed personalities on Twitter, with ~79M. He regularly exchanges with the fans there. The billionaire multiplies the criticism against the social network Twitter so far his favorite communication channel. Twitter also gains a lot from having Musk on the platform. But now Musk is thinking about launching a new social network.
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ByteDance Marks Its 10th Anniversary Without Founder Zhang Yiming
SCMP - ByteDance marked its 10th anniversary in a muted celebration broadcast online to its employees, but the founder Zhang Yiming was conspicuously absent. CEO Liang Rubo quoted some of Zhang's past comments in a motivational speech to employees. The head of the company's 6 business groups took turns speaking after Liang, following his lead to motivate the employees. The company has become one of the internet industry's most successful start-ups, with a reach that covers 1.9B people every month.
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Away, a Twitter App Designed to Decrease the Use of the Social Network
IMORE - Away is a new app designed to stop people from actually using Twitter. Only specific data is made available via Away, and there is no timeline. Features of Away include unanswered direct messages, stats for user's latest tweets, time since the last tweet, number of followers, deep links to the installed client where users can interact with the audience.
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