Very Social Network

Elon Musk Wants to 'Authenticate All Real Humans' on Twitter

CNN - Elon Musk's Twitter feed states that he will "authenticate all real humans." Musk could seek to require real names on accounts or require photo id, or integration with 3rd-party services where users are already known. His pet peeve is spam accounts.

Facebook made changes to its names policy in 2015 after critics pointed out that abuse victims and other vulnerable groups had good reasons to use pseudonyms. Users can provide reasons to the company why they avoid using their real names.

by Brian Fung
See full article at CNN

Mark Brooks: Behavior changes considerably when people are anonymous. Online social communities really need to know and assure that real humans are behind each profile, and are 'good actors.' No small task, but at least the ability to check liveness and verify someone is the same person as in their photo is easy with FaceTec. We also have the purpose-built RealMe which provides the ability to verify someone is real, and the state of their reputation and priors. (Full Disclosure: FaceTec and RealMe are clients of Courtland Brooks)

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Facebook Tops Estimates With GAAP Earnings, Misses on Revenue

SEEKING ALPHA - The Facebook press release reported Q1 GAAP EPS of $2.72 beats by $0.17. Revenue of $27.91B (+6.6% Y/Y) misses by $310M. Shares +5.5%. DAP was 2.87B on average for Mar 2022, an increase of 6% YoY. MAP was 3.64B as of Mar 31, an increase of 6% YoY. Facebook DAUs were 1.96B on average for Mar 2022, an increase of 4% YoY. Facebook MAUs were 2.94B as of Mar 31, an increase of 3% YoY. It is expected that 2022 total expenses to be in the range of $87B-92B, lowered from their prior outlook of $90B-95B. 2022 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, are expected to be in the range of $29B-34B, unchanged from the prior estimate.

by Gaurav Batavia
See full article at Seeking Alpha

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Pinterest Addresses the TikTok Threat in Its Q1 Earnings

TECH CRUNCH - Pinterest is up against a credible threat with the rise of TikTok when it comes to social commerce. These days, the more common refrain among influenced and inspired shoppers is "TikTok made me buy it," not "I found it on Pinterest." But the company reported fairly solid earnings, pulling in $575M in revenue versus $573M expected, and delivering earnings per share of 10 cents instead of the 4 cents expected. But one troubling area was its decline in users. The company reported its global MAU decreased 9% from the same period last year to 433M in the quarter, below expectations of 437.9M.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

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YouTube Ad Revenue Is Down

ENTREPRENEUR - Alphabet, the company that owns Google, YouTube, and Waze, has released its revenue for Q1 2022 and YouTube. The video platform had a total income of $6.87B during the first 3 months of 2022. Although this is 15% more than in the same period of the previous year ($6B), it represents a drop of $130M vs. Q2 2021 ($7B), $335M less than Q3 ($7.2B) and $1.7B less than Q4 ($8.63B). The video platform's goal for Q1 2022 was $7.48B.

See full article at Entrepreneur

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Reels Now Makes up ~20% of the Time Users Spend on Instagram

TECH CRUNCH - Meta announced during its Q1 2022 earnings call that Reels now makes up ~20% of the time that people spend on Instagram. The company also noted that video, overall, makes up 50% of the time that users spend on Facebook.

by Aisha Malik
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Yandex Signs Deal With VK to Sell Its Media Products, News, and Zen

TECH CRUNCH - In further fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Yandex, referred to as the 'Google of Russia', has signed a term sheet to sell its media division to VK. It has signed a term sheet to divest its news aggregator (News) and blogging/infotainment platform (Zen) with VK. VK as the leading contender is said to acquire Yandex's media assets as the latter looked for an exit from rising risk in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin's tightening its grip on freedom of expression.

by Natasha Lomas
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Short Videos Social Network 'Kwai' Launches in KSA

ZAWYA - One of the fastest-growing short-form video platforms in the world - Kwai has debuted in KSA. Using machine learning algorithms, Kwai curates streams of content based on users' interests. Kwai has already launched two campaigns personalized for its users in KSA and other regional markets during the Holy month of Ramadan, including #RamadanRecipes, in collaboration with celebrity chefs such as Hisham Baeshen, and a scripted in-app drama campaign, #KwaiRamadanSeries to encourage localized content.

See full article at Zawya

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Social Networking Platform Sidechat Gains Prominence on Campus

BROWN DAILY HERALD - Sidechat, a mobile app designed for college students to anonymously share contents with their classmates, has become increasingly popular in the Brown population. Features of Sidechat include an advertisement-free interface, push notifications and anonymous private messaging between users. So far, the Sidechat app has been launched for specific schools, including private universities.

by Justin Lee
See full article at Brown Daily Herald

A Teenager Made a MySpace Replica

NERDIST - A German teenager named An actually made a MySpace replica named SpaceHey. SpaceHey describes itself as a retro social network focused on privacy and customizability. There's also room for the tried and true instant message. SpaceHey is devoid of ads, algorithms, and anything else that curates the space. So far, they have ~500k users.

by Meaghan Kirby
See full article at Nerdist

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Trump's Social Network Was US' Most Downloaded Free App

LA PRENSA LATINA - The social network launched by former US President Donald Trump was the most downloaded free application for iPhone on Apr 26 in the US, a day after the board of Twitter accepted billionaire Elon Musk's purchasing offer. The "top free apps" section of the US App Store was headed by Truth Social, followed by Twitter in second place.

See full article at La Prensa Latina

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Social Music Platform BandLab Scores $65M at a Valuation of $315M

TECH CRUNCH - BandLab, the Singapore-based app that lets users create and share music, has raised a $65M Series B, at a post-money valuation of $315M. ~40M creators currently use Bandlab. The app's tools for creating music include a Mix Editor, royalty-free sounds, Mastering and SongStarter, or royalty-free compositions.

by Catherine Shu
See full article at Tech Crunch

Wisq Picks up $20M to Fight Social Isolation at Work

PITCHBOOK - Wisq has raised a $20M Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners, with support from True Ventures and Shasta Ventures. The company offers a social networking platform designed to connect employees and promote social well-being.

See full article at Pitchbook Newsletter

Elon Musk Proposes Features Exclusive for Twitter Blue Users

MONEY CONTROL - In a series of tweets, Elon Musk has come up with some key suggestions for Twitter Blue, a paid monthly subscription that offers access to premium features and customizations. The Tesla CEO suggested that all users signing up for Twitter Blue should get an authentication checkmark - one that is different from "official account" blue tick and should have no advertisements. He also said that with ads, corporations have a larger say in policy if Twitter is dependent on advertising money.

See full article at Money Control

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TikTok Was the Top App by Worldwide Downloads in Q1 2022

TECH CRUNCH - TikTok was the top app by worldwide downloads in Q1 2022 according to Sensor Tower. The app surpassed 3.5B all-time downloads in Q1 2021, becoming just the 5th app (and the only one not owned by Meta) to achieve this milestone.

by Lauren Forristal
See full article at Tech Crunch

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YouTube Expands Super Thanks Feature to All Eligible Creators

TECH CRUNCH - YouTube is expanding its Super Thanks feature to all eligible creators in the YouTube Partner Program. The feature lets viewers tip creators for individual uploaded videos. The company says millions of creators in 68 countries will now have access to monetization feature.

by Aisha Malik
See full article at Tech Crunch

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