VENTURE BEAT - June 18 - Minds, the crypto social network with a focus on encryption and privacy, has raised $10M from the tech freedom organization Futo. Owned by Yahoo Games founder and WhatsApp seed investor Eron Wolf, Futo is dedicated to tech and policies that control computers back to the people. Minds targets user privacy, and it is based on open source technology. It has grown to ~14M since it received a funding round in October 2018. by Dean Takahashi See full article at Venture Beat See the top news on Minds Continue reading

INVESTMENT U - June 18 - The Nextdoor IPO is coming sometime this year. Nextdoor is a neighborhood-based social networking platform. The company is privately held and based in San Francisco. Nextdoor is currently available in ~300K neighborhoods across 11 countries. Users can exchange information, recommendations, and advice with others in their neighborhood. Nextdoor's total number of active users increased more than 80% MoM. The company has raised ~$450M from investors. Nextdoor was worth ~$2.2B after the company's last round of funding in Sep 2019. The company is rumored to seek a $4-5B valuation when going public. But this hasn't been officially confirmed. by Aimee Bohn See full article at Investment U See the top news on Nextdoor Continue reading

THE BORNEO POST - June 18 - ByteDance recorded a $45B net loss last year, mainly due to accounting adjustments. ByteDance also said that it suffered an operating loss of $2.1B over 2020, partly attributed to higher costs for employee compensation payments, according to the sources close to the matter. ByteDance also reported a double rise in the revenue to $34.3B over the last year, adding that some 1.9B users were active on all of its platforms. See full article at The Borneo Post Continue reading

TECH CRUNCH - June 18 - Instagram Reels lanches ads to businesses and advertisers worldwide. The ads will be up to 30 seconds in length, like Reels themselves, and vertical in format, similar to ads found in Instagram Stories. Also, like Reels, the new ads will loop, and people will like, comment on, and save them, the same as other Reels videos. The launch of Instagram Reels ads follows news of TikTok's climbing ad prices. by Sarah Perez See full article at Tech Crunch See the top news on Instagram See the top news on Reels Continue reading

TECH CRUNCH - June 17 - Spotify launched Spotify Greenroom, a new mobile app that allows Spotify users worldwide to join or host live audio rooms and optionally turn those conversations into podcasts. The Spotify Greenroom app itself is based on Locker Room's existing code. Current Locker Room users will see their app update to become the rebranded and redesigned Greenroom experience. by Sarah Perez See full article at Tech Crunch See the top news on Spotify Continue reading

DIGITAL INFORMATION WORLD - June 17 - TikTok is now promoting itself by reportedly 'celebrating' Cannes Lions through a quite creative approach. The platform has launched a campaign going by the name of 'CreativityForGood' that aims to call attention to Tiktokers and the platform's creativity. To join the campaign, users need to create a video that focuses on one of the 4 non-profiting campaigns supporting the project or another such passionate cause. TikTok also claims to assist these non-profit organizations by providing a hefty donation of $50K. by Arooj Ahmed See full article at Digital Information World See the top news on TikTok Continue reading

HINDUSTAN TIMES - June 17 - Swell is the first asynchronous social audio platform in India. This is different from ephemeral voice-based apps like Clubhouse because it offers users the ability to check their app whenever they want, instead of at a scheduled time. Users on Swell can upload voice posts of up to five minutes in length, along with links and images. The service also does not have any ads. It says it will generate revenue from premium tools and Swellcasts (a short podcast or a structured audio conversation). It plans to deal with the competition as well as for monetization. by David Delima See full article at Hindustan Times Continue reading

AMB CRYPTO - June 17 - Blockster is a social network for crypto enthusiasts where users will be able to find everything they need about crypto from educational articles written by experts, the job postings of leading cryptocurrency firms, real-time coin prices, the latest news, and high-quality user-generated content. Blockster is currently in closed beta. by Anjali Sriniwasan See full article at AMB Crypto Continue reading

