Mastodon rolls out quote posts with protections to prevent ‘dunking’
Decentralized X alternative Mastodon adds support for quote posts, but with additional controls.
Social Media
Republicans pledge censorship crackdown to avenge Charlie Kirk’s death
In the wake of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting, some political figures are threatening a crackdown on free speech – a cause Kirk claimed to fight for. Members of Congress, the State Department, and President Donald Trump have all attacked people who celebrated Kirk’s death online or criticized him while he was alive, in […]
Even killings are content
Minutes after news that right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk had been shot at a planned campus event at Utah Valley University, the wheels of social media engagement farming and clout chasing had already begun to grind to life. Kirk, despite being in his 30s, was a mainstay on college campuses around the country, where student groups […]
Bluesky will comply with age-verification laws in South Dakota and Wyoming after exiting Mississippi
Bluesky says the age-verification laws strike “the right balance,” so it won’t have to exit the states as it did in Mississippi.
Reddit launches tools for publisher to track and share stories
Reddit is introducing new Publisher tools under Reddit Pro.
Sam Altman says that bots are making social media feel ‘fake’
After watching Reddit’s OpenAI and Anthropic communities, Sam Altman thinks social media cannot be trusted. And bots are to blame.
Bluesky adds private bookmarks
Bluesky adds bookmarks so users can privately save posts they want to reference later.
Meta suppressed children’s safety research, four whistleblowers claim
Four whistleblowers share documents with Congress alleging that the company may have suppressed research on children’s safety.
Facebook is trying to make ‘pokes’ happen again
The poke-tracking feature is largely designed to appeal to younger users who have grown up with gamification elements built into their social apps, like Snapchat and TikTok Streaks.
X’s encrypted DM feature, XChat, is rolling out more broadly
Though the feature shipped in beta in May, XChat is now accessible for more users, including those who do not subscribe to X Premium.