AirChat, the buzzy new social app, could be great – or, it could succumb to the same fate as ClubhouseOver the weekend, another social media platform exploded into the fray: AirChat.
Built by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder exec Brian Norgard, Airchat takes a refreshingly intimate approach to social media.
What I do consider a red flag is AirChat’s naive approach to content moderation.
Clubhouse’s approach to content moderation was even more permissive, since there was no way to block people for months after launch – AirChat already has block and mute features, thankfully.
With this minimalist approach to content moderation, it’s not hard to see how AirChat could get into hot water.
Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Donald Trump’s media company, has announced plans to launch a live TV streaming platform.
The streaming service will launch in three phases.
The company first plans to introduce Truth Social’s CDN (content delivery network) for streaming to the Truth Social app for Android, iOS and the web.
Next, Truth Social plans to release over-the-top (“OTT”) streaming apps for phones, tablets and other devices.
Truth Social went public last month after shareholders approved a merger of TMTG and Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Bluesky now allows heads of states to sign up for the social networkSocial networking platform Bluesky lifted its ban on sign-ups for heads of state over the weekend.
This applies to recent/prominent heads of state as well,” the company had said at that time.
Bluesky faced moderation challenges early in its lifespan and battled issues like allowing racial slurs in handles.
With the social network now allowing political heads to join the platform, there could be new types of moderation issues that it hasn’t faced yet.
However, Bluesky users don’t have to rely on a central algorithm to look at different kinds of political content, as they can subscribe to different feeds.
Currently invite-only, Airchat is already ranked #27 in social networking on Apple’s App Store.
The difference is that the posts and replies are audio recordings, which the app then transcribes.
When you open Airchat, messages automatically start playing, and you quickly cycle through them by swiping up and down.
After joining Airchat this morning, most of the posts I saw were about the app itself, with Ravikant and Norgard answering questions and soliciting feedback.
“Humans are all meant to get along with other humans, it just requires the natural voice,” Ravikant said.
On the panel, Megan Thee Stallion said she loved the app because it allows her to curate exactly what she wants to see and listed topics ranging from puppies to makeup and workout videos.
Megan Thee Stallion talking about her favorite app being Pinterest during ADWeek’s Social Media Week event.
pic.twitter.com/mQ1l5jbaJm — Stallion Stats (@MegansStats) April 10, 2024Megan thee Stallion did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Megan Thee Stallion has a vested interest in Pinterest, having previously worked with the company.
It’s true many of them have brand profiles, but it’s likely they also have their own private accounts, like Megan Thee Stallion insinuated during her panel.
Lyrak to take on X by combining the best of Twitter with fediverse integrationThreads.
Once live, Lyrak users will be able to see posts from Mastodon users and vice versa.
Founded by London-based web designer and marketer Rishi Siva, Lyrak is named form a lead character in the TV show “His Dark Materials,” Lyra.
Lyrak says it will focus initially on getting journalists to join the network, to help it with becoming a real-time social app.
“The advantage of being a startup building a social app is that we have a fresh perspective on things.
TikTok is working towards launching a new app called TikTok Notes that will allow users to post images in an apparent bid to rival Instagram, a service best known for its static-photo sharing feature.
Instagram, of course, has expanded into video and stories itself, taking pieces of other services and incorporating them into its own product.
As is nearly every social service you can imagine.
If it works for one social media service, expect the rest to follow in some manner at some point — probably sooner rather than later.
Expanding a feature set can bolster engaged time, and therefore how much revenue a social media service can earn.
On Thursday, the company announced it’s expanding its fediverse integrations to 400 more Flipboard creators and introducing fediverse notifications in the Flipboard app itself.
In total, Flipboard says there are now over 11,000 curated Flipboard magazines available to federated social networking users.
In addition to the newly federated magazines, Flipboard is also bringing a more integrated fediverse experience to its own app.
4.3.25), Flipboard users will be able to see their new followers from the fediverse in their Flipboard Following tab, while their Flipboard notifications will now include fediverse reactions and conversations.
The company had already begun curating content for fediverse users across a handful of “news desks” (dedicated fediverse accounts) that directed users to interesting articles and links across topics.
For instance, those who want to track analytics around Threads’ posts can use an Insights API to retrieve things like views, likes, replies, reposts, and quotes.
There are also details on how to publish posts and media via the API, retrieve replies, and a series of troubleshooting tips.
So far, Threads API beta testers have included social tool makers like Sprinklr, Sprout Social, Social News Desk, Hootsuite, and tech news board Techmeme.
Instead, users still have to visit their settings in the Threads app itself to publish to the fediverse.
Meta says the new documentation will be updated over time as it gathers feedback from developers.
U.S. consulting firm Greylock McKinnon Associates disclosed a data breach in which hackers stole as many as 341,650 Social Security numbers.
The data breach was disclosed on Friday on Maine’s government website, where the state posts data breach notifications.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
We received confirmation of which individuals’ information was affected and obtained their contact addresses on February 7, 2024,” the firm wrote.
GMA told victims that “your personal and Medicare information was likely affected in this incident,” which includes names, dates of birth, home address, some medical information and health insurance information, and Medicare claim numbers, which included Social Security Numbers.