TECH CRUNCH - June 16 - Social calendar app IRL has been busy building a messaging-based social network, or what founder and CEO Abraham Shafi calls a "WeChat of the West." IRL announced a $170M Series C growth round, led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2. They also fundraise mints IRL as a new unicorn with a $1.17B valuation. IRL focused on pulling in popular online events from Live Nation, Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, and others. IRL has 20M users and 12M MAU. by Sarah Perez See full article at Tech Crunch See the top news on IRL Continue reading

REUTERS - June 16 - Doximity, a social network for doctors, is looking to raise ~$536M through a U.S. IPO, targeting a valuation of ~$4B. The San Francisco-based company plans to sell 23.3M shares priced between $20 and $23 per share. ~19M shares will be sold by Doximity while existing investors offer ~4.3M shares. by Sohini Podder See full article at Reuters See the top news on Doximity Continue reading

ASSOCIATED PRESS - June 16 - Facebook is subject to EU privacy challenges from watchdogs in any of the bloc's member states, not just its lead regulator in Ireland, the bloc's top court ruled, in a ruling that has implications for other big tech companies. The European Union's Court of Justice ruled that "under certain conditions," a national watchdog has the power to take a company to court over a GDPR violation even if it’s not the lead regulator. See full article at MarketWatch See the top news on Facebook Continue reading

ENTREPRENEUR - June 16 - Grom Social is a youth-oriented social platform that provides children with a safe space to enter and explore the world of social media. It was founded by Zach Marks in 2013, who was inspired by his own early experiences with social media. Marks put together a social media entertainment platform offering a curated selection of kid-friendly shows, a messaging service, photo, and video editing, and an expansive network of users to share and receive each other's content. Grom Social would also monitor chats at all times. Since 2015, Grom Social has signed up ~25M kids and parents across its platforms. by Mitchell Yu See full article at Entrepreneur See the top news on Grom Social Continue reading

BUSINESSWIRE - June 16 - ImpactWayv announced the public launch of its pioneering social media platform, ImpactWayv™, which is now available to download on the Apple App Store. The new platform's focus is to connect people, businesses, and philanthropy for social good. Designed to be a healthier and more meaningful alternative to major social networking platforms, ImpactWayv was created to drive collective impact across causes and communities. See full article at Businesswire Continue reading

AXIOS - June 15 - Nextdoor, the neighborhood social network has seen explosive growth over the past two years as homebound users became more fixated on what was happening on a hyper-local level. Last year, the number of daily active users increased ~50% YOY. Worldwide app downloads peaked in mid-2019, with ~3.4M downloads. The U.S. makes up ~80% of its mobile app market. Nextdoor also operates in Canada and 10 European countries, including the U.K., Sweden, Spain, Germany, and France. by Kim Hart See full article at Axios See the top news on Nextdoor Continue reading

MEDIA POST - June 15 - The Supreme Court has given LinkedIn another opportunity to prove it's entitled to prevent analytics company hiQ Analytics from scraping data. LinkedIn claims that hiQ's scraping violates the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, an anti-hacking law prohibiting companies from accessing servers without authorization. The Supreme Court recently narrowed the scope of that law in a separate case and directed the 9th Circuit to reconsider LinkedIn's argument in light of the new decision. The order doesn't mean LinkedIn will prevail but leaves the Microsoft-owned company in a position to continue its fight. by Wendy Davis See full article at Media Post See the top news on LinkedIn Continue reading

BUSINESS STANDARD - June 15 - Regional language-based social network Sharechat has successfully built and helped creators monetize a live audio product called Chatrooms. The tech team of ShareChat said, "After launching in April 2020, we grew quickly to become the largest live audio product in the country, with 1.2B minutes being streamed on our platform monthly." by Neha Alawadhi See full article at Business Standard See the top news on ShareChat Continue reading

ROUTE NOTE - June 15 - TrillerPass will give subscribers unlimited access to live and on-demand premium events from Triller. Subscriptions are $29.99 per month or $299.95 per year. The main advantage to monthly subscriptions is generally the ability to cancel at any point. However, Triller's monthly option requires a 12-month commitment. Triller is only selling a limited number of TrillerPass subscriptions before closing the offer. by Tom Newman See full article at Route Note See the top news on Triller Continue reading

DIGITAL INFORMATION WORLD - June 14 - This year the audience of TikTok is expected to reach ~1B worldwide, and users are mostly youngsters. It is demanding ~$1.4M only in the US during Q3 for putting the ad on the app's homepage so that the maximum number of users can see it. This amount can reach ~$1.8M in Q4. The platform can take ~$2M for its peak advertising position for just one holiday. Brands paying such a large amount will not regret it because they can also get ~109M impressions from the public. by Arooj Ahmed See full article at Digital Information World See the top news on TikTok Continue reading

FORBES - June 14 - The bitcoin community cheered Tesla billionaire Elon Musk's headfirst dive into crypto this year. Musk sent the bitcoin price sharply higher when Tesla's surprise bet on bitcoin was announced in February. Still, his outlandish Twitter persona and growing support for ethereum and the meme-based dogecoin has since antagonized bitcoiners. Now, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, a long-time bitcoin-backer, has revealed it's "only a matter of time" before either Twitter or its fledgling decentralized social network project Bluesky integrates bitcoin payments has replaced Elon Musk as bitcoin's new billionaire champion. by Billy Bambrough See full article at Forbes See the top news on Twitter Continue reading

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YOUR STORY - June 11 - Community-driven fitness brand Fittr acquired a minority stake in Wylo, an interest-based social networking platform based out of Chennai. Over the years, Fittr claims to have built a strong 2.5M community focusing on democratizing fitness. Fittr, which currently has ~350K MAU, has a minority stake in the gym aggregator platform Fitato. by Trisha Medhi See full article at Your Story Continue reading

TELECOM PAPER - June 11 - Carolyn Everson, the head of advertising at Facebook, has announced she is leaving the company to start "a new chapter." Carolyn Everson has been at the company for over 10 years, helping Facebook build up its advertising operations: ad revenue accounted for $84.2B of its ~$86B of revenue in 2020. Everson will be replaced on an interim basis by Nicola Mendelsohn, who oversees the group's Europe, Middle East, and Africa region and has been at Facebook for over 8 years. See full article at Telecom Paper See the top news on Facebook Continue reading

INDIAN EXPRESS - June 10 - Less than a week after banning Twitter indefinitely, the Nigerian government has joined its India-made rival, Koo. Nigeria's decision to suspend Twitter in the country reportedly came from the US-based social networking platform deleting a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari for violating rules. The Nigerian government's decision to join Koo after banning Twitter reinforces its position as an alternative platform to Twitter. by Pranav Mukul See full article at Indian Express See the top news on Koo Continue reading

PR NEWSWIRE - June 11 - Created nearly one year ago by Travis "TJ" Owens, SmokeSesh.Life is finalizing plans to launch as the first cannabis-focused social media site of its kind. With hundreds of users already signed up and ~$12 K contributed via Kickstarter and private funding, the collaborative network is off to a running start. The innovative cannabis-centric community provides an inclusive space for enthusiasts, brands, and other adults to connect, learn, and share. See full article at PR Newswire Continue reading

THE DAILY STAR - June 10 - Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) confirmed that a transnational gang involving some Bangladeshis has been trafficking young girls, using the social networking platform TikTok, and forcing them into sex work in India. This incident has proven just how unsafe online spaces can be for children and young people who are not well-versed in navigating such spaces. The authorities must launch a long-term and comprehensive awareness program to target this knowledge gap, ensuring that not only children and young people but also their guardians are aware of the pitfalls of the Internet, the potential of being "groomed" by online friends, and the importance of protecting their privacy online. See full article at The Daily Star See the top news on TikTok Continue reading